NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Dominic Corry: Drive, Charlize Theron were robbed by Oscar noms

Dominic Corry
By Dominic Corry
Herald online·
25 Jan, 2012 10:48 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Charlize Theron deserved an Oscar nomination for her role in Young Adult. Photo / Supplied

Charlize Theron deserved an Oscar nomination for her role in Young Adult. Photo / Supplied

Dominic Corry
Opinion by Dominic Corry
Dominic Corry is a freelance entertainment writer and film critic.
Learn more

When I saw Stand By Me in 1986 when I was nine-years-old, I thought I was incredibly mature for loving a movie that was clearly made for grown-ups.

What I didn't understand was why it failed to be nominated for, let alone win, the Best Picture Oscar (it received a singular nomination for its screenplay).

I had long come to accept that movies I loved like Back To The Future and The Goonies weren't going to win Oscars, but here was a beautifully-realised drama that tugged at the heart-strings - surely this was what the Oscars were all about?

It made no sense to my nine-year-old mind that Stand By Me wasn't front and centre at the awards.

In the intervening couple of decades, my view on the Oscars hasn't changed a heck of a lot. Arguments fly back and forth regarding their relevance, but their prominence in the movie calendar cannot be denied.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I do my best to not get frustrated by any lack of correlation between my personal favourites and the Oscar front-runners, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly depressed by this year's list of nominations, which makes one the strongest ever cases for the Academy being out of touch.

The biggest travesty is the dearth of nominations for Drive, one of the most well-liked and critically acclaimed films of the year. Ryan Gosling deserved to be recognised for his steely lead performance, as did Albert Brooks for his supporting role.

At the very least, director Nicholas Winding Refn should've been nominated. But all it got was a one paltry nod for Sound Editing. Blerg.

This year the Academy changed the rules on how many films could be nominated for Best Picture. After a couple of years of there being 10 nominees, which was thought to have lessened the prestige of a nomination, this year the idea was that between five and 10 films would be nominated.

For a film to receive a nomination it had to make it over a vote threshold, which appears to have been set kinda low, as this year there are nine Best Picture nominess. And still no Drive. Or Bridesmaids. It's very disheartening.

Discover more

Entertainment

Will Bret McKenzie's Muppet song win an Oscar?

24 Jan 08:30 PM
Opinion

What film deserves to win an Oscar this year?

24 Jan 07:22 PM
Entertainment

Tintin snubbed but Weta gets Oscar nod (+photos)

24 Jan 08:40 PM
Entertainment

'I'm over the moon' says Muppet man McKenzie

24 Jan 10:11 PM

The Academy has often treated the screenplay categories as conciliatory awards for films that in their eyes didn't quite warrant Best Picture nominations/wins (see: Pulp Fiction; Milk; The Social Network). Even under this thinking, Drive was snubbed, although it did allow for outliers like Margin Call and Bridesmaids to garner nominations.

The Best Animated Feature category is still pretty new, but its integrity has taken a knock this year with The Adventures of Tintin being overlooked in favour of ... Puss In Boots. Really?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Probably my biggest gripe however is with the lack of a nomination for Charlize Theron in Young Adult. Theron is nothing less than amazing in the film, and Patton Oswalt should also have been nominated for his supporting role.

I was stoked to see Pina nominated for Best Documentary though.

How seriously do you take the Oscar nominations? What were your major gripes? Do you reckon Andy Serkis should have received an acting nomination for Rise of the Planet of the Apes? Post your comments below...

- Herald online

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

Desperate Housewives star dies, aged 71

31 May 10:23 PM
World

New Doctor Who revealed in UK series finale

31 May 09:52 PM
Entertainment

'Ready to rock': How Jimmy Barnes is fighting fit ahead of releasing new album Defiant

31 May 09:00 PM

Sponsored: Cosy up to colour all year

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

 Desperate Housewives star dies, aged 71

Desperate Housewives star dies, aged 71

31 May 10:23 PM

'America has lost one of its most endearing actresses'.

New Doctor Who revealed in UK series finale

New Doctor Who revealed in UK series finale

31 May 09:52 PM
'Ready to rock': How Jimmy Barnes is fighting fit ahead of releasing new album Defiant

'Ready to rock': How Jimmy Barnes is fighting fit ahead of releasing new album Defiant

31 May 09:00 PM
Andrew Hamilton – Doing stand-up comedy is my community service

Andrew Hamilton – Doing stand-up comedy is my community service

Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design
sponsored

Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP