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House of Gucci's Lady Gaga, Belfast's Catriona Balfe, Dune's director Denis Villenueve cop Oscar snubs in Academy Awards nominations

It wasn’t a great day for famous singers in the best actress category as Lady Gaga and Jennifer Hudson both miss out on expected acting nods. (IMDB)

Lady Gaga and other major Hollywood names are missing from the list of this year's Academy Awards contenders.

House of Gucci, a star-studded movie about the feuding family behind the Italian fashion label, was excluded from all of the major categories, including best leading actress.

Pop star Lady Gaga, who was nominated in the category for 2018's A Star is Born, was seen by awards watchers as a likely pick, and her famously fervent fans were disappointed.

Gaga chose not to address missing out on the nomination on social media, instead acknowledging the hair and makeup stylist on the film, Frederic Aspiras, who did receive a nomination.

"Frederic was magical, precise, and dedicated months leading up to shoot and during filming. He prepared dozens of wigs for months and months, and did at least a year of preparation," Gaga posted to Instagram.

"He’s a living genius and Freddie, we are all so grateful to just even be near your talent, creativity and generosity of spirit."

Gaga's co-star in A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper, is also among those fans are disappointed to see absent from the list. 

Cooper is celebrating a nomination for producing Nightmare Alley, but he was a fan favourite to score an acting nod this year for his small scene-stealing turn in Licorice Pizza. 

Should Cooper have been nominated and won, he would have been among a small group of Oscar-winning actors who'd appeared in less than 10 minutes of a film, the most recent of whom was Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love.

Dune, an adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, received 10 nominations, yet unexpectedly bypassed Villeneuve's direction. (Supplied: Warner Bros./Chiabella James)

Other surprising absences were Denis Villeneuve, who directed the critically acclaimed science-fiction epic Dune, Jennifer Hudson for her soulful turn as Aretha Franklin in Respect and Outlander TV star Caitriona Balfe.

Balfe was a favourite for the supporting actress category, after being nominated for Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA film awards for her role as Ma in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast.

Balfe's co-star Judi Dench instead received the leading actress nomination.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will have to be content with simply being one of the highest earning films of all time.

It became increasingly unlikely that it would score a best picture nomination after several big guilds, including directors and producers, passed it over.

The blockbuster scored only a single nomination, for achievement in visual effects.

Regardless, there was plenty to celebrate

The nominee list also hit some notable milestones in recognising more diverse talent in film.

Jane Campion became the first woman to have two nominations in the best director category: this year's for the dark Western The Power of the Dog and one nearly three decades ago for 1993 romantic drama The Piano.

Last year, Chloé Zhao became just the second woman to ever win the award.

Campion's director of photography, Ari Wegner, also became the second woman ever nominated for best cinematography.

Campion is the first woman to ever get two directing nominations, for The Piano in 1994 and The Power of the Dog in 2022. (AP: Richard Shotwell/Invision)

Troy Kotsur, who was nominated for best supporting actor in CODA, a coming-of-age movie about the only hearing member of a deaf family, became only the second deaf actor ever to be nominated for playing a deaf character.

Beyonce, the female singer with the most Grammy awards in history, scored her first Oscar nod for co-writing the song Be Alive for King Richard.

Reluctant teen flick lead turned suave star Kristen Stewart is also celebrating her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín's Spencer.

Kristen Stewart's nomination came as a surprise after she was snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild. (Supplied: Roadshow)

Stewart was dismissed by many academy forecasters after missing some big nominations, including from the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAS, and her chances looked slim.

But the acting branch of the academy decided differently, giving Stewart the only nomination for Spencer, which seemed ripe for Oscar recognition.

ABC/ Wires

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