Top 10 Biggest Oscar Snubs of All-Time

thekingsguard

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I think I got the major ones. Other canidates included Best Actor/Screenwriter for the 49th Oscars (Network beat both Rocky and Taxi Driver), 1981 where Chariots of Fire beat Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc, and 1993, where Schindler's Lost lost both acting awards.

What do the rest of you think? Did I snub anyone myself?
 

BenPanced

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Winning awards is so arbitrary, you're going to piss off anybody for any reason. People are going to agree with you as soon as they disagree.
 

BradyH1861

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If I could give you 1 billion rep points for the Titanic commentary, I would!

I think John Wayne should have gotten one for The Searchers in 1956. One of the few movies where he actually acted.
 

robeiae

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Aliens--1986. Should have won best director, wasn't even nominated. Weaver should have won best actress.

Bladerunner--1984. Should have won pretty much everything. Nominated for only best visual effects and best art direction, won neither.

Btw, your dating in the article is inconsistent. The best film of 1990 was Dances; you've got that listed at number 5 for 1990 best pic, but also list Driving Miss Daisy for 1990 best pic at number 9 (should be best pic for 1989).

ETA: Bladerunner was 1982, not 1984. Doh!
 
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Ed Panther

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Definitely Joaquin Phoenix not getting best actor for Walk the Line.

And it's outrageous that the 1974 best actor didn't go to either Dustin Hoffman for Lenny, or Al Pacino for Godfather.. And the guy in Harry and tonto won. REALLY? A grumpy old guy with his cat wins over those two masterpiece performances? REALLY? Marlon Brando not getting it for Last Tango in Paris in 1973. And I love Hoffman, but in 79 Pacino definitely deserved to win for And Justice for All.

Malcolm McDowell not even nominated for clockwork orange?

Rocky beating both Network and Taxi Driver?

And Manhattan NOT NOMINATED in 1979? That's in my opinion, one of the absolute greatest movies ever made. It's much superior to Annie Hall.
 

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Definitely Joaquin Phoenix not getting best actor for Walk the Line.

And it's outrageous that the 1974 best actor didn't go to either Dustin Hoffman for Lenny, or Al Pacino for Godfather.. And the guy in Harry and tonto won. REALLY? A grumpy old guy with his cat wins over those two masterpiece performances? REALLY? Marlon Brando not getting it for Last Tango in Paris in 1973. And I love Hoffman, but in 79 Pacino definitely deserved to win for And Justice for All.

Malcolm McDowell not even nominated for clockwork orange?

Rocky beating both Network and Taxi Driver?

And Manhattan NOT NOMINATED in 1979? That's in my opinion, one of the absolute greatest movies ever made. It's much superior to Annie Hall.

Agree 100% with this post.

Also, The Color Purple - 11 nominations, not a single win. I thought Whoopi Goldberg was more deserving than Geraldine Page in A Trip to Bountiful; I thought the movie was more powerful, with a more compelling storyline than Out of Africa.
 

Ed Panther

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Oh, and The Truman Show DEFINITELY should've been nominated in 98.

Streetcar names desire should've won in 51.

Dr. Strangelove should've won in 64.

2001 Space Odyssey should've won in 1968.

Paths of Glory should've been nominated in 57.

And lots of people might disagree, but I think both Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate deserved to win in 67 more than In the Heat of the Night.

Oh, and Harold and Maude and Dirty Harry both should've been nominated in 71, and deserved to win more than French Connection.
 
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CrastersBabies

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Agree 100% with this post.

Also, The Color Purple - 11 nominations, not a single win. I thought Whoopi Goldberg was more deserving than Geraldine Page in A Trip to Bountiful; I thought the movie was more powerful, with a more compelling storyline than Out of Africa.

Spielberg didn't even get a nomination if I recall. Kind of a weird year.

The documentary The Basketball Diaries was also not nominated (pretty big snub). And I agree that Affleck should have been nominated for Argo and he would have frackin' won, too.
 

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Yes very much agree. It was a travesty of the first order that Saving Private Ryan lost to the pleasant historic rom-com Shakespeare in Love.

I saw Saving Private Ryan at a cinema with a good sound system. The first twenty minutes is terrifying stuff.
 

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The fact that The Thing (1984) didn't get best visual effects for 1984 is a crime.

True story, I was talking to a friend of mine about it and she had never seen it, never even heard of it. But I mentioned the "Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me" scene (gory) and she immediately googled it. She watched it with headphones on.

Halfway through, she went, "OH MY GOD!" and covered her face with her hands, watching between her fingers. Then, "OH MY GOD!" a second time.

And I was like, "They're still pretty good, huh?"

And she was like, "OH MY GOD!" a third time. Then she said, "And now I really do understand the phrase kill it with fire..."
 

Jersey Chick

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I always thought Ghostbusters was snubbed. Almost thirty years later and that movie is still as funny as it was when I saw it in the theaters - even if the effects are a little cheesy by today's standards.

Comedy is so hard to write and comedies don't win.

And Saving Private Ryan is one of the best movies ever made. Ever.
 

CrastersBabies

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Yes very much agree. It was a travesty of the first order that Saving Private Ryan lost to the pleasant historic rom-com Shakespeare in Love.

I saw Saving Private Ryan at a cinema with a good sound system. The first twenty minutes is terrifying stuff.

Yeah, it was like after Schindler's List, Spielberg pissed someone off and hasn't won since. I think Saving Private Ryan should have won, as should have Lincoln, honestly. But, that's me.

Glad Argo got it, but I do think Lincoln should have won.
 

Quantum1019

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I think John Wayne should have gotten one for The Searchers in 1956. One of the few movies where he actually acted.


Agreed! Even as someone who's generally not a fan of westerns, I find that The Searchers is one of my absolute favorite films, and one that I can watch over and over without getting tired of. John Wayne was superb in that.
 

J.S.F.

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I have my own favorites, but the one thing I learned is, as Ben P said, you can't please everyone. It's very subjective, and yes, probably it's a matter of who knows whom in the biz.

This year, I couldn't really argue with who won (I didn't watch the ceremony, just read the list) as their performances were solid enough and that got them their wins. I don't get the 'Taylor Swift' shots at Anne Hathaway, but whatever. In Hollywood, to become famous, you have to be noticed, so the smiling for the cameras and the self-publicity seems the way to go.