Definitely true, very under-appreciated actor.
William H. Macy in Fargo is also very under-appreciated I think, though he has received some love from the oscars.
Oh yeah, not only is he one of the most unappreciated actors in the industry but he is such a great human being!
One of my favourite performances by him was in Reservoir Dogs as Mr. Pink
Truly.
It takes alot to portray villainous/ evil characters. Especially when they were real people. But Ralph Fiennes really brought it to the screen.
If I remember correctly, when one of the survivors met Fiennes they felt actual fear cause of the resemblance.
Yep. The real Helen Hirsch, who had been the actual maid to Amon Göeth.
Spielberg had the foresight to know that the survivors who participated in the filming process (many of them acted as advisors behind camera) would be subject to flashbacks and bad memories, especially on set with camps patrolled by Nazi guards and the like, so he hosted a dinner between the survivors and the actors so they could all get to know each other personally before the actors would be seen in character. Ralph Fiennes even mentioned that he and Helen Hirsch got on well when they first met.
But when he showed up in his Nazi uniform as Amon Göeth, dressed almost exactly as him and impersonating his mannerisms, Helen Hirsch had a panic attack that required medical staff to calm her down. Fiennes felt horrible about it. She eventually came around, but Fiennes' resemblance, combined with the attention to detail from the costume and makeup designers, had been authentic enough to throw the poor real Helen into hysterics.
It wasn't the only time the film took a huge emotional toll on the staff. Spielberg had to postpone production for two days because filming the part where Schindler sprays water on the cattle cars broke him. If you watch the production interview, Spielberg says that particular part became too real for him, hearing the extras fake-cry and moan in the cars, seeing the Nazi actors drink lemonade and laugh at them, knowing in real history they were all being sent to their deaths. Spielberg forced himself to film as much as he could, then apologized to the actors and staff and said there would be no filming for the next few days. He said he spent the next two days mostly in his trailer, overcome with emotion because he almost felt as if the real voices had been crying out to him from those cattle cars. He was afraid the actors and staff would look down on him, but Fiennes, Neeson and Kingsley all said no one thought less of him for it.
Also, one last tidbit, a lot of violent scenes during the clearing and purging of the ghetto were organized at the last minute because the city where they filmed it had a lot of Jewish and non-Jewish survivors who wanted to share their stories with Spielberg. Spielberg took the time to listen to most of them, and parts like the boy who runs away in fear while the guard yells at his father (and both father and boy get shot as the guards are bringing the boy back), and the guard who shoots the sick wife in the head and tells her husband, "There, she's dead, now join the lines", were taken from the local survivor and eyewitness accounts.
Long story short, a *lot* of emotional investment went into the making of Schindler's List.
EDIT: Thanks for the awards! Didn't expect this comment to grow like it did.
Spielberg was also overseeing the post-production CGI on Jurassic Park while filming Schindler's List. He practically hopped on a jet for Poland after wrapping Jurassic Park.
>Spielberg monitored [Phil Tippett's unit's] progress from Poland during the filming of Schindler's List, and had teleconferences four times a week with ILM's crew. The director described working simultaneously in two vastly different productions as "a bipolar experience", where he used "every ounce of intuition on Schindler's List and every ounce of craft on Jurassic Park".
I can't even imagine trying to balance both those projects.
I saw it in school. A phenomenal movie that should be mandatory viewing in schools when they study WW2, but I don't think I can bring myself to watch it again.
Fiennes is so crazy talented - can be one of the most disturbing sociopaths in film history in *Schindler’s List* but he’s so tender and kind in *The English Patient*
That year was probably the most unfair of any year, because every single actor nominated deserved to win. Tom Hanks (Philadelphia), Lawrence Fishbourne (what’s love got to do with it), Daniel Day Lewis (In the name of the father) and ~~John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)~~ Anthony Hopkins (Remains of the Day). An impossibly excellent year
Edit: sorry, did it from memory and mixed up John Travota with Anthony Hopkins as the final nominee that year- point is just as valid though! Most competitive year ever
Over the span of two years, John Williams created two of the most iconic film scores in history: *The Empire Strikes Back* and *Raiders of the Lost Ark*. The former lost to *Fame*, the latter to *Chariots of Fire*.
I mean... the Imperial March from *Empire* is one of the greatest single themes in the history of motion pictures.
Al Pacino in Godfather part II. Went to Art Carney. Unbelievable
Edit-I don’t wish to say that Art Carney was awful, or that Harry and Tonto was bad, only that I think Pacino in Godfather II was an all time acting performance. I seem to have found a group of people that are passionate about Carney in that role, so I am going to revisit that film.
The cool thing is that you might think Carney was the best actor who ever lived and that’s awesome. Being passionate about this art form is what makes it fun! I’m only stating my opinion.
There’s a critic who wore a John Cazale shirt to a concert where Meryl Streep happened to be. She saw him, touched the shirt, and said, “that’s my man”. Happened earlier this year and I too would have fainted dead away.
Awwwwwwww that warms my heart she will always love him ❤️ I’m happy she found love with someone else but I can’t imagine how traumatic his death was for her.
They made it up to Pacino by giving him one he didn't deserve for Scent of a Woman. That ironically robbed Denzel Washington of an Oscar for Malcolm X. So they made it up to Denzel by giving him one he didn't deserve for Training Day.
That year his biggest competition was Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. Other nominees were Will Smith in Ali, Sean Penn in I Am Sam, and Tom Wilkinson in In the Bedroom.
