Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Hello all, I'm trying to compile a list of movies that are considered critically great but have never garnered an Oscar nomination. A couple of movies come to mind:

1. Mean Streets (1973)
2. Touch of Evil (1958)
3. The Searchers (1956)

If you have others, please add to the list. Thank you.

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

Some other notable Best Picture snubs...

"City Lights" 1931
"Dracula" 1931
"Frankenstein" 1931
"King Kong" 1933
"Bride of Frankenstein" 1935
"Modern Times" 1936
"The Third Man" 1949
"Singin' in the Rain" 1952
"Rear Window" 1954
"Rebel Without a Cause" 1955
"Vertigo" 1958
"North by Northwest" 1959
"Some Like it Hot" 1959
"Psycho" 1960
"2001: A Space Odyssey" 1968
"Easy Rider" 1969
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" 1977
"Alien" 1979
"The Empire Strikes Back" 1980
"Aliens" 1986
"Reservoir Dogs" 1992
"Heat" 1995
"Boogie Nights" 1997
"The Ice Storm" 1997
"The Sweet Hereafter" 1997
"Fight Club" 1999
"Memento" 2001
"Minority Report" 2002
"Children of Men" 2006
"United 93" 2006

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

Glory (1989)
Back to the Future (1985) [<- Totally serious!]

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

"Once Upon a Time in the West" 1969
"Badlands" 1974
"The Outlaw Josey Wales" 1976
"Grease" 1978
"Superman: The Movie" 1978
"Being There" 1979
"The Shining" 1980
"Blade Runner" 1982
"Empire of the Sun" 1987
"Full Metal Jacket" 1987
"Bird" 1988
"When Harry Met Sally..." 1989
"The Doors" 1991
"Malcolm X" 1992
"Nixon" 1995
"Hamlet" 1996
"The Matrix" 1999
"The Contender" 2000

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

no oscar nominations at all, or no best picture nomination?

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

I'm assuming no BP nom.

This ties in with my annual Oscar rant that there are far more great films that don't win Best Picture than there are Best Pic winners that are great films.

My favorite film of all time - Renoir's Rules of the Game - was never nominated, although JR's previous masterwork, Grand Illusion, was.

But getting away from foreign language movies...where the list would be too vast to post here...

Two favorites to start:

Blue Velvet & Mulholland Drive.
I know, hardly BP Oscar fodder, but I consider them modern American masterpieces.

As noted by Terry, North By Northwest wasn't nominated, nor was Vertigo or Rear Window.

Robert Altman saw Nashville nominated, but not Mash, McCabe & Mrs. Miller or The Player.

John Houston, a true master:

The Dead ( a truly great film)
The Misfits
The African Queen
The Asphalt Jungle

Powell & Pressburger:
I Know Where I'm Going
Black Narcissus
A Matter of Life & Death
Life & Death of Colonel Blimp

The Red Shoes was nominated, which is at least something.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

Sorry, I should've been more clearer when I started this thread - the list should include only those pictures that have never received a nomination for any category (it does not have to be best picture).

For instance, above, Terry wrote that Singin' in the Rain was never nominated but in fact it received a nomination for Supporting Actress and Score. True, it should've been nominated for Best Picture but that was not the intent of this thread. I want a list of great movies that have never even made the cut of being recognized by the Academy for any category.

Interesting though in the same list Terry mentioned that films like King Kong (1933) and Frankenstein never received a nod - WOW. But then again, Bride of Frankenstein received a nod for Sound.

Hope that's clearer and thanks for those that responded.

Joe

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Focusing strictly on the 1990s through today:

Miller's Crossing (1990)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Heat(1995)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Sin City (2005)
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

Regards,

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

In Robert Altman's career, only three of his films received Best Picture nods, "M*A*S*H" (1970), "Nashville" (1975), and "Gosford Park" (2001). As Claire pointed out, "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), "The Player (1992), and "Short Cuts" (1993) failed to earn BP nominations.

Claire is also correct in stating that there are far more great films that don't get the opportunity to dance with Oscar than there are great ones that do. I've also never been a big fans of the politicking involved in garnering nominations and wins (somthing the Academy has tried to keep under control due to the very aggressive campaigns waged by cats like Harvey Weinstein in years past). I just hate seeing films like "Strangers on a Train", "The Searchers", "Heat", "Hoop Dreams", "City of God", and "Children of Men" get ignored for the most part by the Academy in the major categories.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

I don't know how the academy will ever be able to please you since it's a self fulfilling prophecy that there will be more great films than great best picture winners. There are only 78 best picture winners but tens of thousands of eligable films and hundreds of great ones. Barring awarding ten films as 'best picture winner' every year, how are the two ever going to line up?

