Who got robbed the most in Oscar history? People, not movies, if you would.
I’ll start.
Sean Astin for Return of the King
Alfred Hitchcock for, I’d say, Psycho
Junkie XL for Mad Max Fury Road - seriously, the best score of the past decade
What else?
3 Kings. The definitive Iraq War movie. Perhaps it wasn’t the best movie, but it never even got a nomination.
Head to Head: Pulp Fiction vs. Forrest Gump
The Oscars had Andy Serkis come out last night as a presenter, showing how motion capture transformed his performance to the final product you see onscreen. Yet the Academy never saw fit to even nominate him.
People, not movies, if you would.
I definitely agree with Andy Serkis as Gollum in the Two Towers.
Matt Damon for The Martian.
Billy Bob Thornton should have won for Sling Blade.
Ed Norton should have won for American History X.
Characters still remembered today.
Remember back when Marisa Tomei won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for* My Cousin Vinny* and people were convinced that Jack Palance had read the wrong name? Here were the other nominees:
Judy Davis
Joan Plowright
Vanessa Redgrave
Miranda Richardson
I’d also suggest Art Carney for Best Actor over Dustin Hoffman in* Lenny*, Jack Nicholson in Chinatown and Al Pacino in Godfather II.
Somebody got robbed, it’s just a question of who got robbed worst.
Julia Roberts winning over Ellen Burstyn in 2000 for her role in Erin Brocovich. So so wrong.
Francis Ford Coppola was robbed in 1973. He did not get the best Director Oscar for The Godfather.
But then a few horse heads must had worked with some voters later 
because he won that director Oscar for The Godfather II. in 1975
I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor.
Seriously, how is Ermey not even nominated for Best Supporting for that? Losing was no great sin, given it was given to Sean Connery for The Untouchables, in a bit of a lifetime achievement award, but not even nominated?!
Here’s his competition:
WINNER
The Untouchables: Sean Connery
NOMINEES
Broadcast News: Albert Brooks
Street Smart: Morgan Freeman
Moonstruck: Vincent Gardenia
Cry Freedom: Denzel Washington
Street Smart? Street Smart?! I mean, I probably would have given it to Denzel over both Connery and Ermey, but seriously? You don’t even nominate one of the iconic performances of the 80s?
Orson Welles.
Whatever the name of the kid in* Room*.
Last year, Birdman winning over Boyhood. A gimmicky movie beating a far better movie with a good gimmick.
The English Patient beating Fargo.
Dances With Wolves beating Goodfellas. And even more so, Kevin Costner beating Scorcese for Best Director.
Considering that Freeman was named Best Supporting Actor for that film by the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, his Oscar nomination hardly seems out of place.
Ryan Gosling not even getting a nomination for Blue Valentine.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a huge snub in numerous categories. Not even nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress (I thought Kirsten Dunst’s performance was amazing). Only nominated for Best Actress (and lost) and for best Original Screenplay. This is a movie that some considered the best of its DECADE, and didn’t even get nominated for best in its year.
I know you said people, not movies, so specifically, Gondry, Carrey and Dunst.
People! Not movies. Ok, for a long time, Al Pacino. Also for a long time Steven Spielberg. Then there’s Christopher Plummer. In-waiting: Robert Downey Jr., Ed Norton, Matt Damon, Johnny Depp. The all-time champion would be Peter O’toole.
Barbra Streisand, for directing *Prince of Tides. *The film received a shitload of nominations, including Best Picture, but Streisand was ignored.
As Billy Crystal said, “Did this film direct itself?”
Is it supposed to be a lifetime achievement award? I agree Tomei was an unexpected underdog, and that those other actresses have higher reputations, but listing their names tells me nothing about their specific performances that year, and their reputations and careers may have been built on performances previous and subsequent more than whatever unknown roles from that year.