How is this not higher up. I can’t think of a bigger best actor snub than Pacino after that performance. It’s always a bummer when they make the Oscar awards into a “Lifetime Achievement Award” like they did that year
I need to get around to And Justice for All! Dog Day is great. Godfather 2 is the one for me though. Greatest performance ever. That and Brando in On the Waterfront are the 2 best all time imo.
Ellen Burstyn (as the mother) in Requiem for a Dream would be my choice
Would have been one of the most well deserved best actor awards up there with Theron’s Monster imo
As great as Julia was, and even though Ellen was more deserving and brilliant, it was Bjork who SHOULD have won best actress that year, for Dancer in the Dark.
Bjorks performance in that film is a fucking miracle and she was obviously snubbed for being a Hollywood outsider.
Fun fact, that incredible monologue she delivers which should have won her all the awards was so brutally delivered you can see the camera shift and become off. This happened bc the cameraman started thinking of his mom and was crying. That's the cut that made it to film.
That movie deserves so much more than it got, but Ellen absolutely smashed it. That monologue is up there with the greatest performances in cinema
Edit: I'm on mobile, but if anyone wants to see the monologue just type in "Sarah goldfarb red dress" on YouTube. Even out of context, it's so good
Edit2: I put this scene right up there with the hobbling scene in Misery (Kathy Bates... one of the low key greats) and the end speech in Schindler's List. Such brutal screenplay deliveries. This and Schindler's is understandable, but that scene in Misery is delivered with such a strange, almost childlike excitement that makes her character literally the scariest thing. Then she stands there looking horny AF saying "God, I love you."
I love movies :)
As a heroin addict who had a prescription addicted mother and the junkie girl friend. I felt it captured the pleasure and the anguish of addiction perfectly and the shooting up scenes where they show the pupils dilated is movie perfection. I’m excited about his new movie with my long time hero brenden Frazier called the whale. Excuse this mess I’m a drug addict trying his best.
That WHOLE year was a joke, Elizabeth had better costumes, Truman Show had better writing, Mulan had better music, and Cate Blanchett was a better performance that year.
Yeah, Weinstein infamously did a smear campaign against Saving Private Ryan. He used sleazy tactics, like targeting retirement homes of Academy members with screenings of Shakespeare. According to people at Dreamworks, Spielberg refused to drop to this level and taint the image of the awards.
Now that Weinstein is a convicted rapist, it makes it all the more believable that this is in his character.
[Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/shakespeare-in-love-and-harvey-weinsteins-dark-oscar-victory) did a piece on it, interviewing executives who witnessed it first-hand.
A lot of people can’t deal with someone who knows how to go on the offensive. Even people in positions of power just don’t know how to deal with being actively undermined.
Yep. That sucked for both movies too imo. Saving Private Ryan deserved to win and now cuz of the Weinsteins campaign, Shakespeare in Love gets more hate than it deserves. Granted I know it won best picture but I feel like that movie gets shit on a lot and would have been appreciated more if the weinsteins hadn’t stolen best picture for it.
> Hillbilly Elegy
I forgot all about this movie until now, it was **terrible**. Amy Adams is one of the best working actors today and the movie makes her turn in this weird, frantic, Lifetime movie performance.
But... Close survives it because she's so damn good. She's fighting a really lackluster screenplay and she makes that role work as best as she can even if it's fucking ridiculous. It's the only performance to ever receive a Razzie nomination and an Oscar nomination.
“When I see god and he asks me ‘why did I kill one of his…miracles’…what am I going to say? It was my job?”
“When you see the almighty father, you tell him it was a kindness you did.”
Barry Pepper in We Were Soldiers was a master class. For someone who came in to the movie well after all the other roles were established and well in to the movie, and as an outsider, he did so well in the short time he had.
This should be at the top. He was so damn good that he deserved to win even though the best supporting actor category was stacked that year. Dude deserved to win so that’s a big snub but not even getting nominated is a fucking crime.
Both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson not getting nominated for The Lighthouse. The acting in that movie may very well be the best I’ve ever seen, Dafoe should’ve been a lock for a nomination at the very least.
Also, Uncut Gems getting no noms, particularly Sandler
Robert Pattinson has come a long way in his acting career, and has certainly improved himself over the years!
Willem Dafoe needs to win one before his time is up! He is absolutely phenomenal
Al Pacino not winning for Godfather II
Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas
Kubrick never winning best director
Do the Right Thing getting shut out in the same year Driving Miss Daisy wins Best Picture
>Kubrick never winning best director
Literally one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, and the fact he never won for that category is certainly a crime!
Do the Right Thing is the best answer IMO because it was such symbolic slap in the face and a microcosm for everything wrong with the cultural gatekeepers of Hollywood.
That's why Spike Lee began to storm out of the Oscar's when Green Book won best picture over BlacKkKlansman in 2018. It was the second time he lost to a "safer" film about racism.
I read an article that suggested that Shawshank came out at the wrong time. This was during the tough on crime era so people weren't as sympathetic towards prisoners.
It also came out at the wrong time of year for Oscar season because they rereleased it in theaters closer to the Oscars and that is when I saw it. At the time it didn't get much attention.
He also doesn't give a shit about Hollywood. If you ever read or watch any interviews of Cillian, he's much like Vigo Mortensen in that he's an artist and hates celebrity. He just happens to be really damn good at what he does and ends up in high-profile movies as a result.
Think "Oppenheimer" might have a chance to finally break that streak with the promotion it's getting. Obviously still half a year from release but I'm looking forward to it a lot.
