As the clock ticks on towards today's Oscar nominations revelations, the world's film media will be locked in furious debate - who will be nominated? Who will miss out? Which snubs will inspire the biggest uproar? These are just a few of the questions that will currently be circling the web. And as much as the lucky few will be heralded, there will be losers, who be retreat back out of focus, forgotten for a while as the lenses focus on the chosen nominees and their no doubt aggressive campaigns to win themselves some more votes ahead of the ceremony. But the losers matter just as much, and history will remember the names that didn't make the list, especially if they missed out unjustifiably. This article will focus on seven of the most profoundly affecting performances of the year that will inevitably be snubbed when the acting nominations are read out this afternoon. All would be worthy of inclusion, but for various reasons - which I will explore - they will find themselves out in the cold.
7. Andy Serkis - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Following the trend set by the Academy almost a decade ago, The Hobbit's single greatest acting performance will be overlooked. Though he was only on screen for a matter of relative moments in the film's bloated run time, Gollum was far and away the most arresting element of the entire production - his character design seemed to have been tweaked, his writing was solid and at times hilarious, and his impact on the world's audiences was the ultimate expression of his success. Most of that comes down to the continued exceptional work of Andy Serkis, the man in the mo-cap suit who was cruelly snubbed for his work on Lord of the Rings thanks to technical snobbery.
Why The Snub? Performance capture remains an uncelebrated art in comparison to so-called "real" acting, and there is no way they're about to change their own rules for a single (albeit extended) sequence. Plus the Academy aren't big on fan service.