Greatest Films to Never Be Oscar Nominated

There are lots of terrific films that receive many Academy Awards nominations but never achieve any wins: Hell or High Water, The Thin Red Line and Apocalypto are just but a few favourites that never struck gold. But an even more egregious sin is for some of the greatest, and some of my most favourite, films that didn't even get a single nomination in any category. Here are some of the biggest catastrophes. 

Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)

1995 was such a strong year for cinema with films like Braveheart, Apollo 13, Se7en, The Usual Suspects and Toy Story stealing much of the limelight. Heat is director Michael Mann's greatest achievment, and one of the best films of its decade. Uniting Robert De Niro and Al Pacino on-screen for the first time, this cat and mouse crime thriller is punctuated with stunning shootouts and riveting performances. Perhaps it was too hard to choose between De Niro and Pacino for the Best Actor nod, but the glaring omissions of Heat in the Sound, Cinematography, Director, Supporting Actor (Val Kilmer), Picture and Editing categories still fires me up. On the other hand, however, the film didn't need awards to seal its reputation and continues to endure and find an audience 26 years on. 

Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)

Stanley Kubrick's films are treated as reverentially as Jackson Pollack paintings or Mozart's symphonies. They are peerless, impeccable productions that linger long after finishing. Paths of Glory, a film made under a studio (and therefore not to Kubrick's liking), is one of the best war films ever made. A brilliant Kirk Douglas attempts to defend a group of scapegoated soldiers from being executed in WWI, leading to a haunting and emotionally resonant finale. 1957's other great war film, The Bridge on the River Kwai, swept up the gold statues but Kubrick's snub for a Director nomination would have started the precedent for snubbing the master filmmaker for the rest of his career. The film's technical aspects, notably its polished cinematography which features elegant tracking shots, were also grossly unrewarded. 

Mission Impossible- Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)

Action films seldom get the 'prestige' nominations (acting, directing, picture, screenplay) but can often do well in the technical categories. Fallout was a box office success that boasted career-best reviews for the franchise and stunned audiences with its craftsmanship. In other years it might be more forgiving to not nominate a 'conventional' studio summer action film, but, considering this was the year that the hideously cut Bohemian Rhapsody was not only nominated for but also won the Academy Award for Best Editing, it seems ridiculous that the objectively better edited and shot Fallout did not get in. Furthermore, the film reinforced the conversation that Mad Max: Fury Road struck up- why aren't stunt teams honoured with a category?

Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995)

Quite possibly one of the sweetest, gentlest and most romantic pictures ever made, the first installment in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy is a truly touching film that sees a young American meet a young French woman on a train, getting off and spending a night in Vienna getting to know each other. Whilst hardly a frontrunner in any specific category (its delightful dialogue was often improvised by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy), it just seems a massive shame that such a wholesome, charming story couldn't be rewarded. 

Any Sergio Leone film (1964-1984)

Sergio Leone's influence as a director is enormous. The Italian director stylised an entire sub-genre with the Spaghetti Western (his Dollars trilogy) before making the ultimate Western with Once Upon a Time in the West and finishing his career with the towering gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America. None of his films received Oscar nominations and, whilst I see awards ceremonies as being beneath these films, it is surprising they were never heaped with praise: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly contains one of the greatest scores of all time, Once Upon a Time in the West features stellar, sinister work by Henry Fonda and Once Upon a Time in America is true epic with its production design, editing, screenplay and performances by Robert De Niro and James Woods. All of Leone's films contain enveloping wide shots and extreme close-ups, justifying a Cinematography Oscar, whilst composer Ennio Morricone's unmatchable scores for all of his films are immortal on their own right. 

The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)

2008's The Dark Knight reinforced The Return of the King's point that sequels could garner Oscars and also established that mainstream superhero films could be viable for accolades too. The acclaimed crime epic was a smash hit, garnering nominations for Supporting Actor, Sound Editing / Mixing, Visual Effects, Cinematography, Editing, Make-up and Production Design, winning in the first two. The Dark Knight Rises didn't challenge or change the conventions of a superhero film in quite the same way as its predecessor, but it was still highly received by critics and grossed over a billion dollars. The fact that it didn't get a single nomination as always been bothering: the technical components in particular are still breathtaking. From its great sets to exhiliratingly captured spectacle, The Dark Knight Rises is one of Christopher Nolan's most commendable achievements and surely deserved him a Director nod, as well as the available space for it in the Best Picture race. Perhaps the success of The Avengers overshadowed the quality of content, but nearly a decade on it and it still feels as fresh and ambitious today. 

The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)

The Searchers is to American cinema what The Iliad is to the Greeks- it is a definitive piece of art that tells an immortal story that constantly changes in its interpretations and influence. John Ford was a monumental director who hoovered up an unbeaten four directing Oscars over his career (so perhaps he didn't really need a nomination here) but it seems strange that such a highly regarded picture went unnoticed with the Academy. John Wayne's performance as Ethan Edwards, a men destined to loneliness as he searches for his abducted niece, is the strongest piece of proof that the Duke can indeed act and is far worthier of an Oscar than his True Grit performance. Wreathed in weighty subtext, this is perhaps the darkest U rated film ever made, albeit one that contains vivid landscapes and gorgeous vistas- frankly it's astonishing the director of photograhy was snubbed. 

The King of Comedy (1983)

Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese are no strangers to Academy Awards, but nor indeed have they ever needed them to legitimise their talent. The King of Comedy is a film that not many have seen, but those that have deeply love it. A black-comedy drama satire, this celebrity-based talk show story was used heavily for inspiration of the Oscar hit Joker, with De Niro playing a talk show host in that film and the wannabe talk show host in The King of Comedy. It is one of his less conventional performances and is utterly believable, whilst the scathing screenplay is also a cracker. 

Other favourite films with no nominations include: 

• Groundhog Day (1993) - screenplay, best actor
• Touch of Evil (1958) - cinematography, editing
• The Shining (1980) - picture, director, cinematography, editing, production design