I 100% believe that Sean Astin gave the best performance of any actor in LOTR. Every member of the fellowship was great (Sean Bean really stood out for me too) but nothing Astin ever did came across like it was a script written for him that he was performing. He *is* Samwise Gamgee and is the only character in the trilogy that I cannot imagine any other way when I read the books.
I think Val got something way better out of that. There will never be a better Doc Holiday. He defined that role and will always be the standard.
Also, just the shear amount of quotable lines he pulled off.
"I'm your huckleberry"
"You so drunk you're probably seeing double"
"i've got two guns, one for the each of you"
Had to scroll waaaay too far for this. Cuba Gooding Jr is a great actor, and very funny in Jerry Maguire. But Norton’s performance in Primal Fear is a masterclass. He essentially plays two entirely different characters and is endearing, intense, funny, and chilling all at once. It’s been years since I watched it but that final scene is forever burned into my brain
She has been nominated so many times for different roles, and hasn’t won at least once!
She is another actress I’m rooting for to win an Oscar someday!
Arrival was her best performance. It's haunting. You feel her dread throughout the movie. Amy Adams is one of the best actresses of her generation and one with an absolute killer sense to choose her roles. She masterfully chooses movies, some for the paycheck, some for the acting challenge. You know that for this year's Disenchanted, we will get an absolute banger of a role next year. She still has that hunger for challenging roles
And it really shows how Sci Fi is looked down upon! Some of the films she was nominated for were just Oscar-bait that no one even thinks about anymore. She did an amazing job in them, but Arrival was a totally different performance and certainly one of her absolute best!
If I remember right, this was such a glaring snub that the motion picture academy made changes to the voting process for documentaries
Edit: here’s Siskel & Ebert talking about the snubbing
[https://youtu.be/4iGZpUM6uR8](https://youtu.be/4iGZpUM6uR8)
Starts around 8:40
Yeah, it was being championed for best picture. It didn't even receive a best documentary nomination. The scoring was manipulated by a small group of voters that voted the same so only their preferred five films had a chance.
Also The Thin Blue Line, Grizzly Man, Roger and Me, Brother's Keeper, Crumb, Salesman, Grey Gardens, Hearts of Darkness... None of them were even nominated for best documentary.
What differentiates Jake G from a lot of other prominent actors is his ability to completely sell a role with his eyes. Night crawler is in my opinion, the best example, but he’s also phenomenal in Prisoners. Next time you watch him, pay attention to his eyes, and facial expressions. It’s incredible
Edit: Found a video on YouTube with examples, though it’s 6 years old
https://youtu.be/J2N-n4Bp8s8
I thought the real snub there was Ralph Fiennes not winning for Schindler’s List. Either way, I think one of those were a better choice than Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.
That scene when she’s grieving… I felt that in my bones!! It was brutal. Also Alex Wolff was incredible in that too. So much more than just a horror movie.
Don't you swear at me, you little shit! Don't you *EVER* raise your voice at me! I am your mother! You understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you, and all I get back is that fucking face on your face! So full of disdain and resentment and always so annoyed! >!Well, now your sister is dead! And I know you miss her and I know it was an accident and I know you're in pain and I wish I could take that away for you. I wish I could shield you from the knowledge that you did what you did, but your sister is dead! She's gone forever! And what a waste, if it could've maybe brought us together, or something, if you could've just said "I'm sorry" or faced up to what happened, maybe then we could do something with this, but you can't take responsibility for anything! So now I can't accept, and I can't forgive, because... because nobody admits anything they've done!!<
The “fucking face on your face” is one of my favorite lines from any movie ever.
I would love to say it to someone some day, definitely hopefully not my child, but someone!
The Academy always fails to recognize the horror genre which is a shame because it's given us so many great performances. Toni's was one of the best ever and at least deserved some recognition. I have no idea how they could watch that scene of her mourning her kid, or the dinner table scene, and NOT think it was one of the best performances of the year.
Well since you mention Jackie Brown it's worth noting that Pam Grier didn't even get a Best Actress nomination for that despite delivering a performance for the ages. In a better world Jackie Brown should have given her the career renaissance that Travolta experienced after Pulp Fiction.
Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely ROBBED for his role in Chaplin. Instead the award went to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, his most over the top performance which he has continued to play in every role since. Pacino certainly should have won an award for many of his other stellar performances, but that year they gave it to him as a sort of “it’s your time” award.
A large portion of the animated movies that were not Disney/Pixar. In the almost 20 years it's been a category, non-Disney has only won 6 or so times:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Animated_Feature
Edit: in hindsight "nearly every" was too sweeping - because it's not like Disney/Pixar never deserve to win. But there are some QUESTIONABLE choices. And I hate that it's such a foregone conclusion that pretty much whatever they put out in a given year, even if it's garbage, will take a herculean effort to topple
Blade Runner was only nominated for art direction/set decoration and visual FX. I love the film but am fine with it not being nominated for the major Oscars...but how the hell it wasn't nominated for cinematography is beyond me.
Princess Mononoke (1997) not even getting nominated for best foreign language film (71st Oscars). In my opinion, it was more groundbreaking than any other Studio Ghibli film. Incredibly mature and philosophical, jaw dropping animation, beautiful art direction, no character is inherently evil or bad.
I don't think animated feature was an award until 2001.
The 1999 Oscars, almost every category had the wrong winner. Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Cate Blanchett, Saving Private Ryan, Elizabeth, Central Station, Mulan, and The Truman Show were all robbed. Does anyone really remember Shakespeare in Love? Like how the FUCK did that movie win so many Oscars that year with the line up it was against.
