It’s awards season, which means a number of Oscar contenders are vying to land an Academy Award nomination come January. In truth, the race has already been going on for months, to the point that right now we already know the contenders—it’s just a question of which ones make the final cut. But as the race has materialized thanks to critical consensus, guild recognition, and critics’ awards, a number of other performances, films, and screenplays have fallen by the wayside despite their worthiness. Some of this has to do with the politics of Oscar campaigning—a studio only has so much money to devote to awards season, and it puts its investment in the films/performances it thinks has the best shot. Which is a double-edged sword because most of the time, the only films/performances that make the cut are ones with the weight of a campaign behind them.

So while I’ve gone on and on about the race as it stands now in previous Oscar Beat columns, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the should-be contenders. These are films, performances, screenplays, and even original songs that are absolutely deserving of Oscar recognition, but for a variety of reasons have fallen by the wayside. Behold, I present these contenders for your consideration.

Best Picture – ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’

Filmmaker Richard Linklater is coming off one of his most successful films in years, the towering achievement Boyhood, and while he came thisclose to Oscar glory, the film ultimately lost out to Birdman for Best Picture and Director. Regardless, for his follow-up film Linklater didn’t go chasing Oscar. Instead, he turned his attention to a movie he’d wanted to make for a very long time, a “spiritual sequel” to his iconic Dazed and Confused, the 80s-set Everybody Wants Some!!. The film was released way back in March, which might as well be years ago as far as the Academy is concerned. But it still stands as one of the best-reviewed films of the year, and for good reason—it is one of the best films of the year.

Everybody Wants Some!! taps into themes of masculinity and friendship, serving as a perfect follow-up to Linklater’s K-12 coming-of-age tale Boyhood as EWS picks up the coming-of-age baton and follows one college freshman the week before classes begin. Throughout the course of the film, he tries his hand at different “scenes”, attempting to discover who he is or should be. It’s a subtly introspective and insightful piece of work, as Linklater packages this intimate story as sort of the anti-party movie party movie. Everybody Wants Some!! is, in addition to all of this, simply a great time. The filmmaker is able to marry insight and thoughtfulness with entertainment value and comedy, resulting in the very best that cinema has to offer. If that isn’t what qualifies as a contender for “Best Picture of the Year”, I don’t know what does.

Best Director – Robert Eggers, ‘The Witch’

Certainly one of the best horror films in recent memory, The Witch is also a masterfully crafted film, made all the more impressive by the fact that it’s filmmaker Robert Eggers’ feature directorial debut. His confident, assured handle on tone and atmosphere is what makes the film work as well as it does, and every single choice he made as the film’s director—from production design intricacies to performances—adds up to an unforgettable viewing experience. The Witch is, frankly, a downright terrifying film, but the horror genre rarely gets its due when it comes to awards season. These kinds of movies don’t direct themselves, and if anyone’s deserving of recognition for crafting an expert horror film, it’s Robert Eggers.

Best Actor – Daniel Radcliffe in ‘Swiss Army Man’

Crudely dubbed “the farting corpse movie”, Swiss Army Man is quite possibly the most ambitious film released in 2016, and surprisingly one of the most thoughtful. Directors Daniel Schienert and Dan Kwan managed to craft a hilarious, insane, insightful, even profound story of life, but none of it works without Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe. And while Dano turns in a terrific performance as the film’s living protagonist, Radcliffe’s nuanced turn as a corpse slowly coming to life is truly stunning. This is one of those characters that sounds easier to play than it actually is, and that Radcliffe is able to inject such humanity and color into a character who is literally carried around by Dano is incredible. It’s a stirring, rousing performance that builds to a jaw-dropping climax, and Radcliffe sells it beautifully. We knew the guy could act, but his choices of material post-Harry Potter have been refreshingly ambitious, and with Swiss Army Man he gives his best performance yet.

Best Actress – Molly Shannon in ‘Other People’

The opening scene of the indie dramedy Other People, which made its splashy debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, is devastatingly emotional. First-time filmmaker Chris Kelly begins his story of a young man nursing his mother through the final stages of her fatal cancer diagnosis with the mother’s death in frank, unflinching terms, before flashing back to a healthier and happier time. It’s then up to Molly Shannon to chronicle that arc from beginning to literal end, and the SNL veteran delivers the best performance of her career in the process. Shannon’s performance isn’t just startlingly accurate when it comes to depicting a shattering illness like cancer, but the delicate nature of her interaction with the other characters is also almost uncomfortably lifelike. It’s a phenomenal turn and her character’s relationship with her son (played by Jesse Plemons) is the beating heart of the movie. This is the kind of performance that shows the range of comedic performers, and it’s a shame they’re not recognized more often when it comes to awards season.

