I think one of the biggest injustice was back in 2013 and even to this day, that both the Academy Awards and the film industry, fail to recognise the hard work and effort put in by the visual effects artists to make films like Life of Pi possible. Back in 2013, the award for best visual effects, went to Life of Pi, and the studio involved in making the CG work possible, upon winning the award, filed for bankruptcy.
At the awards ceremony, the acceptance speech of Bill Westenhofer, accepting the award on behalf of Rhythm and Hues, was prematurely cut off as he tries to shine a light on the company's financial troubles and the hardships that his fellow colleges were to face, in losing their jobs. His speech was hurried along with the Jaws theme tune and his mic was cut off before he could finish his speech.
I don't think of it as an injustice perhaps, but considering what Harrison Ford has done for cinema over the last 30 years or so, it's a shame he has never won anything. He came close with a nomination for Witness.
I'd like to see him recognised with the Lifetime Achievement award, maybe after his next turn as Han Solo in Star Wars 7
Obviously there are the usual suspects who should of won but never did and it leaves a stain on the Academy Awards to this day:
Charlie Chaplin
Peter O'Toole
Alfred Hitchcock
Stanley Kubrick
.
Can I add Angela Lansbury, Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall to that shameful list?
Others:
General
- Kevin Bacon remaining Oscar-less to this very day despite a plethora of worthy performances, particularly Murder in the First and The Woodsman.
- Glenn Close - as already mentioned.
Picture
- The masterful Citizen Kane losing to the dreadful How Green Was My Valley?
Picture - Total Shut Outs
- The Color Purple - O wins from 11 nominations (an embarrassing all-time record - shared with 1977s The Turning Point)
- The Shawshank Redemption - 0 wins from 8 nominations
Actor
- Danny Glover snubbed for The Color Purple
- Ray Liotta snubbed for Goodfellas
- Leo Di Caprio and Chiwetel Ejiofor losing out to Matthew McConaughey who was wonderful but that physical transformation did go a long way. Shame it didn't work for Bacon in MitF nearly twenty years earlier (see above)
Actress
- Whoopi Goldberg not winning for The Color Purple
- Imelda Staunton not winning for Vera Drake
- Julianne Moore not winning for Far From Heaven and having to wait until last year for her first victory
- Angela Bassett not winning for What's Love Got To Do With It?
- Ellen Burstyn (Requiem For A Dream) beaten out by that year's 'darling' Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich)
- Madonna snubbed for Evita
- Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) beaten out by that puke-inducing performance by Gwynnie in Shakespeare in Love
Supporting Actor
Sean Penn snubbed for Carlito's Way
Jim Broadbent snubbed for Moulin Rouge!
Supporting Actress
- Margaret Hamilton snubbed for her iconic Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz
- Marisa Tomei (In The Bedroom) losing out to the overrated Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind). Also not winning for the Wrestler. I suppose some would say karma is at work here following Tomei's surprise victory for My Cousin Vinny.
Director
- Steven Spielberg having to wait 16 years from his first nomination for victory
2015 - American Sniper, Boyhood, The Imitation Game, Theory of Everything better than Birdman
2014 - American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, Captain Phillips better than 12 Years a Slave.
2011 - Inception Better than The Kings Speech
2003 - Gangs of New York better than Chicago
2000 - The Sixth Sense, The Green Mile and The Cider house Rules better than American Beauty
1999 - Saving Private Ryan better than Shakespeare in Love
1998 - Good Will Hunting and Full Monty better than Titanic.
1997 - Jerry Maguire better than The English Patient
1995 - The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction better than Forrest Gump.
1994 - In the Name of the Father better than Schindlers List.
1993 - A Few Good Men better than Unforgiven
1992 - Goodfellas better than Dances with Wolves. The Godfather Part 3 is probably better too, but I haven't seen it. Yeah, yeah I know, I'll get round to it some time.
While I agree with some of these, 12 Years a Slave, American Beauty, Schindlers List and Dances With Wolves are absolutely worthy winners.
James Bond has been unfairly ignored, except for a nomination for Thunderball way back in 1965. I know the Roger Moore ones became cheesy, but surely the Daniel Craig and Sean Connery films deserved oscars for cinematography and scriptwriting.
Skyfall won Oscars for Adele's song and for sound editing.
Also nominations for cinematography, score and sound mixing.
Good, but these hugely successful and well made films were ignored for decades. How can Goldfinger, a very well acted and hugely popular film, not be nominated?
Good, but these hugely successful and well made films were ignored for decades. How can Goldfinger, a very well acted and hugely popular film, not be nominated?
Bond films then, like superhero films today, were seen as popcorn fodder rather than having serious artistic merit.
Blade Runner losing to E.T. in the visual effects category. Tron Legacy losing to Inception in the same category. Daft Punk not even getting nominated for their score for Tron Legacy.
Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey and Kim Basinger all gave extraordinary performances in this film.A true masterpiece.
There is one scene in particular that gets me every time--Kevin Spacey's wordless, horrfied reaction to a murder.In mere seconds, Spacey seems to age with grief.Amazing.
