Oscar Snubs: They Wuz Robbed!

[Spartan Girl]

I'll never understand why Denzel Washington lost Best Actor for Malcolm X to Al Pacino in Scent of A Woman.  Still, at least he was nominated, unlike David Oyelowo....

[proserpina65]

Both of those were really good, but that year I was pulling for Elizabeth (although, I wouldn't have bet on it--I knew better).  I loved Elizabeth.

 

You mean they're not?  ;) 

 

Yeah, I know someone whose a script writer and after he saw Shakespeare in Love, he gave it a standing ovation and said to his wife "That's this year's winner!  I'm calling it right now."   Definitely subjective.

 

I loved the cleverness of the dialogue in Shakespeare In Love.  I'm not surprised it appealed to your script writer friend.

 

Elizabeth presented a problem for me.  On one hand, it was a beautifully put-together film in pretty much every way, and I would've given the Oscar to Cate Blanchett's performance; but on the other hand, I was a Medieval & Renaissance Studies major in college, so the historical liberties taken (and they were immense) bothered me too much to give it Best Picture.  Ah, the difficulties of being a historian watching historically based films . . . it's a dilemma I often face, but when the film deals with one of the periods I studied, it's really hard to get past.  Plus, I still have very fond memories of Elizabeth R with the magnificent Glenda Jackson.

[dusang]

Elizabeth presented a problem for me.  On one hand, it was a beautifully put-together film in pretty much every way, and I would've given the Oscar to Cate Blanchett's performance; but on the other hand, I was a Medieval & Renaissance Studies major in college, so the historical liberties taken (and they were immense) bothered me too much to give it Best Picture.  Ah, the difficulties of being a historian watching historically based films . . . it's a dilemma I often face, but when the film deals with one of the periods I studied, it's really hard to get past.  Plus, I still have very fond memories of Elizabeth R with the magnificent Glenda Jackson.

 

I sometimes wonder if that would be a fun way to teach history (in highschool) -- have the class watch a film and then challenge them to find the most inaccuracies.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'll never understand why Denzel Washington lost Best Actor for Malcolm X to Al Pacino in Scent of A Woman.  Still, at least he was nominated, unlike David Oyelowo....

 

Two words: Pity Oscar.

 

Pacino should have gotten it for Godfather, Godfather II, Injustice for All....but didn't. I'm assuming they (the Academy) thought Pacino wouldn't do another movie, and gave it to him for that horrible movie.

[briochetwist]

 Ah, the difficulties of being a historian watching historically based films . . . it's a dilemma I often face, but when the film deals with one of the periods I studied, it's really hard to get past.  

 

Couldn't agree more.  I hate it when history is rewritten in films to make them more exciting.  Couldn't bring myself to see Argo because of it, so disappointed when movies like that win.

[hendersonrocks]

This might just be a baby snub, but I finally watched The Lunchbox yesterday and am floored it didn't get nominated for Best Foreign Film. (My assumption is that it qualified, but I might be out of my league on that.) The reviews for it were off the charts and it really was very good, effectively avoiding some of the movie cliches I really thought it was going to fall victim to. 

 

For the Homeland viewers out there, it was also kind of surreal to see evil-genius Tasneem in a wildly different light!

[Rick Kitchen]

Foreign films have to be nominated by their national film board (or whatever it's called), so if the film isn't nominated, it doesn't get a chance at an Oscar nom.

[Athena]

This might just be a baby snub, but I finally watched The Lunchbox yesterday and am floored it didn't get nominated for Best Foreign Film. (My assumption is that it qualified, but I might be out of my league on that.) The reviews for it were off the charts and it really was very good, effectively avoiding some of the movie cliches I really thought it was going to fall victim to.

 

Foreign films have to be nominated by their national film board (or whatever it's called), so if the film isn't nominated, it doesn't get a chance at an Oscar nom.

 

It was snubbed by the Indian Film Federation for last year's Oscars. Wikipedia has a summary of the controversy on why it wasn't selected to be nominated.

[Shannon L.]

 

I sometimes wonder if that would be a fun way to teach history (in highschool) -- have the class watch a film and then challenge them to find the most inaccuracies.

That definitely would've made history much more fun for me! 

[hendersonrocks]

It was snubbed by the Indian Film Federation for last year's Oscars. Wikipedia has a summary of the controversy on why it wasn't selected to be nominated.

 

Wow--that is fascinating; to think that offense stemming from a fictional story re: Dubbawalas making a mistake could be behind it is even more fascinating. (Kind of reminds me about The LEGO Movie snub this year, and rumors the animation branch are being stodgy in their old age [it was too commercial, there was a bit of live action, etc.]. This story has my favorite line about the whole affair: "This is not a snub. This is a bricking joke.")