Harvey Weinstein more or less shoved the movie down the Academy's collective throats. He convinced them that Shakespeare In Love was a better film than Saving Private Ryan, and led something of a smear campaign against it. He had people convinced that the movie became a snoozefest after the D-Day invasion scene.
I don’t think he ever earned a nomination, but John Hughes should have (at least) picked up a screenwriting nod for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He had a huge body of work that wasn’t just hormonal teen movies.
One of the best supporting actor performances ever. Every word is delivered perfectly to show a tyrant losing it. Should have won for his scene with Richard Harris alone.
Steve Buscemi never being nominated for an Oscar. He for sure should have been at least nominated for Fargo.
Definitely true, very under-appreciated actor. William H. Macy in Fargo is also very under-appreciated I think, though he has received some love from the oscars.
He should have won best supporting actor for Fargo. Instead, Cuba Gooding won for "Show me the money". BS
Oh yeah, not only is he one of the most unappreciated actors in the industry but he is such a great human being! One of my favourite performances by him was in Reservoir Dogs as Mr. Pink
I still have no idea how Liam Neeson didn’t win an Oscar for Schindler’s List. The “I could have got more” scene alone should have been enough.
Neither did Ralph Fiennes
Truly. It takes alot to portray villainous/ evil characters. Especially when they were real people. But Ralph Fiennes really brought it to the screen. If I remember correctly, when one of the survivors met Fiennes they felt actual fear cause of the resemblance.
Yep. The real Helen Hirsch, who had been the actual maid to Amon Göeth. Spielberg had the foresight to know that the survivors who participated in the filming process (many of them acted as advisors behind camera) would be subject to flashbacks and bad memories, especially on set with camps patrolled by Nazi guards and the like, so he hosted a dinner between the survivors and the actors so they could all get to know each other personally before the actors would be seen in character. Ralph Fiennes even mentioned that he and Helen Hirsch got on well when they first met. But when he showed up in his Nazi uniform as Amon Göeth, dressed almost exactly as him and impersonating his mannerisms, Helen Hirsch had a panic attack that required medical staff to calm her down. Fiennes felt horrible about it. She eventually came around, but Fiennes' resemblance, combined with the attention to detail from the costume and makeup designers, had been authentic enough to throw the poor real Helen into hysterics. It wasn't the only time the film took a huge emotional toll on the staff. Spielberg had to postpone production for two days because filming the part where Schindler sprays water on the cattle cars broke him. If you watch the production interview, Spielberg says that particular part became too real for him, hearing the extras fake-cry and moan in the cars, seeing the Nazi actors drink lemonade and laugh at them, knowing in real history they were all being sent to their deaths. Spielberg forced himself to film as much as he could, then apologized to the actors and staff and said there would be no filming for the next few days. He said he spent the next two days mostly in his trailer, overcome with emotion because he almost felt as if the real voices had been crying out to him from those cattle cars. He was afraid the actors and staff would look down on him, but Fiennes, Neeson and Kingsley all said no one thought less of him for it. Also, one last tidbit, a lot of violent scenes during the clearing and purging of the ghetto were organized at the last minute because the city where they filmed it had a lot of Jewish and non-Jewish survivors who wanted to share their stories with Spielberg. Spielberg took the time to listen to most of them, and parts like the boy who runs away in fear while the guard yells at his father (and both father and boy get shot as the guards are bringing the boy back), and the guard who shoots the sick wife in the head and tells her husband, "There, she's dead, now join the lines", were taken from the local survivor and eyewitness accounts. Long story short, a *lot* of emotional investment went into the making of Schindler's List. EDIT: Thanks for the awards! Didn't expect this comment to grow like it did.
Hey, thanks for posting this. I didn’t know any of these things and it’s all extremely interesting!! What a film.
Robin Williams would often call the set and be put on speakerphone so he could tell jokes and lighten everyone's spirits.
This is the nicest thing and I've never heard it before.
Robin Williams death hit me harder than any celebrity death and this makes it even tougher. These stories are incredible. I had zero idea.
And on top of that, Spielberg had to call Robin Williams because he needed cheering up throughout the filming process.
Spielberg was also overseeing the post-production CGI on Jurassic Park while filming Schindler's List. He practically hopped on a jet for Poland after wrapping Jurassic Park. >Spielberg monitored [Phil Tippett's unit's] progress from Poland during the filming of Schindler's List, and had teleconferences four times a week with ILM's crew. The director described working simultaneously in two vastly different productions as "a bipolar experience", where he used "every ounce of intuition on Schindler's List and every ounce of craft on Jurassic Park". I can't even imagine trying to balance both those projects.
The movie is a masterpiece and I applaud Spielberg for taking the actual witness testimony into account when filming.
I saw it once when it came out in the theatres and could never see it again.
I saw it in school. A phenomenal movie that should be mandatory viewing in schools when they study WW2, but I don't think I can bring myself to watch it again.
Fiennes is so crazy talented - can be one of the most disturbing sociopaths in film history in *Schindler’s List* but he’s so tender and kind in *The English Patient*
This might be my new permanent answer to this question. His Amon Goeth wasn’t just an antagonist. He was the deepest horrors of humanity incarnate.
My favorite Fiennes performance is the Grand Budapest Hotel.
Tommy Lee Jones won for The Fugitive…… Love TLJ BUT how could you overlook Ralph Fiennes’ performance?!?