Best Supporting Actor – John Goodman in ’10 Cloverfield Lane’

Here’s a shocking/disheartening fact: John Goodman has never been nominated for an Oscar. It’s kind of hard to believe a performer of his caliber, with so many great roles, has never been recognized by the Academy, but here we are. And while 10 Cloverfield Lane isn’t exactly the Oscars’ usual cup of tea, Goodman’s turn in the contained thriller is undeniably fantastic. He wavers between nefarious, sympathetic, and despicable—sometimes all in the same scene—and he does so with ease. It’s a haunting turn, and just because it’s in a genre film doesn’t mean Goodman’s performance is any less “serious.” Indeed, the movie itself is terrific, with director Dan Trachtenberg nailing a classic Hitchcock vibe, and if there were any justice Goodman would be duly recognized for his incredible supporting performance.

But it’s also worth noting there were a number of amazing supporting male performances this year, including Tom Bennett (Love & Friendship), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some!!), and Ben Foster (Hell or High Water).

 

Best Supporting Actress – Janelle Monae in ‘Moonlight’

Moonlight is chock-full of absolutely stunning performances, but getting a bit lost in the conversation is Janelle Monae. She’s not a major part of the film in terms of screentime, but her presence is absolutely vital for the emotional arc of Chiron, and Monae knocks it out of the park. She injects the performance with a compassion and empathy that’s at once surprising and warm. In a film so full of life’s harsh realities, the comfort that Monae’s character brings is essential to balancing the movie’s tone, and the recording artist shines bright in a role with limited screentime. Though while we’re at it she’s also terrific in the period drama Hidden Figures, so perhaps her Oscar time will come soon enough.

Best Original Song – ‘Popstar’

Popstar: Never Stop Stopping is one of 2016’s underrated gems, and indeed a film that we’ll likely be talking about for years to come. Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer crafted a film that, while poking fun at music documentaries and self-important popstars, actually works incredibly well as its own story. Popstar is not a movie that simply wants to make fun of recognizable trends, but is instead a film that takes its own story and characters seriously, resulting in a viewing experience that’s as hilarious as it is compelling. And that extends to the songs, which are ridiculous pop perfection. It’s hard to single out just one as the “best”, as a number of tracks from the film should absolutely be in the Best Original Song conversation—“Equal Rights” has a fantastic joke arc; “Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)” toes the line between hilarious and offensive; and “I’m So Humble” is a genuinely terrific pop song. If this year’s Best Original Song category were filled only with Popstar songs, I’d have no qualms.

Best Original Screenplay – ‘The Nice Guys’

Shane Black knows how to write the hell out of a script. The Lethal Weapon scribe has been around Hollywood long enough to know every trick in the book, but what makes his screenplays sing is his devotion to subverting expectations. He is keenly aware that you, the viewer, have seen a lot of movies and generally know what happens in these kinds of films. Which makes a script like The Nice Guys, which Black co-wrote with Anthony Bagarozzi, so refreshing. This is Black and Bagarozzi’s riff on the pulp detective story, but with an original twist. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe make this dialogue soar, while the story takes a number of narrative twists and turns that are unexpected yet make perfect sense. And in terms of comedy, a punchline is only as great as its set-up, and Black and Bagarozzi knock the set-ups in The Nice Guys out of the park.

Best Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design – ‘The Handmaiden’

Filmmaker Park Chan-wook took his time in crafting his next film following his English-language debut Stoker, but The Handmaiden was worth the wait. This narratively complex, epic erotic drama is positively sumptuous in every sense of the word, and that extends to the craftsmanship that brought the film to life. Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung maintains a razor sharp focus on character while also balancing multiple points of view, capturing a story that mostly takes place on one vast estate in a way that keeps the visuals dynamic. And the production design of Seong-hie Ryu offers up gorgeous period-specific sets and settings, from an artfully beautiful estate to a literal sex dungeon. And it all comes together thanks to striking, character-specific costumes courtesy of Sang-gyeong Jo. Foreign language films have a tougher time cracking into the Oscar race for whatever reason, but The Handmaiden makes a strong case for nominations in a variety of categories.