Edited January 20, 2015 by hendersonrocks

[ruby24]

I'll always be annoyed at the Denzel Washington/Al Pacino wins. Both of them clearly deserved their Oscars for other performances, and the ones they won for were obviously make-up "should have given it you before" awards. Pacino for Godfather (or really any of his 70's films), and Washington for Malcolm X. It's going to happen this year with Julianne Moore too- Still Alice is not the greatest movie, and not her greatest performance. I think she ought to have won for Far From Heaven, but no, Nicole Kidman had to have it that year, mainly because she was the biggest star in the category, and it was right during the peak of her career (her win would have been better for Moulin Rouge, but Halle Berry had to have it that year).

Edited January 20, 2015 by ruby24

[choclatechip45]

I found this article today that is pretty interesting talks about 8 of the biggest Black Oscar Snubs http://watchloud.com/black-oscar-snubs/.

[BatmanBeatles]

Hey now, Ed Wood is a good movie.

[spaceytraci1208]

I'll always be annoyed at the Denzel Washington/Al Pacino wins. Both of them clearly deserved their Oscars for other performances, and the ones they won for were obviously make-up "should have given it you before" awards. Pacino for Godfather (or really any of his 70's films), and Washington for Malcolm X.

That's how I feel about Whoopi Goldberg's oscar for Ghost. Her performance was good in it, but her performance in The Color Purple is outstanding and I think it's criminal that she didn't win for it.

[ChaseMCP]

While I agree with a lot of the points in that article (especially about The Color Purple, I can't believe it won nothing) the occasional dismissive tone throws me off. Martin Landau did more than just play an "eccentric white guy" and gave a great performance (and I say that as someone who wanted Gary Sinise to win for Forrest Gump) in one of Tim Burton's better movies. And I'd say that Tom Hanks in Philadelphia was pretty damn memorable. 

[proserpina65]

(her win would have been better for Moulin Rouge, but Halle Berry had to have it that year).

 

I agree that Halle Berry shouldn't have won that year, but Nicole didn't deserve an Oscar for Moulin Rouge; she deserved it for The Others, for which, I believe, she wasn't even nominated.

[proserpina65]

I found this article today that is pretty interesting talks about 8 of the biggest Black Oscar Snubs http://watchloud.com/black-oscar-snubs/.

Some of these are valid; a lot of them are crap.  I will say, though, that had Eddie Murphy not screwed himself with that piece of shite Norbit, he would've taken home the Oscar he so greatly deserved.

[JBC344]

Some of these are valid; a lot of them are crap.  I will say, though, that had Eddie Murphy not screwed himself with that piece of shite Norbit, he would've taken home the Oscar he so greatly deserved.

If Norbit is to blame for the snub, I would put that on the studio.  They could of easily waited for Eddie to finish the awards season before they released the movie.

[KatWay]

Norbit was definitely a big part of it. But I thought that the whole Mel B being pregnant and Eddie refusing to acknowledge that it might be his child also added to the drama? Wasn't that around that time as well?

[JBC344]

Norbit was definitely a big part of it. But I thought that the whole Mel B being pregnant and Eddie refusing to acknowledge that it might be his child also added to the drama? Wasn't that around that time as well?

The custody case was a little after he lost the Academy Award.  He might have another shot with his current movie "Cook".  A drama he is currently filming.

[proserpina65]

If Norbit is to blame for the snub, I would put that on the studio.  They could of easily waited for Eddie to finish the awards season before they released the movie.

True, but Eddie gets some of the blame for making the movie in the first place.  What a waste of his talent.  (Yeah, I know, that kind of crap has been good for him, box office-wise.)

[Constantinople]

I wouldn't say it was robbed, given that I tend not to subscribe to the idea so-and-so deserved an award, but it seems a bit inconsistent that The Pianist didn't win Best Picture after winning Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor in what was largely a 1 person performance.

 

Yes, there's the Roman Polanski statutory rapist issue, but that didn't stop him from winning Best Picture.

[Rick Kitchen]

FOX News is now claiming there is an eevul Hollywood librul conspiracy to "deny" American Sniper its deserved Oscar.

[Shannon L.]

 

FOX News is now claiming there is an eevul Hollywood librul conspiracy to "deny" American Sniper its deserved Oscar.

Of course they are.  *sigh*

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Norbit was definitely a big part of it. But I thought that the whole Mel B being pregnant and Eddie refusing to acknowledge that it might be his child also added to the drama? Wasn't that around that time as well?

Yes.

[ruby24]

Well, sorry, but the Fox News/Sarah Palin embrace of that movie pretty much ensures it won't win any Oscars, imo. No matter what the box office is.