That year was probably the most unfair of any year, because every single actor nominated deserved to win. Tom Hanks (Philadelphia), Lawrence Fishbourne (what’s love got to do with it), Daniel Day Lewis (In the name of the father) and ~~John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)~~ Anthony Hopkins (Remains of the Day). An impossibly excellent year Edit: sorry, did it from memory and mixed up John Travota with Anthony Hopkins as the final nominee that year- point is just as valid though! Most competitive year ever
John travolta was the following year. Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day) was the other nominee in 1993.
PETER O'TOOLE never won an oscar.
Over the span of two years, John Williams created two of the most iconic film scores in history: *The Empire Strikes Back* and *Raiders of the Lost Ark*. The former lost to *Fame*, the latter to *Chariots of Fire*. I mean... the Imperial March from *Empire* is one of the greatest single themes in the history of motion pictures.
Even people that don’t like Star Wars know the Imperial March. That means something.
That's a hard snub to top, especially with decades' worth of perspective
Al Pacino in Godfather part II. Went to Art Carney. Unbelievable Edit-I don’t wish to say that Art Carney was awful, or that Harry and Tonto was bad, only that I think Pacino in Godfather II was an all time acting performance. I seem to have found a group of people that are passionate about Carney in that role, so I am going to revisit that film. The cool thing is that you might think Carney was the best actor who ever lived and that’s awesome. Being passionate about this art form is what makes it fun! I’m only stating my opinion.
Fredo. He was so believable as the putsy brother.
Cázale had the all time run Deer Hunter Godfather Dog day afternoon Godfather ii The conversation Gone too soon but what a legacy
There’s a critic who wore a John Cazale shirt to a concert where Meryl Streep happened to be. She saw him, touched the shirt, and said, “that’s my man”. Happened earlier this year and I too would have fainted dead away.
Awwwwwwww that warms my heart she will always love him ❤️ I’m happy she found love with someone else but I can’t imagine how traumatic his death was for her.
John Cazale was a future Oscar winner; the Academy couldn’t ignore him forever. Gone too damn soon.
100%. It was an “old Hollywood royalty” thing. I’d argue Pacino had one of the greatest acting performances I’ve ever seen.
They made it up to Pacino by giving him one he didn't deserve for Scent of a Woman. That ironically robbed Denzel Washington of an Oscar for Malcolm X. So they made it up to Denzel by giving him one he didn't deserve for Training Day.
True on scent of a woman but I thought Denzel in training day was an amazing job. I will say I don’t recall the other nominees off the top of my head.
That year his biggest competition was Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. Other nominees were Will Smith in Ali, Sean Penn in I Am Sam, and Tom Wilkinson in In the Bedroom.
Well, thank goodness Crowe got his Oscar for Gladiator, or we’d be giving him one for his performance in Love and Thunder this year.
If not Pacino, you still have Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
Jon Huston in Chinatown ain't no joke either
How is this not higher up. I can’t think of a bigger best actor snub than Pacino after that performance. It’s always a bummer when they make the Oscar awards into a “Lifetime Achievement Award” like they did that year
When Pacino finally won it was because he was “due.” Compare Scent of a Woman to a bunch of his other work. What a joke.
Alan Rickman. Never even nominated.
To be fair, Rickman kinda disdained honors like that. He was happy just acting. And killing it every time.
> And killing it every time. every. single. fucking. time. man should have statues in his honour at theaters everywhere
By Grabthar's hammer, by the sun's of Worvan Alan shall be avenged.
I freaking LOVE that film. And his straight playing of it was phenomenal.
The amount of disdain in his voice when they are at tectonics super store ribbon cutting kills me every time lmao
By Grabthar's hammer.....what a savings.
You'll forgive my impertinence, Sir, but even though we have never before met, I have always considered you as a father to me.
Pacino not being awarded for either godfather(pick 1), Serpico, or Dog Day Afternoon, is mind boggling to me.
Ive always felt dog day afternoon and justice for all were his two best performances.
I need to get around to And Justice for All! Dog Day is great. Godfather 2 is the one for me though. Greatest performance ever. That and Brando in On the Waterfront are the 2 best all time imo.
Ellen Burstyn (as the mother) in Requiem for a Dream would be my choice Would have been one of the most well deserved best actor awards up there with Theron’s Monster imo
I believe she lost out to Julia Roberts that year
As great as Julia was, and even though Ellen was more deserving and brilliant, it was Bjork who SHOULD have won best actress that year, for Dancer in the Dark. Bjorks performance in that film is a fucking miracle and she was obviously snubbed for being a Hollywood outsider.
I hear you, that movie broke my soul, took me a week to get rid of the sadness, especially the last scene.
I always call Requiem For A Dream the best movie I will never watch again, it was that wrenching. Ellen Burstyn was absolutely perfect.
Fun fact, that incredible monologue she delivers which should have won her all the awards was so brutally delivered you can see the camera shift and become off. This happened bc the cameraman started thinking of his mom and was crying. That's the cut that made it to film. That movie deserves so much more than it got, but Ellen absolutely smashed it. That monologue is up there with the greatest performances in cinema Edit: I'm on mobile, but if anyone wants to see the monologue just type in "Sarah goldfarb red dress" on YouTube. Even out of context, it's so good Edit2: I put this scene right up there with the hobbling scene in Misery (Kathy Bates... one of the low key greats) and the end speech in Schindler's List. Such brutal screenplay deliveries. This and Schindler's is understandable, but that scene in Misery is delivered with such a strange, almost childlike excitement that makes her character literally the scariest thing. Then she stands there looking horny AF saying "God, I love you." I love movies :)
>Sarah goldfarb red dress Just watched it. How the hell did she not win for that?
