The films from 2020 that should win Oscars, but won't

Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” shattered the Academy Awards’ Best Picture barrier by becoming the first foreign-language movie to win the Oscars’ top honor, but it’s tough to Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles mind-blowing drama catching on with voters. The film’s best hope would be a big Best Supporting Actress push for screen legend Sônia Braga, but awards campaigns cost money and the distributors have barely promoted the movie in the U.S. It’s not Brazil’s Best International Feature Film, so abandon all hope.

The Academy’s documentary committee is notoriously hostile to big-name outsiders (look at how many times they’ve snubbed Spike Lee), so it’s highly unlikely that Spike Jonze’s hugely entertaining and deeply moving film of Adam Horowitz and Mike Diamond’s hip-hop autobiography will go unnoticed at the Oscars.

If HBO wanted, they could’ve done a brief theatrical release to place this dynamite film about school system corruption in contention for numerous awards – especially Hugh Jackman for Best Actor. After ESPN got “O.J.: Made in America” qualified for a Best Documentary Oscar it eventually won, anything is possible. The decision was probably made before the coronavirus hit, but in a film this lean and with a movie this entertaining, it could’ve definitely happened.

This is British filmmaking legend Ken Loach’s most timely movie in ages, but absent a deep-pocketed distributor this searing indictment of the gig economy hasn’t a chance of registering on the Academy’s radar. Debbie Honeywood’s performance could’ve been slotted in as lead or supporting (we gave up on the category fraud battle long ago), while Paul Laverty’s screenplay might’ve had a shot in the Original Screenplay derby. But it won’t happen because, like every other Loach work in recent memory, it’s one for the critics, not the voters.

Charlie Kaufman’s latest masterpiece is simply too divisive to break through with the mostly middlebrow Academy. Though the dark comedy has placed very high on most critics’ year-end lists, its wildly shifting tone and morose subject matter is an acquired taste. Even in a wide-open year devoid of heavy-hitting prestige fare, Kaufman’s too much of an outsider to connect.

As was the case with HBO and “Bad Education”, Amazon Studios could’ve made Steve McQueen’s anthology series Oscar eligible. They should’ve gone for it in a big way with “Lovers Rock” (the year’s most joyous film) and “Red, White and Blue” (for John Boyega’s incendiary performance), but decided they’d rather chase Emmys. The Academy may or may not have a prejudice against streaming titles, but they might’ve overlooked it for former Oscar-winner McQueen.

Ineligible as a documentary due to being staged (the film is essentially a dream team of drunks brought together in a Las Vegas dive bar to enact an improvisatory drama), one of the best films of the year could become a dark horse Best Picture candidate if its savvy distributor, NEON (which rode “Parasite” to Oscar glory last February), willed it. It’s turning up on lots of critics’ year-end lists, but any chance of breaking through is a pipe dream.

It’s a weird year, but not weird enough for the wonderful third entry in the Bill & Ted franchise to earn an Academy Award nomination. If Oscar voters knew what was up, they’d be all over Anthony Carrigan as the emotionally insecure murder-bot Dennis Caleb McCoy. They might also feel guilt-ridden enough to nominate the writing duo of Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, who’s given more joy to the world than the hack who wrote “Gandhi”.

The presence of former Oscar nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh isn’t nearly enough to get the Academy to consider Brandon Cronenberg’s ick-fest. There was a time when Dan Martin’s 13 Finger FX team would’ve been in the running for their makeup artistry, but that category now belongs to people who age-up a well-known star. This is what Hollywood gets for driving Rick Baker out of the business.

Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s drama about a young homemaker seized with the compulsion to swallow random household objects never caught on with critics, which is the death knell for movies about such outré subjects. This means Haley Bennett has no shot at a richly deserved Best Actress nomination for her nuanced portrayal of a woman overcome with a sickness she cannot explain or shake.

Unless Focus Features does something in a jiffy, one of the year’s best films is going to get skunked by the Academy. Newcomer Sidney Flanigan should be in the mix for a Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of a young woman forced to take extraordinary measures to exercise her constitutional right to an abortion, but according to most Oscar observers, she’s on the outside looking in. Just a reminder that the Academy isn’t the ultimate arbiter of cinematic quality.

Natalie Erika James’s deeply disturbing drama is probably a bit too gruesome to connect with Academy voters; it’s also a straight horror movie, which is anathema to prestige consumers. This means no consideration for the great Robyn Nevin as a dementia sufferer with many secrets, and nothing for Angela Conte’s immensely talented makeup f/x team.

Judd Apatow’s raunchy comedies have connected with Academy voters in the past, but this affecting drama about a young misfit (Pete Davidson) finding his purpose in this world didn’t resonate like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” or “Knocked Up”. The big loser here is Bill Burr, one of the best stand-up comedians working today; he’s absolute magic as a divorced fireman who does his darnedest to connect with the screwed-up son of the woman he loves.

There’s not a chance in hell the Academy would touch this movie, but that doesn’t mean that the superb performances of Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn should be ignored. This gory “Freaky Friday” riff might’ve been the longest of long shots in a pandemic year had voters recognized the genius of Jamie Lee Curtis’s work in the 2003 remake, but fun isn’t allowed.

The composition of the Academy has changed since “Groundhog Day” got shut out by the Academy, but not enough to help out this endearing comedy about two people stuck in the same time loop. Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have mad chemistry, and director Max Barbakow keeps the film humming, but there’s just not a place for a film this unabashedly joyous at the Academy Awards.

The Academy loves a comeback story. They also love an actor digging deep to exorcise their personal demons. Alas, the Academy also needs to be alerted to the fact that said performance is eligible for an Oscar; otherwise, the screener will gather dust until it gets handed off to the help. It must be hard giving your all in a film that’s destined for also-ran status, but those of us who’ve believed in Ben Affleck’s talent since “Dazed and Confused” will keep throwing down for this underrated artist.

Kelly Reichardt looked like a cinch for her first Academy Award nomination six months ago, but it appears Oscar voters have found enough prestige pap to nudge out one of American cinema’s most original voices. The trouble with Reichardt on an awards-grubbing level is that she doesn’t seem to care about awards. She tells stories that mean something to her, and if they don’t click with the general public, so the hell what? “First Cow” is actually less accessible than her most widely celebrated movie, “Meek’s Cutoff”, anyway. Leave Reichardt to the people who truly love her.

The big snub here will be Candice Bergen, who gives her best performance in years as an acerbic piece of work who’s accompanied her best friend (Meryl Streep) on a long ocean journey. In a year where every contender is streaming, it’s weird that voters and Oscar bloggers are treating early adopters to the form as also-rans. Steven Soderbergh, who won Best Director for “Traffic”, has curiously fallen out of favor with his alleged peers despite the fact that he helped pioneer the distribution system that’s saving their hides.

If “Stop Making Sense”, arguably the greatest concert movie of all time, couldn’t earn an Academy Award nomination, why should Spike Lee’s film of David Byrne’s Broadway show? “American Utopia” may very well wind up winning an Emmy, but nobody keeps track of Emmys. This was one of the most exuberant, hopeful experiences many people had all year, and it’s not awards-worthy? Come on.

The Academy screwed over Adam Sandler last year by shutting out “Uncut Gems”. The least voters could do is nominate “Hubie Halloween” in every category for which it is eligible. Ray Liotta gives his most memorable performance since “Narc”. Ben Stiller reprises his role from “Happy Gilmore”. Shaquille O’Neal is awful in ways that defy description. Let right be done. Give “Hubie Halloween” its due.