Many were surprised this morning when Asghar Farhadi‘s The Past wasn’t included among the five announced Spirit Award nominees — Blue is the Warmest Color, Gloria, The Great Beauty, The Hunt, A Touch of Sin — for Best International Film. Hitfix‘s Greg Ellwood noted that The Past “isn’t as beloved as [Farhadi’s] A Separation, granted, but the exclusion of The Past is puzzling. Farhadi won the Spirit Award in this category for A Separation in 2012. The Past has had strong reviews since Cannes and it’s certainly better than The Hunt or The Great Beauty. Odd to say the least.” If you ask me The Past is way, way more believable and on-target. More enticingly textured and satisfyingly adult than The Hunt. More emotionally precise, delicate, affecting. The Past performances alone tower over those in The Hunt.”