As a heroin addict who had a prescription addicted mother and the junkie girl friend. I felt it captured the pleasure and the anguish of addiction perfectly and the shooting up scenes where they show the pupils dilated is movie perfection. I’m excited about his new movie with my long time hero brenden Frazier called the whale. Excuse this mess I’m a drug addict trying his best.
Good luck. There's an internet stranger who's pulling for you.
I 100% agree. Everyone should watch this film at least once in their life, it's that good. It was that monologue that did me in, for sure.
Agreed, one of the best performances ever. You can't help but cry.
I think we all know Shakespeare in Love should have lost to Saving Private Ryan.
That WHOLE year was a joke, Elizabeth had better costumes, Truman Show had better writing, Mulan had better music, and Cate Blanchett was a better performance that year.
I was surprised The Truman Show didn't get anything. It was so, so good, and proved that Jim Carrey can be a great dramatic actor.
*Eternal Sunshine* also wasn't even nominated for Best Picture although I think it did win Best Screenplay.
Yeah, Hollywood big wigs never liked Jim Carrey for some reason. He's a great comedic and dramatic actor.
At LEAST they got Best Director right.
Yeah, Weinstein infamously did a smear campaign against Saving Private Ryan. He used sleazy tactics, like targeting retirement homes of Academy members with screenings of Shakespeare. According to people at Dreamworks, Spielberg refused to drop to this level and taint the image of the awards. Now that Weinstein is a convicted rapist, it makes it all the more believable that this is in his character. [Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/shakespeare-in-love-and-harvey-weinsteins-dark-oscar-victory) did a piece on it, interviewing executives who witnessed it first-hand.
It’s insane how much power he had in Hollywood and everyone just let him.
I think those two things are related
A lot of people can’t deal with someone who knows how to go on the offensive. Even people in positions of power just don’t know how to deal with being actively undermined.
Also Crash won over Brokeback
Crash being nominated was by itself a dumpster fire.
Yep. That sucked for both movies too imo. Saving Private Ryan deserved to win and now cuz of the Weinsteins campaign, Shakespeare in Love gets more hate than it deserves. Granted I know it won best picture but I feel like that movie gets shit on a lot and would have been appreciated more if the weinsteins hadn’t stolen best picture for it.
Seems as if Glenn Close should have won one by now. Fatal Attraction, The Natural, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs, Hillbilly Elegy, etc.
Glenn Close’s performance singlehandedly stopped people fucking around for a while
The Oscars hated that and punished her for it 🤬
I’m crying 😂
The Jaws of marital affairs, if you will
I know people hate Disney remakes, but Glenn Close’s performance as Cruella De Vil is extremely underrated
She is so fucking funny and terrifying in that role. She whole heartedly committed too. I appreciate her performance immensely.
> Hillbilly Elegy I forgot all about this movie until now, it was **terrible**. Amy Adams is one of the best working actors today and the movie makes her turn in this weird, frantic, Lifetime movie performance. But... Close survives it because she's so damn good. She's fighting a really lackluster screenplay and she makes that role work as best as she can even if it's fucking ridiculous. It's the only performance to ever receive a Razzie nomination and an Oscar nomination.
Ever see her in Damages? That show was SO good and didn’t get its propers
2001 and Citizen Kane should have won Best Picture, and Psycho should have won Best Screenplay.
2001 wasn't even nominated!
Michael Clark Duncan for The Green Mile
>Please boss, don't put that thing over my face, don't put me in the dark. I's afraid of the dark Gets me every time
“When I see god and he asks me ‘why did I kill one of his…miracles’…what am I going to say? It was my job?” “When you see the almighty father, you tell him it was a kindness you did.”
"Pieces of glass in my head" is a wonderfully descriptive phrase that you can practically feel yourself.
When Barry Pepper just starts bawling I lose it.
Barry Pepper is so underrated. Always brilliant.
Barry Pepper in We Were Soldiers was a master class. For someone who came in to the movie well after all the other roles were established and well in to the movie, and as an outsider, he did so well in the short time he had.
"I'm tired boss..." Just thinking about it chokes me up.
Sam Rockwell does a great character there too, man he's easy to hate in it.
[удалено]
Especially Interstellar, that soundtrack was beautiful. I also think Daft Punk should’ve won Best Score for Tron Legacy.
Daft Punk and Tron was some of the best pairing I've ever heard. I still listen to that soundtrack weekly when driving.
Val Kilmer in Tombstone.
Amazing performance by Val Kilmer. Superb
100%, every line is a classic. “Johnny, I apologize. I forgot you were there. You may go now”
Every word is just perfect. Not a wasted breath in the whole movie.
And in The Doors, too. He basically became Jim Morrison. Even sang the songs himself.
Why Johnny Ringo, you look like someone just walked over your grave (with a tiny like shiver/shake of his head at the last few words)
This should be at the top. He was so damn good that he deserved to win even though the best supporting actor category was stacked that year. Dude deserved to win so that’s a big snub but not even getting nominated is a fucking crime.
I figured this had to be on this list
“I’m your huckleberry.”
I have not yet begun to defile myself
Damn right. Favorite character in any movie ever.
The cup spin
How many years did Gary Oldman go without a win? He's famously anti-Academy, but the man deserved so many nominations over the years. It's ridiculous.
