20 iconic films that didn’t receive a single Oscar nomination

Based on Stephen King’s classic horror novel, The Shining has become one of the most iconic horror films of all time. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, the film sees father and author Jack Torrence driven to madness while caretaking at the Overlook Hotel with his family. From Jack Nicholson’s terrifying smile to the creepy Grady twins, the film left a huge impact on the genre. However, it didn’t receive any Oscar nominations, which is baffling due to Nicholson’s performance and Kubrick’s stature at the time. 

Michael Mann’s Heat is the ultimate heist movie and has influenced many similar films that followed. It is nearly three hours long, but it sustains tension and engagement throughout its runtime. Despite being hailed as one of the greatest crime films ever made, Heat didn’t win over the Academy in any categories. Even with the combined star power of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Val Kilmer, it failed to push through at the time because it was a ‘genre film’. 

When it comes to classic westerns, there is none more famous than Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly . Starring the legendary Clint Eastwood, the film helped establish many tropes and conventions that would come to be associated with the western genre. Most importantly, who can forget the classic theme, which makes the perfect backdrop for a showdown at high noon? Even composer Ennio Morricone missed out on a nomination.

“Say hello to my little friend!” has become one of the most well-known phrases in modern film history, uttered by a firearm-wielding Tony Montana in Scarface . The film sees Montana become a powerful drug lord, only to be undone by his own addiction. Directed by Brian DePalma, written by Oliver Stone, and starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, you would think at least one of these big names could garner an Oscar nomination. Sadly, no luck.

Studio Ghibli is one of the most beloved animation studios in the world, and has earned two Oscar wins, thanks to Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron. Other films, like Howl’s Moving Castle, have also been nominated. So why is it that one of their most acclaimed and moving films, Grave of the Fireflies, missed out completely? The tale of two siblings trying to survive in wartime Japan is utterly devastating and an absolute tearjerker. 

Luc Besson’s Léon: The Professional is a stylish, sleek crime thriller that remains a cult classic to this day. Jean Reno plays a solitary hitman who takes a twelve-year-old girl under his wing after her family is murdered. Reno is effortlessly cool, while a young Natalie Portman debuts in her breakout performance, and Gary Oldman delivers a delightful villain. Despite all these excellent ingredients, the film missed out on any Academy Award nominations.

Another classic spaghetti western from Sergio Leone is Once Upon a Time in the West, starring huge names like Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, and Charles Bronson. The story follows a harmonica-playing drifter, a widow, and an outlaw who cross paths. Like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West is an absolute staple of the western genre and appears on many best-of lists. However, it seems the Academy had something against Westerns.

Sibling duo Joel and Ethan Cohen have had their fair share of Oscars glory, but none for one of their most beloved films, The Big Lebowski . The film follows The Dude, a laid-back guy who spends most of his time bowling and is mistaken for a millionaire of the same name. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi, the film is considered a classic due to its humor and writing, but didn’t even get a Best Screenplay nomination. 

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy is highly regarded within the superhero genre due to its craft and reimagining of Batman. Heath Ledger famously posthumously won an Oscar for his performance as the Joker, and while the excellent Tom Hardy as Bane might not have been quite as good, many other elements of The Dark Knight Rises certainly deserved a nomination. From the stunning cinematography to Hans Zimmer’s epic score, how on Earth was it snubbed?

Park Chan-wook is one of South Korea’s most celebrated filmmakers, responsible for films such as The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave. His most acclaimed movie to date is 2003’s action-thriller Oldboy. In the film, the protagonist has no clue as to how he was imprisoned and tortured for the past fifteen years, and seeks revenge on his captors. This brutal, psychological ride should at least have received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. 

Continuing the streak of the Academy’s aversion to Sergio Leone is his gangster film, Once Upon a Time in America , which also failed to score a single nomination. Robert De Niro plays Noodles, a former Prohibition-era gangster who returns to America and confronts his past. Despite gangster films historically doing quite well at the Oscars, as well as the star power of De Niro, Leone’s departure from the western genre still didn’t do him any favors at the Oscars.

Come and See is one of the most harrowing war films ever made. The anti-war Soviet epic follows Florya, a boy who joins the Soviet resistance and is exposed to the horrors of World War II. Despite being the Soviet submission for Best Foreign Language film in 1986, the film was ignored. At the time, Come and See wasn’t well known among American audiences, and only later became appreciated. The brutality and experimental nature of the film may also have been too much for traditional voters.

Quentin Tarantino made his feature-length directorial debut with 1992’s Reservoir Dogs. The plot follows the bloody aftermath of a jewelry heist gone wrong. Many of Tarantino’s films have received Oscar recognition, but only when he became a household name. At the time, he was an unknown filmmaker, and Reservoir Dogs had a low budget that didn’t allow for much marketing or campaigning. That all changed with the multi-nominated Pulp Fiction a few years later.  

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are two names that are practically synonymous with the Oscars. 2010’s psychological thriller Shutter Island is one of their many collaborations, and is often considered a fan favorite thanks to its twists and intriguing premise. Sadly, it was another film that got no love from the Oscars. This is quite surprising, given that Scorsese and DiCaprio are often recognized by the Academy, so it is puzzling why they weren't here.

John Carpenter's The Thing is a sci-fi and horror classic that sees an Arctic research team up against a shape-shifting alien. It is a prime example of body horror and has been heavily influential within the subgenre. The Thing also features some of the most impressive practical effects ever put to screen, with plenty of gore and goo that still holds up today against the onslaught of modern VFX. An effects, makeup, and hairstyling nomination would have been the bare minimum. 

Tarantino’s Kill Bill is a unique fusion of martial arts, western, and action conventions that create a genre-bending and blood-soaked ride. Uma Thurman plays The Bride, an assassin who seeks revenge on her ex-boss Bill after being in a coma for four years. While the script and writing definitely aren’t the selling point of a Kill Bill movie, its visuals and aesthetic are undeniably striking. Production design, costumes, and cinematography nominations could have easily been earned. 

V for Vendetta is a much-acclaimed dystopian thriller starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving. The film is set in a futuristic Britain, where society is oppressed by a tyrannical government. V, a vigilante (who also wears the famous mask) uses terrorist tactics to fight them. Despite the film’s strong political messaging and themes, it seems the Academy still saw it as just a sci-fi genre piece, based on a DC Comics graphic novel.

Clint Eastwood is a cinematic legend in both acting and directing departments, with one of his most popular movies being Gran Torino. He directs and stars in the film, playing a prejudiced Korean War veteran. There was some backlash against the representation of the Hmong community, but the lack of nominations is still surprising, given that only a few years earlier Eastwood had dominated the Oscars with Million Dollar Baby, winning Best Picture and Best Director. 

Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset is often considered one of the most profound romance films ever made, and follows a young man and woman who meet on a train in Vienna. They spend one evening together, knowing that they will likely never see each other again. The film’s writing and dialogue are deeply touching and thought-provoking, but it didn’t receive an Oscar, despite sequels Before Sunset and Before Midnight both receiving screenplay nominations.

James Cameron’s The Terminator is a seminal piece of science fiction deeply embedded in cinema history. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously plays the indestructible cyborg, who is out to hunt and kill Sarah Connor. When it was released in 1984, the movie boasted incredible filmmaking, craft, and style, but was completely shut out of the Oscars. This makes even less sense when you learn that the sequel Judg ment Day was nominated (and even won) in every major technical category.