This a huge topic so I hope it gets someone's attention. I have many personal favorite films that the Academy shunned because they appealed too much to the hoi polloi, but were not "significant" enough. These are some of mine.

I'm opening myself up to mass criticism by revealing that I love "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" as a fast-paced horror comic strip. I'm even embarrassed by the fact that Spielberg needs to apologize for it "going too far."

I also find it incredible that Gene Hackman could win an Oscar for Popeye Doyle in the first "French Connection", but not even get a nomination for his mind-bogglingly-complex and incredibly-physical turn in "French Connection II."

If you've checked the movie forums at all, you'll notice my love for the 1961 thriller "The Innocents" which I called "almost perfect". Well, the Academy had their heads in some dark, smelly place because it didn't get a single, solitary nomination, even though the direction, script, acting, cinematography, sets, costumes, editing, and sound were world-class at the time. Oh well, maybe it's even better now, since nobody cares about making convincing horror films about interesting characters and situations anymore.

Anybody else have some favorites which were forgotten?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

I think it would have been 1981 so Vangelis' Chariots of Fire would be it's competition, but Basil Poledouris' Conan the Barbarian soundtrack is awesome, and should have received more recognition. Also Delicatessen for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Originally posted by Smenkharon:
I think it would have been 1981 so Vangelis' Chariots of Fire would be it's competition, but Basil Poledouris' Conan the Barbarian soundtrack is awesome, and should have received more recognition.

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Even though the end credits list a copyright of 1981, the film was released in Spring 1982. My bro and I saw it the first day since he was a fanatic. "Conan the Barbarian" seems to not get enough respect in lots of areas. I said somewhere else that Morricone's score to "Days of Heaven" was my favorite but Poledouris' score for "Conan" could very well be a close-second, and of course, not even a nomination. In some ways, the music reminds me of Holst's "The Planets", so that might explain why I love it.

EDIT- I should have said the music in the opening scene probably reminds me more of Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" score.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

I completely agree with the comparison to Holst's The Planets! Very apt! Also, I think I figured out how to respond and it should be there now, thanks for the directions!

I love Holst's "The Planets," particularly "Jupiter."

Anyhow... For me, the most preposterous shunning of a performance was Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive. The fact that se wasn't even nominated boils my blood. Same goes for the film. It's the best film in the past 15 years..... or at least, I think so.

There are so many, but those stick out for me.

I am definately going to have to go with Amelie at the 2001 Oscars getting screwed out of best foreign language film. I agree that No Mans Land was a good film, but better than Amelie?...I don't think so. One of my favorite films, not to mention one of the most touching, original and heart-felt films in years.

This is a real obvious answer, but I was really pissed when masterpieces like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line were beaten by Shakespeare In Love. What is wrong with those morons? Good call on Amelie, Jackie.

"Hoop Dreams", "Roger and Me", and countless other docs have famously been excluded from the Oscracast, sadly.

Amelie, Amelie, Amelie!!! Glad everyone agrees that it's an amazing movie.
I love Nicole, but she is the least talented actress in The Hours. Shoulda been Meryl, Julianne, or Ed for sure.
And Renee won over the woman from "Sand and Fog" as well as Patricia Clarckson. COME ON!

Oksana Akinshina's performance in Lilya 4-Ever is, quite simply, the most devastating performance I have ever seen. It is also the best teenage performance I have ever seen.

It's a tough one to watch, but an undeniably powerful film - one that resonates in you for a long time. I saw it over a year ago and moments from it still haunt me.

Jeremy Irons was unbelievably awesome in Cronenberg's gloomy Dead Ringers and should have won the oscar.

Also, Tom Cruise should have won over Day Lewis for Born on the Fourth of July and John Goodman should have won Best Supporting Actor in 1998/9 for the Big Lebowski!

Anyone care to tell me why Dustin hoffman didn't win an award for his role in Wag the Dog? One of the greatest actors in one of the greatest movies, and he was denied. While not as good as his role in Rainman, it was still incredible. Does anybody know who did win the Oscar for best actor that year (1997)?

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Originally posted by Metal Head:
Anyone care to tell me why Dustin hoffman didn't win an award for his role in Wag the Dog? Does anybody know who did win the Oscar for best actor that year (1997)?

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Jack Nicholson won for "As Good as It Gets". My favorite Hoffman performance is as Ratso Rizzo in "Midnight Cowboy", but both he and Jon Voight got rooked when John Wayne took it for "True Grit" in 1969. Hoffman was also great in "The Graduate", "Little Big Man", "Straw Dogs", "Papillon", "Lenny", "Marathon Man", "All the President's Men", and "Tootsie".

I think that the biggest Oscar passover was in 1994 when 'The Shawshank Redemption' was nominated for seven Oscars and it didn't win any. I know that it was up against 'Forrest Gump', but at least Morgan Freeman should have won for best supporting actor.

Here's the problem with 1994. Tom Hanks won Best Actor over both John Travolta ("Pulp FIction") and Morgan Freeman( Yes, he was nominated Best ACTOR.) To me, Sam Jackson ("Pulp Fiction") deserved a Best Actor nom even more than Travolta, but he was nominated for Supporting. To top things off, Martin Landau gave the best male performance of the year as Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood" and he won that award. The incredible Tim Robbins didn't even get nomed. That was one hell of a year for male acting!

Yes well, when 3 of the greatest movies EVER (in my opinion) all come out in one year, theres gonna be some controversy to deal with and in 94 there certainly was.

Best performance that was completely overlooked was Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone. He's a great actor, and this may have been his best performance.

Also, Russell Crowe's performance in A Beautiful Mind was far better than Denzel's in Training Day.
This should have been a slam dunk for Crowe, but he lost because people don't like him. I only care about his acting.

A Clockwork Orange, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Pulp Fiction are the 3 movies that got screwed over the most. They got beat (respectively) by The French Connection, Gladiator (which is basically The Patriot, except in the Roman ages), and Forest Gump. Please.

Well, I'll go out on a limb and say Jeff Bridges has been big-time shunned from the Golden Statue in the last decade. I admit, the characters that I will list are not historic or genre-defining, but every performance is beleivable to a tee. Not including The Door In The Floor(in which the very last shot left me breathless)his roles in Big Lebowski, Fearless and especially The Fisher King are near perfect.
I know Oscar ignores comedic roles, but Bridges as The Dude in Lebowski is genuis and The Coens struck gold with the whole cast, but it is Bridges that stumbles through the film that creates the blissful magic. Who else could be the Dude???
I thought it was a joke that Robin Williams and not Bridges received the nod in Gilliam's Fisher King. I thought Bridges had the stronger role, and I'm not taking anything from Williams...but his madness was nothing compared to Bridges messed up Jack. He plays the hip DJ during a downward spiral-crash course in such true form. From his self-loathing and treatment of his girlfriend to his ultimate goal of redemption, he plays a man who could lose his sanity or regain his life...and save someone else's as well...

Julianne Moore should have won for her wide ranging performance in Boogie Nights.