Wednesday Oscar Retrospective: First Five Forgotten in 2010

Welcome back to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Wednesday Oscar Retrospective. The First Five Forgotten is the sixth in a series of projects looking back at the past eight years of the Oscars, dating back to the first ceremony I watched and closely followed, not to be confused with my first series, the Forgotten Five, which looked at the five films that came closest to getting nominated for Best Picture and ended up getting shut out entirely.

As Oscar season goes into hibernation for more than half the year, it’s a time to take a look back at past races. This time, I’ll be spotlighting the five performers that came closest to earning their first Oscar nominations and then ended up getting snubbed, in alphabetical order. If you feel I’ve left anyone off, please say so in the comments!

First Five Forgotten in 2010

Andrew Garfield (The Social Network): This Golden Globe nominee’s character was second fiddle to Mark Zuckerberg in real life, but Garfield’s performance was equally committed and capable. A competitive year with a lot of contenders resulted in Garfield being snubbed. He’s not letting it get to him, starring in the reboot of “Spider-Man” and plenty more in the near future. One of his projects is likely to net him an Oscar nod someday.

Mila Kunis (Black Swan): The former star of “That 70s Show” got serious as a seductive dancer opposite Natalie Portman’s slipping ballerina. She got nominated for both a Golden Globe and a SAG, and she likely just missed the Oscar list. She may not contend again given the kind of roles she tends to take, but it’s not impossible.

Lesley Manville (Another Year): The brilliant star of this Mike Leigh won some notable precursor prizes but no major nominations, and her main problem was that some would consider her a lead while others would designate her a supporting actress. If she couldn’t get nominated for this superb part, all bets are off, though I’m sure she’ll be turning in another excellent performance in a Leigh film soon.

Sam Rockwell (Conviction): This was the closest he got to Oscar, following breakout roles in “Moon” and “Choke” the two years before, but aside from a surprise SAG nod for Hilary Swank, this film just never caught on. Rockwell has been in too many Oscar-bait projects for him never to contend, but it’s going to have to be a knockout role in a year that’s not too competitive.

Justin Timberlake (The Social Network): The singer was in the ensemble of one of the most buzzed-about films of the year, and he was actually pretty good, which is a rarity for those who make that career switch. Competing against two other actors from the same film didn’t help his chances, and I suspect this is the only time that he’ll come close to netting an Oscar nod.