Shame, the Steve McQueen sex-addiction drama was not among the nominees in any major category for the 2012 Oscars - a big surprise, given the critical accolades for the director and star Michael Fassbender in an emotionally raw performance.
George Clooney's Ides of March, Ryan Gosling-starrer Drive and David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo have been snubbed too. But this isn't the first time that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Movies has left out well-deserved films out of the nominee list. We rewind to some of the choices that have surprised fans and critics the world over.
Traffic
Which year? 2000
Lost to: Gladiator
The 2000 Oscar show was arguably one of the tightest races in the history of the awards. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon rolled in international praise. Steven Soderbergh scored an impressive feat with Erin Brockovich and Traffic. Our odds were on Traffic taking home the win, but Soderbergh's double-noms may have split the vote on that tip. So Traffic settled for the Best Director win and the Academy gave an Oscar to the Russell Crowe swords-and-sandals epic.
It's a wonderful life
Which year? 1946
Lost to: The Best Years of our Lives
This vintage Christmas classic was nominated for five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Editing, and Best Sound Recording), but didn't win a single one. Yet, it went on to become the No. 1 most inspiring film of all time according to the American Film Institute.
The Truman Show
Which year? 1998
Lost to: Shakespeare In Love
Not only was this Jim Carrey-starrer the most underrated film of the year, it was completely overlooked by the Academy, which favoured a tepid Elizabethan romance.
The Pianist
Which year? 2002
Lost to: Chicago
The Pianist earned Roman Polanski the Oscar for Best Director and Adrien Brody the Best Actor award. Chicago only nabbed Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones. However, in the year after 9/11, the Academy was bound to side with the more comforting film when it came time to decide Best Picture. So, Chicago, a high energy musical about women on Death Row who ride their infamy to successful showbiz careers, took home the statue while The Pianist, a stark account of starvation and hard-won survival during the Holocaust, got shoved aside. Rude.
True Grit
Which year? 2011
Lost to: The King's Speech
Nominated for 10 awards, Joel and Ethan Coen's remake of the Oscar-winning 1969 Western came up totally empty-handed on the big night. By the time this film was released, critics had already anointed The Social Network and The King's Speech.
Citizen Kane
Which year? 1941
Lost out to: How Green Was My Valley
You'll find this Orson Welles film at the top - or in the Top 10 - of every film critic's 'All-Time Greatest Movies' list. Many attributed this major snub to the fact that it was strongly based on the life of the very powerful and infuriated Randolph Hearst. And critical accolades didn't matter when this award was given out: On Oscar night, Citizen Kane was booed each of the nine times it was announced for an award.
Pulp Fiction
Which year? 1994
Lost to: Forrest Gump
Robert Zemeckis' politically conservative epic is a pleasant-enough travelogue through the life of Forrest Gump, but, in hindsight, its saccharine take on nostalgia does not hold up as well as Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The movie changed the way people thought about moviemaking; it inspired legions of film students to write only in meta, pop-culture references. And last time we checked, Gump's lasting contributions was "My mama said..." quotes.
Fargo
Which year? 1996
Lost to: The English Patient
A brilliant offering from the Coen Brothers that wonderfully merges black comedy with elements of suspense and humorous horror, Fargo is one of those films that you can't help but revisit. The English Patient, which beat Fargo to the Best Pic gong, happens to be the polar opposite. Released to a plethora of accolades, the film screamed of Oscar: lavish cinematography of epic scale and a grand, overstated narrative. While the former isn't entirely awful, Fargo offers a unique edge to its narrative that allows it to leave a firm impression on viewers: something that the former doesn't.
The Shawshank Redemption
Which year? 1994
Lost to: Forrest Gump
The Shawshank Redemption's reputation has grown in the ensuing years due to Frank Darabont's brilliant adaptation of author Stephen King's source material and for memorable performances by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.
The Usual Suspects
Which year? 1995
Lost to: Braveheart
This crime movie invoked the same sensation that Reservoir Dogs did - the feeling that you've just watched an instant crime classic.
Goodfellas
Which year? 1990
Lost to: Dances With Wolves
Goodfellas is such a great gangster flick that it has spawned several imitations, but when it came down to crunch time, Martin Scorsese lost out to Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves.
Gosford Park
Which year? 2001
Lost to: A Beautiful Mind
Robert Altman took a witty and absorbing look at the foibles of the British class system in this intelligent murder mystery set in the early '30s. Altman picked up a directing and Best Picture nod, and both Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith got a nod in the Supporting Actress category. However, only Julian Fellowes' script won a statuette, and the Academy chose to give gold to a boring Ron Howard movie.
Taxi Driver
Which year? 1976
Lost to: Rocky
How Taxi Driver didn't win the Best Picture statuette is a mystery we'll never solve! Can anyone honestly say that Rocky is a better film than Martin Scorsese's gritty, disturbing neo-noir film? With a narrative that undertakes the issue of loneliness and isolation within the big city and the droves of scum that inhabit it, this Robert De Niro-starrer is emotive and disturbing on many levels.