Also, I thought The Right Stuff (1983) should have won Best Picture and Dennis Quaid Best Supporting Actor.Wow, that was 32yrs ago
The worst Oscar injustice was the fact that Dog Day Afternoon came out the same year as One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, depriving Al Pacino of a Best Actor Oscar. It was such a strong year that Gene Hackman wasn't even nominated for French Connection II.
I was just thinking that comedy performances don't get the recognition they deserve. The memorable ones are Diane Keaton for Annie Hall, Frances McDormand for Fargo, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt for As Good As It Gets.
Well, I can't remember Arnie winning one. Nuff said
and thank god he didn't. Arnie is known for one thing. Being an action movie star. Not a seriously critical acclaimed actor. The bloke has one expression in his face and talks in one tone of voice. Then again, so does Michael Caine and he won two oscars. So i suppose even the bad actors still win oscars.
Comments
At the awards ceremony, the acceptance speech of Bill Westenhofer, accepting the award on behalf of Rhythm and Hues, was prematurely cut off as he tries to shine a light on the company's financial troubles and the hardships that his fellow colleges were to face, in losing their jobs. His speech was hurried along with the Jaws theme tune and his mic was cut off before he could finish his speech.
Here's the speech-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH5Pc8Gd1lo
Rhythm and Hues, made a short documentary of what happen to their studio and why they went bankrupt, here's a short trailer-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b6nBcjp_4w
If you want to watch the entire documentary, for those interested, here it is and it's free-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lcB9u-9mVE
I'd like to see him recognised with the Lifetime Achievement award, maybe after his next turn as Han Solo in Star Wars 7
Served them right for making films in their own language rather than in (American) English.
Can I add Angela Lansbury, Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall to that shameful list?
Others:
General
- Kevin Bacon remaining Oscar-less to this very day despite a plethora of worthy performances, particularly Murder in the First and The Woodsman.
- Glenn Close - as already mentioned.
Picture
- The masterful Citizen Kane losing to the dreadful How Green Was My Valley?
Picture - Total Shut Outs
- The Color Purple - O wins from 11 nominations (an embarrassing all-time record - shared with 1977s The Turning Point)
- The Shawshank Redemption - 0 wins from 8 nominations
Actor
- Danny Glover snubbed for The Color Purple
- Ray Liotta snubbed for Goodfellas
- Leo Di Caprio and Chiwetel Ejiofor losing out to Matthew McConaughey who was wonderful but that physical transformation did go a long way. Shame it didn't work for Bacon in MitF nearly twenty years earlier (see above)
Actress
- Whoopi Goldberg not winning for The Color Purple
- Imelda Staunton not winning for Vera Drake
- Julianne Moore not winning for Far From Heaven and having to wait until last year for her first victory
- Angela Bassett not winning for What's Love Got To Do With It?
- Ellen Burstyn (Requiem For A Dream) beaten out by that year's 'darling' Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich)
- Madonna snubbed for Evita
- Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) beaten out by that puke-inducing performance by Gwynnie in Shakespeare in Love
Supporting Actor
Sean Penn snubbed for Carlito's Way
Jim Broadbent snubbed for Moulin Rouge!
Supporting Actress
- Margaret Hamilton snubbed for her iconic Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz
- Marisa Tomei (In The Bedroom) losing out to the overrated Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind). Also not winning for the Wrestler. I suppose some would say karma is at work here following Tomei's surprise victory for My Cousin Vinny.
Director
- Steven Spielberg having to wait 16 years from his first nomination for victory
While I agree with some of these, 12 Years a Slave, American Beauty, Schindlers List and Dances With Wolves are absolutely worthy winners.
Also nominations for cinematography, score and sound mixing.
Like Fellini and Kurosawa?
Bond films then, like superhero films today, were seen as popcorn fodder rather than having serious artistic merit.
And? Goldfinger, Live And Let Die and Nobody Does It Better should of won Best Song decades ago.
Yes, I never understood why Matt Damon was overlooked, he was just brilliant.
Both good films, but controversially I preferred Crash
I would add another contender from the year that Gwyneth Paltrow won. Fernanda Montenegro, for her role in Central Station.
Oh, and Michael Fassbender should have got a Best Actor nod, for Shame.
Agree 1,000%
Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey and Kim Basinger all gave extraordinary performances in this film.A true masterpiece.
There is one scene in particular that gets me every time--Kevin Spacey's wordless, horrfied reaction to a murder.In mere seconds, Spacey seems to age with grief.Amazing.
Also, I thought The Right Stuff (1983) should have won Best Picture and Dennis Quaid Best Supporting Actor.Wow, that was 32yrs ago
1990: Driving Miss Daisy beating both Field of Dreams and Born on the Fourth of July
1995: Dennis Quaid not even getting nominated for Wyatt Earp
2002 and 2003: A Beautiful Mind and Chicago beating the Lord of the Rings. Yeah, I know they 'saved' the awards for 2004 but still.....
1973: Al Pacino (for The Godfather) losing to Joel Grey (for Cabaret)
and thank god he didn't. Arnie is known for one thing. Being an action movie star. Not a seriously critical acclaimed actor. The bloke has one expression in his face and talks in one tone of voice. Then again, so does Michael Caine and he won two oscars. So i suppose even the bad actors still win oscars.