[JBC344]

Well, sorry, but the Fox News/Sarah Palin embrace of that movie pretty much ensures it won't win any Oscars, imo. No matter what the box office is.

Lol, I was just thinking the same thing.  Having those endorsements I wouldn't consider that great PR.

[ruby24]

Hollywood's not really as liberal as people think (there a lot of conservative CEO's and studio heads for example), but the talent (actors, writers, directors) overwhelmingly is, so yeah- if American Sniper becomes the right wing movie of the year I really don't believe the Academy will touch it (maybe they'll throw it a sound award or something)

[MBJ]

I remember as a kid, being very angry with this particular category in 1993.

 

Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress
Tommy Lee Jones – The Fugitive as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerarddouble-dagger - Winner
Leonardo DiCaprio – What's Eating Gilbert Grape as Arnie Grape
Ralph Fiennes – Schindler's List as Amon Goeth
John Malkovich – In the Line of Fire as Mitch Leary
Pete Postlethwaite – In the Name of the Father as Giuseppe Conlon

 

Obviously, with how young I was, I thought Leo was the be-all and end-all.  I was so upset that Leo didn't win, and if he didn't win, then I would have given it to John Malkovich who scared the shit out of me with that performance.  However, that was 100 years ago, and I was shocked when I recently saw "The Man in the Iron Mask" and found Leo's acting a lot, lot, lot worse in that film than I remembered :)

 

These days, the Oscar Best Picture winner that makes me the most annoyed was "Crash".  I hate that movie.

 

I was a huge, huge fan of "Social Network" and "True Grit" in 2010, so my heart was broken by "The King's Speech" taking everything, which I found just average.  And I mean, if those movies weren't going to take it, why not "Inception"?  Overall I thought that was just an incredible year for movies.

 

In all of these cases, I saw all of the movies I mention.  "The Fugitive" is actually one of my all time favourites, but that performance!?  Come ON!

Edited January 22, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[briochetwist]

I remember as a kid, being very angry with this particular category in 1993.

 

Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress

Tommy Lee Jones – The Fugitive as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerarddouble-dagger - Winner

Leonardo DiCaprio – What's Eating Gilbert Grape as Arnie Grape

Ralph Fiennes – Schindler's List as Amon Goeth

John Malkovich – In the Line of Fire as Mitch Leary

Pete Postlethwaite – In the Name of the Father as Giuseppe Conlon

 

I thought Ralph Fiennes was a lock that year.  Nope.  Methinks he's not too popular with the Academy for some reason.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Crash winning Best Picture, was some old bullshit.

Should've been Brokeback Mountain, but old fart Academy voters couldn't deal with

two men kissing/making love.

Plain and simple.

The CRAParted is another one, the weakest film in Scorsese's filmography.

SMDH...

Edited January 23, 2015 by MrsRafaelBarba

[hendersonrocks]

These days, the Oscar Best Picture winner that makes me the most annoyed was "Crash".  I hate that movie.

 

A million times yes. Well, I didn't actually hate the movie--but I was devastated (as one can be over awards shows) that Brokeback Mountain did not win. That movie slayed me, heart and soul.

 

Given how rapidly support in our society (and in the legal/justice system) has progressed for marriage equality--PRAISE JESUS--since 2006 it's interesting to ponder whether the voters would make the same decision again.

[proserpina65]

I thought Ralph Fiennes was a lock that year.  Nope.  Methinks he's not too popular with the Academy for some reason.

I always figured there weren't enough Academy voters willing to give an Oscar to a performance which found some sympathy for a truly horrible person, but given some of the winning performance since then, maybe there's something to your supposition.  Although I really liked Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, I still believe Ralph Fiennes was robbed that year; his performance was nothing short of brilliance.

[dusang]

Obviously, with how young I was, I thought Leo was the be-all and end-all.  I was so upset that Leo didn't win, and if he didn't win, then I would have given it to John Malkovich who scared the shit out of me with that performance.  However, that was 100 years ago, and I was shocked when I recently saw "The Man in the Iron Mask" and found Leo's acting a lot, lot, lot worse in that film than I remembered :)

 

Not that I'm saying he should have won, but don't paint the Gilbert Grape performance with the Iron Mask brush.

[absnow54]

And Leo was pretty terrible in Titanic as well, and people considered that a snub, because, well, everything else in that movie got nominated. I did watch What's Eating Gilbert Grape again recently, and even with my tween, heart shaped glasses removed, I still found it to be a damn good performance. That was a tough year to be nominated.

[Constantinople]

I remember as a kid...in 1993.

 

Show off.

 

I thought Ralph Fiennes was a lock that year.  Nope.  Methinks he's not too popular with the Academy for some reason.

