Oscars 2014 - Tom Hanks And Robert Redford Snubbed At The Oscars? Is It To Give Way For Leonardo DiCaprio?

Tom Hanks and Robert Redford generated some of the loudest Oscar Buzz last year. There were oddsmakers who thought Hanks would be nominated for two movies, while Redford gave the performance of his life. Is it not their time yet?

Tom Hanks received critical acclaim for "Captain Phillips" and was predicted to win an Oscar. From Slant Magazine: "Never is this more apparent than in Hanks's astonishing acting during the film's final two scenes, which, much thanks to him, achieve a near-indescribable level of haunting human trauma. Sitting blindfolded, his flabbergasted shock at the sound of Phillips's captors' assassinations is tear-inducing in its soul-rocking naturalism, and his almost catatonic progression through the incident's aftermath ('That's not my blood,' he whimpers with great wealth of meaning) is reason enough to place him among this year's Best Actor contenders."

However, he made another film which critics thought was Oscar notable. As Walt Disney in "Saving Mr. Banks" he showed all his skills in a character driven movie. Yet the Academy did not fall for SMB/ From Yahoo Movies, one reason was that the movie theme lacked urgency or relevance: "Take a look at the Best Picture lineup. Now take a look at the subject matter in that lineup. We're talking kidnapping, slavery, fraud, alcoholism, dementia, political corruption, AIDS, and a lonely death way out in cold, cold space. In contrast, the tension in Banks stems from a movie: Will 'Mary Poppins' get made? Will it? Will it????? Well, when you compare that to the plight of a man kidnapped and sold into slavery, it's kind of hard to care."

There is also the theory that having two best actor performances may split the vote. That is also a plausible explanation. The Academy votes for performances in one movie, not a collective body of work.

That reason does not apply to Robert Redford. In "All Is Lost" Redford did not even have co-stars, and there was a viable sense of urgency when you're alone at sea. The actor himself blamed the politics of Hollywood, and how his distributors were not at par to play the game. From his appearance at Sundance, chronicled by The Hollywood Reporter, Redford said: "Hollywood is what it is, it's a business, and so when these films go to be voted on, usually they're heavily dependent on campaigns.  In our case, I think we suffered from little to no distribution. And so as a result, our distributors -- I don't know why -- they didn't want to spend the money, they were afraid or they were just incapable, I don't know."

Perhaps no one will ever know, but there are many factors for an Oscar nomination, and let alone a win. That is why it means so much. It is also why the Academy needs to 'balance it out' and award it to someone who has 'paid their dues.' Is it Leonardo's turn now? 

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oscars 2014
Tom Hanks
Robert Redford
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