13 Great Movies That Weren't Acknowledged by the Oscars

[JSchlansky]

This is an article I wrote for a blog, which can be found with pictures here: https://greencarbon2112.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/the-13-best-movies-of-2015-that-werent-acknowledged-by-the-oscars/

The Academy Award is one of the most prestigious prizes in the filmmaking world but it is not the end all be all of quality. Every year there are dozens of great movies that go by without recognition from the Academy, either because they don’t fit the Academy’s ideal for what is quality or because they are just missed for some reason or another.

This list will briefly go over 13 movies that are worth watching that weren’t given as much award attention. These are all movies that I would highly recommend that did not receive a nomination in any category.


#13) Legend

Legend was a fun gangster movie that had a few shortcomings but was elevated 10 fold by jaw droppingly good dual performances from Tom Hardy playing real life British Gangster twins, the Krays. Tom Hardy could have easily been nominated for both best lead actor and best supporting actor at the Oscars for this film instead of just supporting actor for The Revenant.

#12) While We’re Young


While We’re Young is one of two efforts this year from indie director Noah Baumbach. It is a small scale dramedy that works equally well as a biting social commentary on aging, truth, hipster culture, friendship, and more, and as a very funny comedy. It does suffer from some third act problems where the plot gets a little too lofty for its good which is what keeps this movie from being higher on the list.

#11) People, Places, Things

People, Places, Things is a very small indie drama that has a good helping of comedy to help it along its way. The drama is very strong, particularly regarding the work done by the lead character as a cartoonist which lead to some genuinely touching and emotional moments. The comedy is less frequent than the drama but is strong when it does show up. The film is helmed by the excellent Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame, and has a solid supporting cast as well. The kind of indie movie that knows it won’t be super famous or gross a ton of money and doesn’t care, it just wants to tell its story well.

#10) Call Me Lucky

A documentary by Bobcat Goldthwait, Call Me Lucky functions as a biopic on Barry Crimmins, a stand up comedian with a tragic past. The less that is known about this story before watching the better. A great documentary that is both funny and tragically sad.

#9) The End of the Tour

The End of the Tour has an Oscar worthy performance from Jason Segel as David Foster Wallace, but it isn’t at all surprising that he wasn’t even nominated. The only slight against this movie is that it becomes a little bit visually repetitive, since the entire film is mostly just two dudes having a conversation, and there is a lot of horrendous product placement, otherwise The End of the Tour is a great drama with some comedy sprinkled throughout.

#8) It Follows

It Follows was the best straight up horror film of the year. An 80’s throwback in style but fresh in it’s ideas. Well written, well cast, and well directed. An all around great horror movie.

#7) Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman got plenty of buzz but no recognition at the oscars, which isn’t surprising at all, it’s not the type of movie the Academy goes for, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good by any means. Kingsman is a blast, a possible contender for most straight up fun movie of the year. Collin Firth, Mark Strong, and Samuel L. Jackson are all great and there is a real star turning role for Taron Edgerton. The Church scene will likely go down as one of the most memorable actions sequence of the decade.

#6) Beasts of No Nation

The Netflix made film about the horrors of child soldiering is very well put together. It avoids the melodrama and preachyness that it could have easily had. Idris Elba and Abraham Attah both deserved Oscar nominations for their performances in Beasts of No Nation.

#5) What We Do in the Shadows

The second appearance by Jemaine Clement and this time he’s also in the writer and director chair as well as acting it it. What We Do in the Shadows is a hilarious movie that puts vampires into extremely mundane contemporary situations. Great comedy.

#4) Bone Tomahawk

This one I’ve already reviewed: https://youtu.be/kRuSqL9cRdc

It’s a brutal western with great characterization that mixes horror into the traditional western action elements.

#3) The Lobster

The Lobster is a film by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, the man behind Dogtooth and The Alps. It’s wonderfully bizarre and critical of society while also being very funny and dark at the same time. It switches between disturbing drama and whimsical weirdom with ease.

#2) Réalité

Réalité is the latest film from French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. It is crazy and surreal. The plot is hard to explain and even to understand which is all intentional. Another film that it’s better to know nothing about going in, I loved every second of it.