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

70s and 80s

Harold and Maude (1971)
Dirty Harry (1971)
Badlands (1973)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Halloween (1978)
Animal House (1978)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
The Shining (1980)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Airplane (1980)
Caddyshack (1980)
The Thing (1982)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Scarface (1983)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
The Terminator (1984)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Regards,

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Not to be really critical, but the word "great" is being used loosely in regard to some of the film titles mentioned in this thread. Case in point, "The Searchers" and "Touch of Evil" are great films without a lot of debate, but some other titles, though they are entertaining, I wouldn't exactly classify them as "great".



Crawdaddy

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

With so many great films not being recognized at all by the Academy, one suggestion is to bring back the Honorary Award for "Critically Acclaimed Films". The problem is - how do you put this into practice? Will this only create embarrassment for the Academy (if the movies were so great, why aren't they listed)? Probably because they've limited the nominees to only 5 pictures, directors, actors, actresses, etc.

Another suggestion is to add more pictures to the nominee list. In 1939, there were 10 films nominated for Best Picture. Which brings me back my point - why only 5? If there are great pictures out there, add them on the list. In the end, I really don't care who wins because it's really subjective. Example, in 2005, Million Dollar Baby won for Best Picture. Should this film have won compared to Sideways and Finding Neverland - two superior pictures IN MY OPINION.

I do use the Oscar nominations as a guide to pointing me to pictures that are worth watching. Especially for pictures made pre-1980, for which I wasn't of age to see them first hand.

And that was the alterior motive for this thread - to discover great films, thru you, which would not appear in an Oscar list. From Ken's list, I have to see Harold and Maude. Thanks.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

There is no objective measure of "greatness" other than a collective high regard from the public at large, the community of critics, or both over the passage of time. While I bet critics and Academy members liked 1978's "Heaven Can Wait" better than "Animal House" because of its greater thematic depth, I completely understand why years later, "Animal House" is a National Film Registry selection and "Heaven Can Wait" is not.

Regards,

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Following the AFI, as well as various critics' groups over the years, here is a list of what many film historians say "should have" won the Best Picture Oscar since 1940.

1940 "The Grapes of Wrath" (winner: "Rebecca")
1941 "Citizen Kane" (winner: "How Green was My Valley")
1942 "Mrs. Miniver"
1943 "Casablanca"
1944 "Double Indemnity" (winner: "Going My Way")
1945 "The Lost Weekend"
1946 "The Best Years of Our Lives"
1947 "Gentleman's Agreement"
1948 "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" (winner: "Hamlet")
1949 "The Third Man" (winner: "All the King's Men")
1950 "All About Eve"
1951 "A Streetcar Named Desire" (winner: "An American in Paris")
1952 "Singin' in the Rain" (winner: "The Greatest Show on Earth")
1953 "From Here to Eternity"
1954 "On the Waterfront"
1955 "Rebel Without a Cause" (winner: "Marty")
1956 "The Searchers" (winner: "Around the World in 80 Days")
1957 "The Bridge on the River Kwai"
1958 "Vertigo" (winner: "Gigi")
1959 "Ben-Hur"
1960 "Psycho" (winner: "The Apartment")
1961 "West Side Story"
1962 "Lawrence of Arabia"
1963 "Tom Jones"
1964 "My Fair Lady"
1965 "The Sound of Music"
1966 "A Man for All Seasons"
1967 "The Graduate" (winner: "In the Heat of the Night")
1968 "2001: A Space Odyssey" (winner: "Oliver!")
1969 "Midnight Cowboy"
1970 "Patton"
1971 "The French Connection"
1972 "The Godfather"
1973 "American Graffiti" (winner: "The Sting")
1974 "The Godfather Part II"
1975 "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
1976 "Taxi Driver" (winner: "Rocky")
1977 "Star Wars" (winner: "Annie Hall")
1978 "The Deer Hunter"
1979 "Apocalypse Now" (winner: "Kramer vs. Kramer")
1980 "Raging Bull" (winner: "Ordinary People")
1981 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (winner: "Chariots of Fire")
1982 "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (winner: "Gandhi")
1983 "Terms of Endearment"
1984 "Amadeus"
1985 "Ran" (winner: "Out of Africa")
1986 "Platoon"
1987 "Fatal Attraction" (winner: "The Last Emperor")
1988 "Rain Man"
1989 "Do the Right Thing" (winner: "Driving Miss Daisy")
1990 "Goodfellas" (winner: "Dances With Wolves")
1991 "The Silence of the Lambs"
1992 "Unforgiven"
1993 "Schindler's List"
1994 "Pulp Fiction" (winner: "Forrest Gump")
1995 "Heat" (winner: "Braveheart")
1996 "Fargo" (winner: "The English Patient")
1997 "L.A. Confidential" (winner: "Titanic")
1998 "Saving Private Ryan" (winner: "Shakespeare in Love")
1999 "Fight Club" (winner: "American Beauty")
2000 "Traffic" (winner: "Gladiator")
2001 "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (winner: "A Beautiful Mind")
2002 "The Pianist" (winner: "Chicago")
2003 "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
2004 "Million Dollar Baby"
2005 "Brokeback Mountain" (winner: "Crash")