North By Northwest
Which year? 1959
Lost to: Ben Hur
Alfred Hitchcock was once again snubbed by the Academy when arguably his best movie failed to get a Best Picture nomination.
Raging Bull
Which year? 1980
Lost to: Ordinary People
Some argue that snubbing Raging Bull was in response to Taxi Driver providing inspiration for an attempt on President Ronald Reagan's life. Others say that Ordinary People got gold because Robert Redford (it was his directorial debut) was more popular with voters than Scorsese at the time, hence the Oscar going to Redford's attempt. Regardless of the "why", revisionists would now give the Oscar to Raging Bull, as 32 years later Scorsese's masterpiece continues to pack audiences for screenings.
Apocalypse Now
Which year? 1979
Lost to: Kramer vs. Kramer
1979 saw the year that praised the awkwardness of divorce more than the atrocities of evil on the battlefield of Vietnam. Francis Ford Coppola received no recognition for this film whatsoever, even after losing his mind to make it over the course of over five years.
The Graduate
Which year? 1967
Lost to: In The Heat of the Night
A drama of crime and racism in a small town, In the Heat of the Night took the honours over this ground-breaking Dustin Hoffman-starrer.
Bonnie And Clyde
Which year? 1967
Lost to: In The Heat of the Night
Producer-actor Warren Beatty had to convince Warner Bros. to finance this film, which went on to become the studio's second-highest grosser. It also caused major controversy by redefining violence in cinema and casting its criminal protagonists as sympathetic anti-heroes.
Alfie
Which year? 1966
Lost to: A Man For All Seasons
Michael Caine's first starring role was a foray into dramatic irony, scripted by Bill Naughton from his novel and play. The historical drama of one courageous man standing up against King Henry VIII's desire for a divorce is a fine film, but A Man For All Seasons beat out the superior Alfie.
The Color Purple
Which year? 1985
Lost to: Out of Africa
Despite a whopping 11 nominations, Steven Spielberg's film that covers various dark themes like racism, abuse, lesbianism and incest found little favour with the Academy. Another major letdown was Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful) winning Best Actress over Whoopi Goldberg.
The Elephant Man
Which year? 1980
Lost to: Ordinary People
Agreed, actor John Hurt and director David Lynch aren't Oscar favourites - but this cult film didn't win a single Oscar that year.
All The President's Men
Which year? 1976
Lost to: Rocky
As enjoyable as Rocky is, the Academy could have picked a more worthy winner from all the other choices in 1977 - including All the President's Men, Bound for Glory and Network.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Which year? 1946
Lost to: The Best Years of Our Lives
While The Best Years of Our Lives is touching, it has slipped from the public conscience and is probably only viewed on film courses. However, Postman... is superb film noir.
Dr. Strangelove
Which year? 1964
Lost to: My Fair Lady
Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove is a film that was ahead of its time, in turns thrilling and vital. My Fair Lady? Not so much, though Audrey Hepburn does her best to salvage the situation.
Brokeback Mountain
Which year? 2005
Lost to: Crashl.a. confidential
Which year? 1997
Lost to: Titanic
"I do think it was a bit of a joke that L.A. Confidential got beaten by Titanic 15 years ago," Guy Pearce recently told a website. "I just kind of went, ugh, all right, okay." And so did we. Titanic was being praised as a spectacle even though it has been proven that any spectacle without good storytelling is only impressive until the next spectacle comes along. L.A. Confidential on the other hand is as fresh and watchable in 2012 as it was then.
Never had gay cowboys been talked about so much in cinema until Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain broke barriers and box-office records in 2005. As actor Jack Nicholson was about to announce the winner, no one was even holding their breath; it was practically a given. But Nicholson said Crash instead, and a collective gasp went around the mountain.
The Crowd
Which year? 1928
Lost to: Wings
Legendary director King Vidor lost as Best Director and the film lost to Wings, but is still considered one of the greatest silent films ever made. The story about the day-to-day problems of a working-class family during the Jazz Age in the big city, lost to a weaker film about World War I fighter pilots.
Pulp Fiction
Which year? 1994
Lost to: Forrest Gump
Robert Zemeckis' politically conservative epic is a pleasant-enough travelogue through the life of Forrest Gump, but, in hindsight, its saccharine take on nostalgia does not hold up as well as Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The movie changed the way people thought about moviemaking; it inspired legions of film students to write only in meta, pop-culture references. And last time we checked, Gump's lasting contributions was "My mama said..." quotes.
A Clockwork Orange
Which year? 1971
Lost to: The French Connection
Gregory Peck threatened to resign his post as President of the Motion Picture Academy if this dark Kubrick picture was to win Best Film, giving some insight into what the more conservative members of the Academy thought about the picture.
Citizen Kane
Which year? 1941
Lost out to: How Green Was My Valley
You'll find this Orson Welles film at the top - or in the Top 10 - of every film critic's 'All-Time Greatest Movies' list. Many attributed this major snub to the fact that it was strongly based on the life of the very powerful and infuriated Randolph Hearst. And critical accolades didn't matter when this award was given out: On Oscar night, Citizen Kane was booed each of the nine times it was announced for an award.
