Oscar nominations [1] have been out for weeks, and it's time to pick them apart. One of the biggest snubs of the year, and one I'm personally shocked about, is the nearly complete absence of The Hateful Eight in the main categories. It might not be Quentin Tarantino [2]'s greatest film, but it's every bit as good as Django Unchained, which was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two. The story follows a bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) and his prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who find themselves trapped at Minnie's Haberdashery, a small cabin filled with mysterious characters. The movie is so grand that it even has an intermission! Read on to find out why The Hateful Eight's snub is so tragic.
Quentin Tarantino shot this thing on 65mm film.
He shot it with 65mm film [3], and it was released on 70mm in a bunch of theaters. That means he went old-school and used real film. Screw your digital movies! This is extreme. It's a good thing The Hateful Eight at least scored a best cinematography nomination.
There's just as much snow as The Revenant.
Oh, poor Leonardo DiCaprio [4] and his frozen rivers [5]. This movie takes place in the dead of Winter and was filmed in Colorado, and a good portion of the scenes are outside.
Kurt Russell gives his best performance in years.
I'm a ride-or-die Kurt Russell fan, so I expected to love him in this movie, but he blew my expectations out of the water. He's infinitely watchable, even when he's playing bounty hunter John Ruth, a guy you're not supposed to root for.
Just look at this beast of an actor.
OK, Jennifer Jason Leigh got a nomination.
And it's well-deserved! She's excellent as Daisy Domergue, a fugitive being escorted by John Ruth.
Seriously, she's fantastic.
It's a really funny movie.
Like all of Tarantino's films, humor is infused throughout the action. Maybe this one was just too funny for the Academy? Then again, The Martian got a nomination.
Tim Roth is a goddamn genius.
Tim Roth and Tarantino are buds; he's appeared in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, but his most impressive performance is as Oswaldo Mobray, one of the suspicious men at Minnie's Haberdashery, in The Hateful Eight. It's a damn shame the Academy didn't appreciate his exaggerated accent as much as I did.
He's so 'spicious.
Should you trust him? Who knows.
Meanwhile, Bruce Dern gets nothing?!
Not a single tip of the hat to two-time Oscar nominee Dern? Sure, he plays a racist old coot, but he plays the hell out of him!
Sorry, old man.
Walton Goggins is straight-up hilarious.
If you're thinking that you don't really know who Walton Goggins is and therefore you're the least excited to seem him in this ensemble cast, you're going to be struck by how great he is. In a movie full of shady characters, he might be the shadiest — and he plays it so well.
How could they deny this face a nomination?
Michael Madsen is kind of terrifying.
Madsen gives a subtle performance, but he's every bit as creepy as, well, every one of those sketchy guys in the cabin.
You tried, buddy.
Plus, exactly zero love for Demián Bichir?
Come on.
Channing Tatum even shows up!
I can understand Tatum not getting a nod for his cameo [6], but did anyone even see his character coming? Points for shock value.
But the biggest WTF moment of them all . . .
Is that Samuel L. Jackson didn't get nominated.
Tarantino has gotten some killer performances out of Jackson, and The Hateful Eight is no exception. He is a commanding presence on screen, managing to both crack jokes and become fully menacing within seconds. The fact that he's been snubbed by all the major award shows (Golden Globe Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, and SAG Awards) is insane.
In conclusion:
He's talking to you, Academy.