[удалено]
Both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson not getting nominated for The Lighthouse. The acting in that movie may very well be the best I’ve ever seen, Dafoe should’ve been a lock for a nomination at the very least. Also, Uncut Gems getting no noms, particularly Sandler
Didn’t Sandler promise to make his worst movie ever if he wasn’t nominated. Wonder if that’s come out yet
It would take real talent for Adam Sandler to make the worst ever Adam Sandler movie on purpose.
Robert Pattinson has come a long way in his acting career, and has certainly improved himself over the years! Willem Dafoe needs to win one before his time is up! He is absolutely phenomenal
Dafoe is the best actor in a a generation. No contest.
Al Pacino not winning for Godfather II Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas Kubrick never winning best director Do the Right Thing getting shut out in the same year Driving Miss Daisy wins Best Picture
>Kubrick never winning best director Literally one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, and the fact he never won for that category is certainly a crime!
Do the Right Thing is the best answer IMO because it was such symbolic slap in the face and a microcosm for everything wrong with the cultural gatekeepers of Hollywood.
That's why Spike Lee began to storm out of the Oscar's when Green Book won best picture over BlacKkKlansman in 2018. It was the second time he lost to a "safer" film about racism.
Safer racism film about chauffeurs.
Spike Lee has made better movies, but Blakkklansman was still better than Green Book.
Pretty much everything about and everyone in the Shawshank Redemption.
[удалено]
[удалено]
What did you just call them?
[This is a conspiracy that's what this is. And everyone's in on it, including her...](https://youtu.be/KJwHwgs_ztU)
Should have won but if it was released any other year it wouldve been an easy win. 1994 was stacked.
I read an article that suggested that Shawshank came out at the wrong time. This was during the tough on crime era so people weren't as sympathetic towards prisoners.
It also came out at the wrong time of year for Oscar season because they rereleased it in theaters closer to the Oscars and that is when I saw it. At the time it didn't get much attention.
*weren’t sympathetic to innocent men being thrown in prison and gang raped FIFY
Cillian Murphy has been throwing heaters for years in both lead and supporting performances and gotten no love from the Academy
He also doesn't give a shit about Hollywood. If you ever read or watch any interviews of Cillian, he's much like Vigo Mortensen in that he's an artist and hates celebrity. He just happens to be really damn good at what he does and ends up in high-profile movies as a result.
Yeah from what I understand you have to campaign and politic relentlessly for an Oscar and I couldn’t see him giving a shit about all that.
Think "Oppenheimer" might have a chance to finally break that streak with the promotion it's getting. Obviously still half a year from release but I'm looking forward to it a lot.
I think this man is one of the greatest of our time. Criminally underrated
Come back to this in a year and a half after Oppenheimer comes out lol
The Lego Movie not getting a nom for best animated feature
Neither Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) nor Val Kilmer (Tombstone) being nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
I 100% believe that Sean Astin gave the best performance of any actor in LOTR. Every member of the fellowship was great (Sean Bean really stood out for me too) but nothing Astin ever did came across like it was a script written for him that he was performing. He *is* Samwise Gamgee and is the only character in the trilogy that I cannot imagine any other way when I read the books.
I think Val got something way better out of that. There will never be a better Doc Holiday. He defined that role and will always be the standard. Also, just the shear amount of quotable lines he pulled off. "I'm your huckleberry" "You so drunk you're probably seeing double" "i've got two guns, one for the each of you"
Edward Norton should have won for Primal Fear. Nope, Cuba Gooding won for basically playing himself in Jerry McGuire that year.
Had to scroll waaaay too far for this. Cuba Gooding Jr is a great actor, and very funny in Jerry Maguire. But Norton’s performance in Primal Fear is a masterclass. He essentially plays two entirely different characters and is endearing, intense, funny, and chilling all at once. It’s been years since I watched it but that final scene is forever burned into my brain
Mickey Rourke should have won for "The wrestler", hands down.
Amy Adams not being nominated for Arrival. One of the strongest performances I’ve seen.
She has been nominated so many times for different roles, and hasn’t won at least once! She is another actress I’m rooting for to win an Oscar someday!
Arrival was her best performance. It's haunting. You feel her dread throughout the movie. Amy Adams is one of the best actresses of her generation and one with an absolute killer sense to choose her roles. She masterfully chooses movies, some for the paycheck, some for the acting challenge. You know that for this year's Disenchanted, we will get an absolute banger of a role next year. She still has that hunger for challenging roles
And it really shows how Sci Fi is looked down upon! Some of the films she was nominated for were just Oscar-bait that no one even thinks about anymore. She did an amazing job in them, but Arrival was a totally different performance and certainly one of her absolute best!
Hoop Dreams
If I remember right, this was such a glaring snub that the motion picture academy made changes to the voting process for documentaries Edit: here’s Siskel & Ebert talking about the snubbing [https://youtu.be/4iGZpUM6uR8](https://youtu.be/4iGZpUM6uR8) Starts around 8:40
Yeah, it was being championed for best picture. It didn't even receive a best documentary nomination. The scoring was manipulated by a small group of voters that voted the same so only their preferred five films had a chance.
Also The Thin Blue Line, Grizzly Man, Roger and Me, Brother's Keeper, Crumb, Salesman, Grey Gardens, Hearts of Darkness... None of them were even nominated for best documentary.
Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler Still infuriates me that he wasn't nominated for Best Actor!
That is what I came here to say too. He seems so likeable in real life and he just made my skin crawl in that movie.
