How many times you have watched a Movie and thought that this movie deserves an Oscar !! Sure, there are award ceremonies for such movies and critics who review whether the movie is worth a watch or not. sometimes deserving movies don’t win awards. Sometimes they don’t even get nominated. Here are the 10 Movies that didn’t win any Oscars.
10 – The Shining
Horror films rarely get any awards season love. Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece did not receive a single Academy Award nomination, nor was it a big hit in theaters. In fact, the film was nominated for two Razzie awards; Shelley Duvall for Worst Actress and Kubrick for Worst Director. Time has been kind to The Shining, though, and now it’s often cited as one of the best psychological horror films ever made. Additionally, Kubrick’s directorial style and eerie use of long Steadicam takes like the shot above is studied in cinema classes all over the world.
9 –The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sergio Leone has a history of getting snubbed by the Academy. Things were no different in 1966 when the Italian director’s third installment of his Dollars Trilogy failed to garner a single nomination. Many critics consider The Good, the Bad and the Ugly the finest Western ever made. It certainly could have earned the auteur an Oscar, and the fact that Leone has never even been nominated for any of his epic films is a cinematic crime.
8 –Singing in the Rain
Gene Kelly made a lot of musicals. Singin’ in the Rain may have been his finest. The 1952 musical within a musical was nominated for Best Score and Best Supporting Actress. Kelly got shut out completely, and even though the film is cited by AFI as the greatest musical ever made, it failed to garner a Best Picture nod. At the very least, the film probably should have won the award for Best Score, which went to With a Song in My Heart that year.
7 –American History X
The controversial 1998 film makes this list mostly because Ed Norton did not walk away with Oscar gold for his transformative performance as a neo-Nazi leader looking for redemption. Norton was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful). Time has been kind to American History X, but when it first came out in theaters, it was largely ignored by audiences. And the audiences who did see the film, walked away from the experience feeling more than just a little disturbed. However, the movie is currently ranked #32 on IMDb’s Top 250 Films.
6 –Taxi Driver
“You talking me?” Martin Scorsese’s character study about a delusional, alienated cab driver in New York City received four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. Scorsese arguably should have won the Oscar for Best Director, but the fact that he wasn’t even nominated is a bit of a joke. The film did win the Palme d’Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, and is cited by the American Film Institute as the 52nd greatest American film ever made.
5 –It’s a Wonderful Life
The famously sappy Frank Capra gets sentimental in It’s a Wonderful Life. Even though the film was made in 1946, it remains one of the most-watched holiday films today. It is currently #20 on AFI’s list of The Greatest American Films of All Time. Not a commercial success at the time, the movie did round up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. It could have won any or all of those five awards, but it was probably James Stewart going home empty-handed that hurt the most.
4 –Stand by Me
Is there a more perfect coming of age film? Rob Reiner’s 1986 adaptation of Stephen King’s novella The Body did receive a writing nod, and any screenwriter worth their salt will tell you that it’s among the most revered screenplays ever written. Also, one could easily make a case that all four of the young actors should have been nominated, especially River Phoenix’s heartbreaking performance as Chris Chambers.
3 –Psycho
The master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock never won an Academy Award, which says a lot about the whole awards process, considering that he is widely regarded as one of the best directors in the history of cinema. His signature film, Pyscho, was nominated for four Oscars. Hitchcock probably should have won for Best Director, but he wasn’t even recognized by the Academy in 1961. Psycho is currently ranked 14th on AFI’s list of the Greatest American Films of All Time.
2 –12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet’s 1957 classic manages to create incredible conflict and drama without ever leaving the jury room. The film is often cited as one of the best-acted and best-written films in cinema history. The movie was nominated for three Oscars but unfortunately came out the same year as The Bridge on the River Kwai, which won seven Academy Awards. 12 Angry Men has aged like fine wine, however, and currently ranks #7 on IMDb’s Top 250 Films.
1 –The Shawshank Redemption
The year was 1994 and a story about a simple-minded man by the name of Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards. The Shawshank Redemption went home empty-handed that evening, despite its seven nominations. However, time has proven that the prison drama received the Oscar shaft. The film currently ranks #1 on IMDb’s Top 250 films ever made and is cited as a favorite by just about everyone with a heart and basic cable.