From 1940 to 2005 the Academy has been "right" 32 times of the 66 years listed above, according to most film critics and historians. So, about half the time. Greatness is thrown around a bit loosely in a lot of circles and at the end of the day, who wins Best Picture is always a matter of popular opinion. There are some who rarely agree with the Academy and those who agree with them 90% of the time. Still makes for some very interesting debates though.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Adam, I think it helps to keep in perspective what the Oscars actually are - industry awards. No more, no less.

Therefore movie industry trends, tastes and politics have a tremendous effect on the nominations and winners. The winners represent more a snapshot of the times than they do films for the ages. The one thing a great film needs to earn its status as "great" is the test of time, which of course isn't possible with any annual awards. (Who can say what the "best" movie of any given year is anyway? But don't we love to try!)

I simply think it's wise for those who love movies to understand that the Academy Awards are more about movie business than they are film art. Along the way they do honor some fine films and technical achievement. But I don't think an Oscar BP win is automatically an imprimatur of excellence.

Which is absolutely OK. The Oscars are fun to handicap and it's interesting to see what independents and up and coming filmmakers are on Hollywood's radar. I'm there for the dresses, no question.

My annual "rant" (intended ironically, doncha know) has more to do with people getting too invested in the Oscars as validation one way or the other. Kramer vs Kramer will never be a great film, while certain classics ignored by AMPAS such as The Third Man, The Searchers, Vertigo, Rules of the Game, City Lights, Touch of Evil etc. are great films no matter what their track record for awards.

So some years Oscar "pleases" me more than others but I view the event as entertainment, not life and death. Am I annoyed Scorsese has never won an Oscar? You betcha. But Scorsese is a great director whether he wins an Oscar or not. So are many other great artists who never won a gold statue in competition.

My favorite 5 movies of 2006 are nowhere to be seen in BP nominations (Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, Army of Shadows, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, United 93) but 4 of the above have noms in other categories and 2 others in my top ten (The Departed and The Queen) did get BP nods. That's a high precentage year for me.

Joe, you might want to consider looking at the Sight & Sound thread for a list of movies. You might consider expanding this thread to include movies that were nominated in any category but did not win Best Picture.

That would include such beauties as Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, and many others, just as you found recent movies Sideways & Finding Neverland more satisfying than the eventual BP winner (my pic would've been The Aviator).

Robert, I agree with you 100%. just because I had a great time watching a certain movie (e.g. The Hidden, Inside Man) doesn't make it a great film.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Ixnay to A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, Return of the King, Traffic, Fatal Attraction.

Terry, the problem with this list (and thank you for it BTW) is that it assumes the year's best film was even nominated. And I wouldn't necessarily agree with AFI on some of the selections - Sound of Music???? Nawwwww.

Which is what makes all this stuff so much fun ;-)

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

I totally forgot all the uproar over "A Beautiful Mind" when it came out (over certain aspects being omitted), as well as the fact that most critics voiced their opinions in believing 'Fellowship' to be the better movie.

Again, it all comes down to the opinion of the Academy, which doesn't always relay the general consensus about a film among critics and movie-goers. "Children of Men" was easily the best thing I saw all year (which includes the five BP nominees) and I'm still disappointed that it failed to garner more nominations. Now that's a movie I have absolutely no hesitation in labeling as a "great" film.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

I say keep your list for films that have been completely shut out, that's a much more interesting list of films than the same old same old of no best picture nomination.