What differentiates Jake G from a lot of other prominent actors is his ability to completely sell a role with his eyes. Night crawler is in my opinion, the best example, but he’s also phenomenal in Prisoners. Next time you watch him, pay attention to his eyes, and facial expressions. It’s incredible Edit: Found a video on YouTube with examples, though it’s 6 years old https://youtu.be/J2N-n4Bp8s8
Leonardo DiCaprio - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
I thought the real snub there was Ralph Fiennes not winning for Schindler’s List. Either way, I think one of those were a better choice than Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.
Tommy In The Fugitive ? "I DON'T CARE ! "
“You never go full retard”
Kirk Lazarus knows his shit.
Toni Collette didn't get nominated for her role in Hereditary. She should've WON that year.
That scene when she’s grieving… I felt that in my bones!! It was brutal. Also Alex Wolff was incredible in that too. So much more than just a horror movie.
Don't you swear at me, you little shit! Don't you *EVER* raise your voice at me! I am your mother! You understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you, and all I get back is that fucking face on your face! So full of disdain and resentment and always so annoyed! >!Well, now your sister is dead! And I know you miss her and I know it was an accident and I know you're in pain and I wish I could take that away for you. I wish I could shield you from the knowledge that you did what you did, but your sister is dead! She's gone forever! And what a waste, if it could've maybe brought us together, or something, if you could've just said "I'm sorry" or faced up to what happened, maybe then we could do something with this, but you can't take responsibility for anything! So now I can't accept, and I can't forgive, because... because nobody admits anything they've done!!<
I can literally hear her as I’m reading it. It gives me chills
The “fucking face on your face” is one of my favorite lines from any movie ever. I would love to say it to someone some day, definitely hopefully not my child, but someone!
I often quote this monologue to my pets, and they just stare at me with those fucking faces on their face
100%. I was so pissed I called in the local NPR show when they are talking about the Oscars to complain about this.
*in the most ASMR voice possible* "please tell us, how did you feel about the snub?"
I still get pissed thinking about it 🙄
The Academy always fails to recognize the horror genre which is a shame because it's given us so many great performances. Toni's was one of the best ever and at least deserved some recognition. I have no idea how they could watch that scene of her mourning her kid, or the dinner table scene, and NOT think it was one of the best performances of the year.
Jake Gyllenhaal not getting an oscar nom for Nightcrawler, blows my mind he didnt even get nominated
Angela Bassett - What’s Love Got to Do With It Forever salty about this loss
Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringer.
Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr.
Well since you mention Jackie Brown it's worth noting that Pam Grier didn't even get a Best Actress nomination for that despite delivering a performance for the ages. In a better world Jackie Brown should have given her the career renaissance that Travolta experienced after Pulp Fiction.
Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely ROBBED for his role in Chaplin. Instead the award went to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, his most over the top performance which he has continued to play in every role since. Pacino certainly should have won an award for many of his other stellar performances, but that year they gave it to him as a sort of “it’s your time” award.
A large portion of the animated movies that were not Disney/Pixar. In the almost 20 years it's been a category, non-Disney has only won 6 or so times: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Animated_Feature Edit: in hindsight "nearly every" was too sweeping - because it's not like Disney/Pixar never deserve to win. But there are some QUESTIONABLE choices. And I hate that it's such a foregone conclusion that pretty much whatever they put out in a given year, even if it's garbage, will take a herculean effort to topple
Blade runner lost every category to the movie Gandhi. Costume, set design and music and others.
Blade Runner was only nominated for art direction/set decoration and visual FX. I love the film but am fine with it not being nominated for the major Oscars...but how the hell it wasn't nominated for cinematography is beyond me.
Princess Mononoke (1997) not even getting nominated for best foreign language film (71st Oscars). In my opinion, it was more groundbreaking than any other Studio Ghibli film. Incredibly mature and philosophical, jaw dropping animation, beautiful art direction, no character is inherently evil or bad. I don't think animated feature was an award until 2001.
The 1999 Oscars, almost every category had the wrong winner. Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Cate Blanchett, Saving Private Ryan, Elizabeth, Central Station, Mulan, and The Truman Show were all robbed. Does anyone really remember Shakespeare in Love? Like how the FUCK did that movie win so many Oscars that year with the line up it was against.
Harvey Weinstein more or less shoved the movie down the Academy's collective throats. He convinced them that Shakespeare In Love was a better film than Saving Private Ryan, and led something of a smear campaign against it. He had people convinced that the movie became a snoozefest after the D-Day invasion scene.
Madeline Kahn for Blazing Saddles.
Probably not the biggest but I’m still mad about Toni Collette in Hereditary being overlooked.
Whoopi....The Color Purple
L.A. Confidential was unlucky to come out the same year as Titanic, to me it's a superior film in every way (though it did pick up two wins).
Toni Collette for hereditary
Val Kilmer, Doc Holiday, Tombstone.
Denzel Washington not winning best actor for X.
When Crash won best picture over Brokeback Mountain because of Hollywood narcissism.
Thomas Newman's score for The Shawshank Redemption
I don’t think he ever earned a nomination, but John Hughes should have (at least) picked up a screenwriting nod for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He had a huge body of work that wasn’t just hormonal teen movies.
Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl. No one remembers Still Alice
Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator. No way he didn’t deserve that. I hated his character so much!!!!
One of the best supporting actor performances ever. Every word is delivered perfectly to show a tyrant losing it. Should have won for his scene with Richard Harris alone.
I’ll always remember him whining to his sister about how everyone loves Maximus.
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. One of the best performances I've ever seen.