Total Recall: Surprising Oscar Nominations and Snubs
We look at some of the Academy's most noteworthy recent snubs... and the less noteworthy films that were nominated instead.
Watching the Academy Awards is a perfectly fine way to spend an evening, but let's face it: Half the fun of the Oscars is trying to predict who'll win, and the other half is bellyaching about who wasn't even nominated. It's in that spirit that we assembled this week's list -- looking back over the last few decades of Oscardom, plenty of worthy films have been honored, but just as many (if not more) have seen their contributions to cinema unfairly overlooked in favor of some rather questionable nominations. Obviously, this is meant to be a conversation starter rather than a complete list, but hey -- that's what the comments are for. Let's Total Recall!
The Clan of the Cave Bear
Oscar Nominee for Best Makeup
10%
1986
Oh Academy, where to start with 1986? You nominated two middling sequels (The Karate Kid, Part II, Poltergeist II), a notorious box-office dud (Pirates), and a goofy caveman movie (The Clan of the Cave Bear). Meanwhile, you snubbed a well-reviewed box office hit with an all star cast (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, starring Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss, and Bette Midler) and a film that made Siskel and Ebert's list of the best movies of the decade, one that marked the arrival of Gary Oldman as one of cinema's most dependable actors (Sid & Nancy). But hey, when you get the chance to give some love to Peter Cetera, you've got to do it.
NOT NOMINATED FOR A SINGLE OSCAR:
Down and Out in Beverly Hills |
Sid & Nancy |
Toys
Oscar Nominee for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design
26%
1992
Base your movie's visual aesthetic around the work of Rene Magritte, and you've kind of earned yourself a shot at Academy Award nominations for art direction and costume design -- so negative reviews notwithstanding, it's hard to begrudge Barry Levinson's notorious Robin Williams-led flop Toys its pair of Oscar noms. Along similar lines, while Jean-Jacques Annaud's adaptation of the Marguerite Duras novel The Lover was critically savaged, it's certainly lovely to look at, so we don't have a major problem with its nomination for Best Cinematography. All the same, it's hard to swallow those honors when some of the year's best movies -- heck, some of the decade's -- were snubbed in '92, including a cult classic (Reservoir Dogs), a powerfully acted crime thriller with an instant-classic theme song from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg (Deep Cover), and a crowd-pleasing smash dramedy with a hit soundtrack (A League of Their Own).
NOT NOMINATED FOR A SINGLE OSCAR:
Deep Cover |
A League of Their Own |
Reservoir Dogs |
Beethoven's 2nd
Oscar Nominee for Best Original Song
27%
1993
For the most part, the 66th Academy Awards were bereft of egregiously silly nominees, with the exception of the schmaltzy ballad "The Day I Fall in Love," the love theme from the barely-remembered doggie-com Beethoven's 2nd. Still, it's not unfair to ask what the Academy was thinking when it failed to nominate Robert De Niro's critically acclaimed directorial debut A Bronx Tale, a coming-of-age drama loaded with standout performances. It was a box office flop, you say? Fine: what about Groundhog Day, then? Not only is it a near-perfect romantic comedy, it also features one of Bill Murray's finest performances, and was a decent-sized hit to boot. (Oh, right. Comedies never get nominated.)
NOT NOMINATED FOR A SINGLE OSCAR:
A Bronx Tale |
Groundhog Day |
Waterworld
Oscar Nominee for Best Sound Mixing
43%
1995
Though it was an infamous flop upon its release, Waterworld has its retroactive defenders, who value the sheer audacity of Kevin Costner's expensive, expansive sci-fi epic. Still, it's kind of shocking in retrospect that Waterworld got a nod from the Academy, while both Get Shorty and Heat were sidelined come Oscar time. The former is a deft Hollywood satire featuring sharp performances from such old pros as John Travolta, Gene Hackman, and Danny DeVito, while the latter contains riveting set pieces and a much-ballyhooed showdown between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. You'd think either of these movies would have been nominated for something, but you'd be wrong.
NOT NOMINATED FOR A SINGLE OSCAR:
Get Shorty |
Heat |
William Johnsten
Ponyo should have been nominated for Animated Feature. It was better than The Princes and the Frog (though I did like that movie still).
Feb 20 - 07:20 PM
Drew Last Name
I enjoyed the Princess and the Frog animation. I don't get the Ponyo love. The noses on the characters in Ponyo are not well drawn. There's some sort of pacman thing going on while characters speak. Reminds me of the Pokemon cartoons my kid watches.
Feb 21 - 06:25 AM
Dawn Havard
I love just about all of Miyazaki's work but I think Ponyo was the weakest movie he has made thus far. It just meandered until it ended.
Feb 21 - 06:57 AM
Zeke Teke
I have never seen Ponyo. But I loved Princess Mononoke so so much. Nausicaa is also a favorite for me.
Feb 21 - 08:21 AM
carl latin
i thought the same about Howl's Moving Castle, now that was definitely his weakest film.
Feb 21 - 02:55 PM
Robert Lindsay
What about this year's "The Secret World of Arrietty" from Studio Ghibli? The critics and audiences who saw it loved it! And yet it gets passed over in the "Best Animated Film" category in favor of "Frankenweenie" and Wreck-It Ralph?" The Academy has no class!
Feb 22 - 03:57 PM
Leigh Samuels
I didn't see Ponyo because of Noah Cyrus. The Princess and the Frog is a great film that is probably way better than Ponyo
Feb 21 - 09:29 AM
Nicholas Moore
I thought she did a fine job. I don't know who Noah Cyrus is, though I'm guessing she's on some kind of kids show or something, but she made Ponyo a really hyperactively adorable character, though that was only half of what made it adorable.
Feb 23 - 11:46 AM
Rocky Road Taylor
Meh, Ponyo was pretty flat.
But I do personally think that of the 5 eligible films for Best Animated Film that year, Up was easily the weakest.
Feb 21 - 12:58 PM
Tim Elliot
I think it's a dumb list. It's like he's making an issue out of nothing.
Yeah, Ponyo might have been a good choice, the nominated films deserved it was well...
Up,
Coraline,
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Feb 23 - 07:51 PM