This is why it's very hard to take a jab at Robbie as an actress. She's done it all.
She takes her career very seriously, and produces films too.

I love that she doesn't shy away from playinh horrible characters, weird ones, and ones who don't have as much screentime as the lead.

Let's not forget that Babylon not only released during Christmas weekend, the North American winter storm had an effect on the box office turnout that weekend as well. No one wanted to go out of their way to see a polarizing 3-hour film when it was 10 degrees farenheit outside.

It really was a shame; Babylon was my third favorite film of that year. The Babylon hive is STRONG!!

Babylon not winning Production Design, and Score is up there in the biggest snubs in the past ten years. Western Front was fine to me. Production Design was literally just mud everywhere and the score was boring.

I think the main problem of Babylon is the fact that it really feels like La La Land 2.0. Let's play clear and fair: La La Land is a post modern ode to Old Hollywood, full of sadness and nostalgia for those times. There are a lot of references to musical films (not only americans, the umbrealls of Cherbourg is heavily referenced), especially Singing in the rain, which happens to be the main inspiration for this film too. I kinda liked Babylon, as a classic cinema lover and an old hollywood lover, I had fun with the film, tho it started to lose me when sound arrived and lost me in the last hour,  but it was impossible to not see that Chazelle was referecing to almost the same movies he referenced in La La land. I felt like Chazelle was screaming "Hey, I made a film about old Hollywood and you guys didn't give me the Oscar!! Is it more clear for you like this?". The score felt like La La Land, the story felt like La La Land, the ending felt like La La Land - it's basically the same. Personally, I think it was mistep for Chazelle and while I had fun with that as I am ol film buff, I think it wasn't amazing and the writing was a little bit stiff and atrocious at time, sometimes even too much plain and simple, quite didactic. And I never thought that any actor could get a nomination. Robbie is great, but she was not worthy of a nod and she is the film. Every other actor doesn't do anything but standing and staring.

God... I have to say Babylon was my fav movie of last year, so there goes my objetivity, but I would say the main reason why it failed at Oscars was because it is not actually a love letter to the industry, but rather a list of the terrible things that have made Hollywood what it is.
I think that the final hit of losing the best score oscar was just unfair. Margot totally deserved the nod but that cathegory was stacked. Also, as a fellow mexican, I love seeing someone from my country leading a big production!!
Hopefully Chazelle keeps doing amazing movies.

It’s interesting to see how Babylon had all the makings of being a major Academy Awards contender, yet ends up not only being a box office failure and being polarizing with critics, but didn’t get a slew of nominations despite the film looking like it would be nominated for a lot just from the trailers. Thanks for the video Brian, I hope you’re doing well, keep up the great work. Take care!

There were just already too many films in the last decade about filmmaking, with the industry people paying tribute to themselves - Hugo, The Artist, La La Land, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Fabelmans, and then Babylon, and I am sure I have left out others. I don't think Babylon was bad: I checked that I gave 7 out of 10 in IMDb but until I watched this I could not remember what it was about and even tended to confuse it with Amsterdam. I guess it did not get many nominations because it was just unremarkable.

When Babylon came out I immediately thought it was Oscar bait. The release date, the movie’s subject matter and the fact that I think Margot Robbie is itchy to get an actual Oscar and not just be nominated because every other year she’s either doing a franchise big budget movie (suicide squad, Barbie) or a movie that will be an award darling (I,tonya, bombshell) and I think Margot was hedging her bets that she would get a nom for Babylon or Amsterdam.

I had low expectations (have yet to see the movie) but in all honesty I really wanted Eeaao to sweep the season and that came true

I could forgive the Academy for not giving Babylon all the nominations it deserved, but I'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever forgive them for not giving it original score.  Everyone in that branch should be expelled.

I think people were expecting another La La Land from Damien. With Babylon, they got something else. I've seen clips of the film, but one day I will watch the film to see what was the buzz about it this divisive film. Looking at the clips, it reminded me of Ken Russell's over-the-top films and Day of the Locust.

I remember the marketing for this movie being very confusing (Europe). I couldn't work out what genre it was or when it was set - the focus was on it being an 'event.'
It was out of cinemas before I even knew it had been released!

I had never heard of Babylon until the Oscar nomination announcements. It had 0 advertising where I live and I don’t even remember the film playing at my local theater

Meant to add - because you reference Whiplash, I have a personal best film list going since 2000 and I average about 2 or 3 best films for me, of each year and Whiplash was one of the best as well, for it's year.  I remember that - a unique thing really, a musically themed dramatic movie fashioned like a very intense thriller - I thought that was insane and blew my mind when it came out.

The frenetic first 20 minutes had me hooked…before the the title card credit..that scene with Margo was hitting her mark was long, but made its point.. while watching, it kept reminding me of another film, Singing in the Rain, but I couldn’t place it..the way it went full circle with Rain at the end was genius.. I loved it.. some scenes were gratuitous, shots unnecessarily long, but I love it..

Maybe people are tired of long, overblown movies with overblown casts about Hollywood.

Babylon is an extraordinary movie! I think the marketing campaign was a disaster, the trailer was confused, it was difficult to understand what the movie was about: I totally agree, the Oscar for best original soundtrack should be for Justin Hurwitz, easily the film deserved nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, in addition to those obtained. Another important factor was the Hollywood portrait and how the produces were depicted.

The only reason I didn’t see Babylon - and I badly wanted to - was the snake sequence. I wasn’t prepared to cower in the cinema because of my phobia. But by all accounts this is a film that needed to be seen on a giant screen.

Can’t say I’m surprised. Babylon assumes an audiences know various Hollywood history esoterica, but then goes for gross out shots and grotesques to alienate the limited number of people likely to enjoy it.

Then the montage near the end was a mawkish eye roller.

Definitely do more failed Oscar bait films. This was a great film that deserved more love from the Academy! Jean Smart also deserved a nomination for Supporting Actress!

I loved this film. Just saw this movie last night! One of the best films of the decade ❤ it will be looked favorably someday, give it 5 to 10 years. An underrated masterpiece. Pitt and Robbie deserved Oscar nominations.