If Liam Neeson didn't win Best Actor for being the good Nazi, no way Ralph Fiennes is winning Best Supporting Actor for being the evil Nazi.

For that matter, how often has someone won an Oscar for playing a Nazi? I know Kate Winslet did for The Reader.

[xaxat]

Cristoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds. 

[yourstruly]

I know that the Oscars are subjective and it's all politics and yada yada yada, but seriously, after seeing Selma last night, I really believe they made a *huge* error by not nominating David Oyelowo at minimum.

[ThatsDarling]

I'm disappointed that Jessica Chastain didn't receive a nomination this year. She was excellent in several films, especially The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and A Most Violent Year. The former film was a long-shot for awards recognition because it didn't do well financially, while I think she missed out on the latter because of the distributor's poor release strategy. Just goes to show how important factors such as timing, box office, and campaigning are in determining what and who get recognized as the "best." 

I know that the Oscars are subjective and it's all politics and yada yada yada, but seriously, after seeing Selma last night, I really believe they made a *huge* error by not nominating David Oyelowo at minimum.

Agreed, but I blame the distributor more than the Academy. Selma was only completed two months ago, so there was no time to send screeners to many of the precursor groups (SAG, DGA, etc.), resulting in the film losing buzz. One Academy member even stated that she never received a Selma screener, so it may have been underseen when voting was going on. 

 

I think Paramount should have waited until later this year to give Selma a proper release. Their main priority in 2014 seemed to be Interstellar. 

[ancslove]

I also think that Best Actor was a really tough field this year.  All the ones nominated, and several actors who weren't (like Oyelowo, and Jack O'Connell and Christoph Waltz) had rave reviews.  Best Actress was another packed field.  Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, and Jennifer Aniston were all left out, and yet I'm not sure which of the chosen nominees I'd replace.  OTOH, Supporting Actress field seems a bit thin this year.

[PepSinger]

 

I'm disappointed that Jessica Chastain didn't receive a nomination this year. She was excellent in several films, especially The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and A Most Violent Year. The former film was a long-shot for awards recognition because it didn't do well financially, while I think she missed out on the latter because of the distributor's poor release strategy.

I, too, am disappointed with the lack of recognition for Jessica Chastain this season. Her performance in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby still haunts me to this day. I thought A Most Violent Year was going to be a huge release, but it just whimpered. Is it even in all theatres?

[SallyAlbright]

I don't necessarily think that he should have won (since he was nominated against Hanks, Washington, Pacino etc.), but I wish that Robert Downey Jr's performance in Chaplin was more widely remembered. I know all of his scandals and then his Iron-Man comeback have overshadowed his earlier work, but I just watched the film again recently and think he was just magnificent. Makes me wish he'd do more non-Marvel movies soon. 

[Snipsa]

I was extremely angry at the academy wrt the Crash win in 2005. I didn't think Brokeback Mountain was the best amongst the nominees (it was actually my third favourite from the list - with Munich as my favourite). But I have never had as much hate for an oscar winner as I had for Crash. It felt like a Hallmark channel movie with mostly poor acting to boot!

[SallyAlbright]

Not completely a snub because she has now been nominated three times, but I feel like Michelle Williams should have an Oscar by now. She is consistently fantastic and in my opinion, one of the best actresses of her generation. Hopefully her recognition will come soon, much like the also-overdue Amy Adams.

[cpcathy]

Since I am a huge SNL fan, I'll say this: both Bill Hader in Skeletan Twins and Will Forte in Nebraska were excellent, especially Hader. I thought they should have both received nominations.

[DollEyes]

  Bumping it up to say that IMO Ridley Scott was robbed in the Best Director category, Idris Elba was robbed for Best Supporting Actor for Beasts Of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton & Star Wars: The Force Awakens were robbed of Best Picture.

[MBJ]

^ I absolutely 100% agree about Star Wars.  Hold it up against The Big Short and you tell me that Star Wars isn't better, I mean, come on!

 

I am obsessed with Idris but haven't seen that movie yet and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt!  What a white Oscars we will have!

 

There are also people upset about Michael B. Jordan.  (Another movie I haven't seen).

Edited January 14, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[caracas1914]

Eddie Redmayne's nod just annoys the heck out of me, compared with Jordan's nuanced performace as Creed. Sly's nomination shows it's not as if the Academy wasn't aware of the movie.

[Bruinsfan]

My biggest personal annoyance is that there wasn't a visual effects nomination for Ant Man. The shrinking effects were interesting and unusual, and my jaw dropped at the job they did de-aging Michael Douglas.

[Sara2009]

I was sort of hoping for Steve Carell to score a nomination. Oh well.

Also I'll admit that I haven't seen the movie yet, but I wanted Jacob Tremblay to get nominated for " Room."