I agree, Clare, that people get too worked up over the meaning of the oscar's winners and loser. I like watching the season like I do for college football.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Maybe so, but no way can I think of "Scarface" being a great film.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

I'd just like to point out that this debate is at least fifty years old. In a january 1954 (I think) edition of Film Review Monthly, there's an article about 'when the academy gets it wrong' Their number one pick for most egregrious error was Casablanca--Song of Bernadette was obviously superior to a flash in the pan topical movie. Casablanca was dismissed as simply being the right film at the right time, but in no way possessing any long term vitality.

How Green Was My Valley/Citizen Kane wasn't even mentioned, though probably about 70% of the 25 or so years up to that point were carefully scrutinized and evaluated. It was considered one of the years the academy got it right.

Such are the tides of critical consensus. There are few people now who think Gone with the Wind was a bad choice, and in fifty years it will be the same with Titanic. despite the current consensus that L.A. Confidential is a far superior film.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Uh, I doubt that. Just as much as I disagree with whoever it was (NY Times?) which picked Gone With the Wind as one of the most over-rated films of all time.

Two I'd like to particularly agree with are Miller's Crossing and Heat, which I think were deserving of at least best screenplay nods.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Exactly, Adam.

The Oscars are like horse racing - the best 3 year old throroughbred doesn't always win the Kentucky Derby but it sure is fun to handicap and the event is a blast.

As for A Beautiful Mind, I just don't feel the movie is that good, especially the script much, especially the last third of the script. I'm actually OK with the things they left out. It's the stuff the left in I took issue with.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Adam, that exactly what I intended on doing from the start - great pictures that were completely shut out from the Oscar race in all categories.

Excellent points by all in this thread - some I agree with, others I don't. A Beautiful Mind was not a great picture - Gone with the Wind will always be a classic because so many other films have tried to imitate its grandure from that moment on (who could forget the magnitude of the wounded soldiers as the camera pans further and further away - wow, larger than life and something the greats of today's directors - Spielberg and Jackson, had in mind when they shot their respective great films). Gone with the Wind will always survive the test of time.

I love the Oscars - heck, its about honoring films, a passion of mine and many others, hence this forum. I've reserved my feelings about who actually wins or loses a long time ago. I look more to who was given a nod rather than the actual winner. Case in point - Martin Scorcese. The man has had his hands and vision on great scripts and he delivered them onto the silver screen with a magical sense of awe.

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

I believe "2001" did receive at least one Oscar, for special visual effects.

Re: Great Movies Not Oscar Nominated

Steve, 2001 won for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for Director (Kubrick), Art Direction, and Original Screenplay.

The films listed above need to be verified for the search criteria established in this thread.

So far, I figured the following films have not received an Oscar nomination for any category:

Based on the 1st three posts (only these were shut out from a nomination of any kind):
City Lights" 1931
Dracula 1931
Frankenstein 1931
King Kong 1933
Modern Times 1936
Reservoir Dogs 1992
Heat 1995
The Ice Storm 1997
Badlands 1974
Once Upon a Time in the West 1969
The Doors 1991
The Shining 1980
Mean Streets (1973)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Searchers (1956)

I'll verify the others soon. But what a list of great films (then again, I'm not sure the Doors should be there - but that's just opinion).

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

I would also reiterate A Matter of Life and Death (aka Stairway to Heaven) Miller's Crossing, The Searchers and add Raising Arizona, Planes Trains and Automobiles, and A Christmas Story

I checked all of those against the database on oscars.org. I was surprised to find Princess Bride was nominated for one oscar, best song.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Based on Claire's list, the following could be added to the list:

A Matter of Life & Death
I Know Where I'm Going
Life & Death of Colonel Blimp
Misfits
Dead

New List includes:

Badlands 1974
City Lights" 1931
Dead
Doors, The 1991
Dracula 1931
Frankenstein 1931
Heat 1995
I Know Where I'm Going
Ice Storm, The 1997
King Kong 1933
Life & Death of Colonel Blimp
Matter of Life & Death, A
Mean Streets (1973)
Misfits
Modern Times 1936
Once Upon a Time in the West 1969
Reservoir Dogs 1992
Searchers, The (1956)
Shining, The 1980
Touch of Evil (1958)

Remember, I've excluded shorts and documentaries out of this list. I'll keep checking the other submissions.....

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

Doesn't surprise me. Storybook Love is a great song.

Re: Great Movies with zero Oscar Nominations?

I'll second (actually fourth or fifth) HEAT, and add Courage Under Fire.