Aquaman has missed out on perhaps its best chance for an Oscar® nomination. The Academy announced the latest shortlists in several Oscar® categories, including visual effects. Aquaman made the previous cut in the VFX category earlier this month, but it did not survive this most recent round.
Ten films remain in contention for the visual effects Oscar® and Aquaman isn’t one of them. The ten semi-finalists, five of which will make the final list of nominees, are listed below.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Black Panther
- Christopher Robin
- First Man
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Ready Player One
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Welcome to Marwen
I would have ranked Aquaman ahead of at least a few of those, but I don’t have a vote. Creating a brand new underwater world like no one ever has before should have counted for more than it did here.
Visual effects is always a tight race and this year has a particularly strong field of contenders. More than a few deserving contenders were bound to be squeezed out. Aquaman just has the misfortune of being one of them.