#1) Mistress America

Mistress America was the other film from Noah Baumbach in 2015. In the vain of his earlier film Frances Ha, Mistress America is a study of friendship, but through a much different lens. The film feels very authentic and the emotion is palpable. The film is also hilarious and features fantastic performances particularly from the two leads found in Lola Kirke and Greta Gerwig. One of the best movies of the year, and criminally underseen.

[CMonster]

It might be worth double checking Oscar eligibility rules and if these films fall within those rules. I know a couple of them were not eligible based on distribution platform rules. I've heard too many complaints about Elba being snubbed when that film wasn't eligible for any nominations. He would have gotten a nod if Beasts of No Nation was eligible.

[mattorama12]

Actually, Beasts of No Nation was eligible. They specifically had a limited theatrical release in order for it to be eligible. http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobe ... cf54b26ef9 and http://netflixlife.com/2015/09/11/will- ... my-awards/

That said, I do think the Netflix release was the reason the movie didn't get Oscar attention. Both Idris Elbow's performance and the movie itself are exactly what the Academy usually goes for.

[JSchlansky]

Two of the films nominated for best documentary were Netflix originals
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
So the academy doesn't seem to have a problem with Netflix original content. Anyway this post wasn't really saying that I think all of these movies deserved Oscar nods but just that they were great movies that weren't recognized by the Academy meaning they may have had less word of mouth in some cases

[dunbar]

Thanks for the list, I got a few titles that I haven't seen that I'd like to now.

[CMonster]

That said, I do think the Netflix release was the reason the movie didn't get Oscar attention. Both Idris Elbow's performance and the movie itself are exactly what the Academy usually goes for.

Two of the films nominated for best documentary were Netflix originals

So the academy doesn't seem to have a problem with Netflix original content.

Documentaries have different eligibility rules. And I agree with mattorama about what the academy generally goes for in movies. If Beasts of No Nation was a general theater release and not a Netflix original it would have gotten award acknowledgement. I wouldn't be surprised it those rules end up changing in a few years, but I would expect this exact same situation to happen a few times before it does change.

Anyway this post wasn't really saying that I think all of these movies deserved Oscar nods but just that they were great movies that weren't recognized by the Academy meaning they may have had less word of mouth in some cases

I don't disagree that some of these movie need more word of mouth (especially What We Do in the Shadows), but how am I not supposed to read that title as being adversarial with the Oscars? I'm cool with being adversarial towards the Oscars. The past few years I've found them quite annoying actually, but so many people went off about them this year (particularly about Beasts of No Nation) I find it hard not to be more annoyed at that when there seems to be more legitimate complaints. Perhaps I projected my annoyance into your title? If so, my bad. But come on, that title...

[CMonster]

Also, What We Do in the Shadows was fantastic and hilarious. Easily one of my favorite movies last year.

[Bojangles]

Each branch is responsible for its own nominations. It seems logical to me that the Documentary Branch would be more welcoming to Netflix productions/releases. Those folks are desperate to get their little movies seen at any cost. Once the doc category was opened up to the Academy at large, it was the highest grossing British doc of all time, Amy, that won, which is a better indication of where the Academy's loyalties lie. It seems to be in the best interest of the Academy/industry to differentiate itself from television/internet stuff. They want asses in theater seats.

I don't see the point in even bringing up the word "Oscars" for this article. It's just a list of slightly underseen movies from last year that you liked. A lot of them were comedies and would only have an outside shot at the screenplay categories.

FWIW, the church scene in The Kingsmen was the most disgusting scene of violence that I think I've ever seen, and I'm not sure why. I don't remember the exact context of the scene--didn't they bait the church goers into violence and then massacred them for sport, or practice or something? Straw poll: Which psychopathic mass murderer do you think enjoys that scene more: James Holmes or Anders Breivik?

Noah Baumbach is a very good writer. I still need to see Mistress America. Thanks for the reminder.

[JSchlansky]

I honestly didn't mean for the title to sound adversarial toward the Oscars but reading it now I can certainly see how it can come across that way. That's my bad.

[JSchlansky]

I made a video version of this list and addressed some of the confusion about the title in the beginning, making the premise a little more clear.
https://youtu.be/UaJLIMT6_5Y