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 Singer and actress Lopez was widely praised for her role as an
enterprising pole dancer in "Hustlers" as was Murphy for his
lead role in "Dolemite is My Name." But neither landed among the
contenders for acting honors that will be awarded at the Oscars
ceremony on Feb. 9 after both had been nominated for Golden
Globe awards.
"The big surprise of the day has to be Jennifer Lopez not
getting a best supporting actress nomination," said Variety
chief film critic Owen Gleiberman. "There was just so much buzz
about it, so much expectation. A lot of people thought she was
going to win."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the roughly
8,000-member group that hands out the Oscars, also continued
Hollywood's streak of giving a cold shoulder to Robert De Niro's
performance in "The Irishman."
Two-time Oscar winner De Niro was nominated as a producer of
"The Irishman," which will compete for best picture, but not for
his acting in the gangster epic. He also failed to land a Golden
Globe or Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the part.
Comic actor Adam Sandler had won acclaim for his dramatic role
in crime thriller "Uncut Gems," but voters left him out of the
Oscar nominations. Gleiberman called Sandler's performance
"extraordinary."
"It's an amazing movie, a truly great performance that shows
that Adam Sandler really had a kind of greatness in him,"
Gleiberman said.
Awkwafina, who won a Golden Globe for playing a doting
granddaughter in "The Farewell," also was left out of the acting
nods.
Walt Disney Co's blockbuster sequel "Frozen 2" failed to secure
a spot in the best animated feature category, which included two
lesser-known entries from Netflix Inc - "Klaus" and "I Lost My
Body."
The academy attracted renewed criticism for failing to recognize
female directors by leaving out "Little Women" filmmaker Greta
Gerwig. She was nominated for adapted screenplay but not for
best director.
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Actress Issa Rae, one of the presenters of the nominations,
quipped "congratulations to those men" when the director
nominees were announced, and #DirectorsSoMale became a trending
topic on Twitter.
The Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment
about criticism regarding lack of diversity.
Overall, "Little Women" received six nominations including best
picture and a surprise nod for supporting actress Florence Pugh
as difficult daughter Amy March.
Gerwig said she was "brimming with happiness" after the
nominations were announced.
"I don't necessarily see the omission of Greta Gerwig from this
year's slate of nominees as a gender-based decision," Gleiberman
said.
"The larger gender-based thing is that we need many, many more
movies, major movies directed by women. That's only going to
happen when we have more and more women in the positions of
power," Gleiberman added.
Only one of the 20 acting nominees was a person of color.
Cynthia Erivo was nominated for her lead role as anti-slavery
activist Harriet Tubman in "Harriet."
That prompted some Twitter users to revive the #OscarsSoWhite
hashtag that exploded in 2015.
The film academy has since moved to diversify its mostly white,
male membership by inviting more women and people of color to
join.
Banderas, the 59-year-old veteran of movies including "The Mask
of Zorro" and "Evita," received his first Oscar nomination for
playing a film director reflecting on his life choices in "Pain
and Glory." The movie was directed by Pedro Almodóvar, who based
the film on his own life story.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Culver City, Calif.; Additional
reporting by Alicia Powell in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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