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7 of the Worst Oscar Snubs

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The Academy Awards let so many down year after year. Some snubs are more egregious than others, but let’s take a look at some of their all-time worst faux pas.

 

1) SELMA: Best Director & Best Actor

Selma movie poster

Many people have been critical of the Oscars and their failure to recognize the achievement of African-Americans, and Selma adds a lot of fuel to that fire. The movie itself won an Oscar but failed to receive the acknowledgement of the landmark accomplishments of director Ava DuVernay and lead actor David Oyelowo for his role as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the film.

 

2) The Controversial 2010 Best Picture Award

The Social Network movie poster

There’s always controversy surrounding the Oscar’s but 2010 was a doozy. The King’s Speech won Best Picture and was heavily criticized because other films up for the award that year were The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, and Toy Story 3.

 

3) THE GODFATHER: Inconsistency at Its Finest

The Godfather poster with Marlon Brando

The Godfather took home 3 Oscars in 1973 for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor in a Leading Role. Why is it on this list, then? The inconsistency. It’s beyond everyone how a film could win those three Oscars and somehow manage to not win Best Director in addition to ignoring the great cinematic trio of Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall.

 

4) GOODFELLAS

Goodfellas poster

Many touted Goodfellas to be the best film about organized crime ever made, even better than The Godfather. But that wasn’t the controversy; the film was nominated for six Oscars and somehow only managed to take home one.

 

5) STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON: One Nomination for White Writers

Straight Outta Compton movie poster

2015 started #OscarsSoWhite but was nothing in comparison to the outrage in 2016 when the only nomination Straight Outta Compton received went to four white people for its screenplay. Many people believe it should have won Best Picture but certainly should have had more accolades than it was given.

 

6) THE DARK KNIGHT: Best Picture & Best Director

the dark knight theatrical poster

Christopher Nolan completely revamped the model for comic book films, but his cinematic achievement took a backseat to the sound editing and Heath Ledger’s performance. Both were great aspects of the film, but still frustrating that the Academy failed to recognize Nolan’s genius. It’s no coincidence that the following year the Academy began recognizing up to 10 nominees for Best Picture. Too little too late for Nolan, however. 

 

7) CITIZEN KANE: Best Picture

Citizen Kane movie poster

Considered the best film of all time by critics, directors, and students of film, Citizen Kane took home just one Oscar. Citizen Kane is a 114 minute encyclopedia of film technique but the Academy Awards didn’t share the film community’s reverence for such a masterpiece.

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