Every time I check the history of the Oscars I start to wonder what’s wrong with the Academy. So many mediocre movies that turned into surprise winners and noone remembers. So many iconic movies that were overlooked, to the point of insult. But time and the fans have their own value system and it often totally mismatches the Academy’s tastes. It is tough to understand how movies like The Hurt Locker and Birdman have won the most important awards and The Shawshank Redemption and Taxi Driver have not. But let me go further. Let’s take a look at the movies that did not get a single nomination at the Oscars. That’s right – not a single one! And when you see the list you can judge how embarrassing this is for the people in the industry!
1. American Psycho
Based on the 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis and directed by Mary Harron in 2000, American Psycho was first snubbed by the critics but soon gained an iconic status among the younger audience.
Much of the movie’s appeal is based on Christian Bale’s masterful performance as the glamorous, egotastic, sociopatic uppie Patric Bateman. This was the role that cemented Bale as a superstar and one of the leading actors of his generation. So the lack of a nomination by the Academy would surprise everyone, not just the fetishists of the perfect business cards.
Apart from the obvious nomination for male leading role the movie should have received one for adapted screenplay (it was almost obligatory and how the Academy failed to see that is a mystery), editing, cinematography and last but not least – directing for the sublime Mary Harron, whose visual style pays rightful homage to Ellis’s horrific prose.
2. Scarface
Another massive Oscar blooper. The fact that Al Pacino did not get a nomination for his Tony Montana portrayal is an insult to the intelligence of the Academy members. Add the missing nominations for director Brian de Palma and screenwriter Olver Stone and you end up with arguably the most embarrassing mistake in the history of the awards.
Scarface is what you would call a classic movie, and even more – it is an integral part of our modern culture. You can see Tony Montana’s face on t-shirts in New York, Tokyo, Moscow and Cape Town. It is a brutal movie, without an ounce of melodrama, with pulsating violence and cynicism – a pessimistic journey down the spiral of greed and moral corruption, a twisted version of the American dream.
The movie could have easily been nominated for best motion picture, best cinematography and music, leading and supporting female role – Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio respectively. It got none of these. That’s what I call a wrong decision!
3. Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Tarantino was never one of the Academy’s favourites. So snubbing one of his most iconic movies is actually not that much of a surprise. But it does not change the fact that Reservoir Dogs remains one of the most influential independent movies of all time and a true masterpiece in its genre.
Let’s get the obvious nominations out of the way first – best movie, screenplay and directing. Giving Michael Madsen and Harvey Keitel nominations would not be too much off the mark as well.
4. The Big Lebowski
Given the fact that the Coen brothers are well received by the Academy, the lack of nominations for their oppus magnum is even more surprising. The Big Lebowski is one of these movies you end up either hating or pronouncing it a masterpiece. Many call it the best neo-noir criminal comedy of all time. It is a movie in a genre of its own and its cult status in the modern American culture is beyond doubt.
Having said all that it is even tougher to understand how the Academy snubbed The Big Lebowski so bad. Apart from the obvious nominations for best movie and directing, Jeff Bridges should have earned his second Oscar nomination far before True Grith. And then there is of course the hilariously brilliant duo of John Goodman and Steve Buschemi, each of whom could easily have run with a supporting role nomination.
5. Once Upon A Time In The West
Caught you by surprise, didn’t I? Not because such a classic movie is in the list – because it does not have a single Oscar nomination! It is true the Academy is not particularly fond of the western genre, but to overlook arguably its greatest example sounds like a crime against reason.
Another movie crime is that one of the most influential and iconic directors of all time – Sergio Leone – did not get a single nomination throughout his influential career. And then there is the shocking fact that Enio Morricone also did not get nominated for his epic soundtrack – one of the most recognizable and powerful movie themes of all time. It’s a disgrace, members of the Academy, it is a sheer disgrace!
6. Leon
Leon came out in one of the best years for modern cinema – the year of The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. Still, Luc Besson bloody and violent drama could (and should) have taken the spot of a mediocre nonsense like Four Weddings and a Funeral. The problem with Leon is that it is the kind of story the Academy most often snubs.
But the fact that Jean Reno and Natalie Portman did not get nominated for their outstanding acting defies reason. Another Oscar blooper, I guess.
7. Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
This is the second movie in the list that you either hate and consider stupid or love and proclaim a masterpiece (the first is The Big Lebowski). Director Terry Gilliam creates a powerful satire of the counter-culture age and the loss of American innocence that used to rule society in the 60s. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is as much a defense of drugs and debauchery as The Wolf of Wall Street is a defense of money laundry and speculation. None.
The narrative and action sometimes gives way to the surreal visions of Gilliam down the spiral of drug-induced haze. But Terry Gilliam was scandalously robbed and snubbed for the directing nomination and so were Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro.
8. Three Kings
Three Kings had the terrible luck to compete in one of the most impressive years for cinema in the last couple of decades. In the imposing company of movies like Shakespear in Love, Life is Beautiful and Saving Private Ryan one can easily understand why David O. Russell’s war comedy did not stand much of a chance.
Still, the movie is one of the very few successful examples in its genre and balances neatly between the tragic, comic and plainly absurd. Nominations for directing, editing and cinematography would have been more than well-earned.
9. Eyes Wide Shut
Stanley Kubrick is one of the legendary movie makers who never won Oscar for directing. While this is another epic fail for the Academy the fact that his last masterpiece Eyes Wide Shut did not get a single nomination is an absurd.
This Froydian opus magnum features outstanding performances by the then married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman who should have got their respective nominations (especially Cruise). Apart from that the movie is sublime in any technical category – music, design, costumes, cinematography and should have reigned supreme in all these categories. Not to mention the obvious picks for directing and best movie.
I initially did not mean to mention it, but I can hardly restrain myself. Se7en and Fight Club have only one nomination in marginal categories, which is another insult. But then I would have to go and mention movies like Heat, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, 25th Hour, Terminator, Blue is the Warmest Colour and so on. Another article, perhaps.
