# Biggest Oscar robberies/snubs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590 "2016-03-01T02:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/41 "2016-03-01T19:46:10Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > When I saw **Bridge of Spies** my first comment was that Rylance deserved an Oscar for his portrayal. I thought the same thing, excellent performance. “Would it make a difference?” ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/42 "2016-03-01T19:52:17Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > Ermey’s performance was great, but it was one (very exciting) note, not much nuance. I think he did a better job in “Dead Man Walking”, TBH. > > My choice is Tommy Lee Jones in “The Fugitive”, winning over Ralph Fiennes’ subtle performance in “Schindler’s List” Or a young DiCaprio in Gilbert Grape, The Academy does a lot of subsequent year second guessing. Next year expect to see lots of minority actors nominated. Academy members have all nominated films sent to them for review. So by the time they are voting on them, almost everyone who gets to vote (this ISN’T the People’s Choice Award) should have seen every performance for all the major categories. There is some amount of speculation that some of the minor categories aren’t reviewed closely and are voted on by dartboard. Also, this isn’t the People’s Choice award. Hitchcock was an ass - so was Welles. GREAT directors, but asses. Kubrick hasn’t been real popular among the elite who vote either. The membership is overwhelmingly elite, white, male, American and older. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/43 "2016-03-01T20:52:31Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Kramer vs. Kramer won the Academy Award in 1980. Competing with Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz. People, not movies. > [@Andiethewestie](#): > > Some might think Silvester Stallone got snubbed for portraying Rocky again, and he’s apparently really good. But I guess I’m more curious to see this Mark Rylance guy who won for Bridge of Spies. He was OK in the movie, but then again, I only found the movie to be OK. I don’t think he was better or worse than Stallone. I would have given the Best Supporting Actor award to Jason Staham for Spy. He was hilarious in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/44 "2016-03-01T21:03:38Z")
I would have been happy for Stallone for sentimental reasons, but Rylance was the only thing about _Bridge of Spies_ that I thought was really excellent. Glad to seem him win. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/45 "2016-03-01T21:05:55Z")
Just going from this year: Jacob Tremblay for “Room.” I think he should have been nominated at least. Michael Keaton’s performance in “Spotlight” was, in my opinion, superior to Mark Ruffalo or Rachel McAdams. I generally feel that any time Tom Hanks isn’t nominated, he’s probably being overlooked. He’s just consistently excellent. Though I’ll admit that Mark Rylance outshone him in “Bridge of Spies.” ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/46 "2016-03-01T21:48:59Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Sean Astin for Return of the King On a related note, Ian McKellen for LOTR. Playing a wizard without making it campy is hard and he nails it. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/47 "2016-03-01T22:13:03Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > 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. I was under the impression that the Academy refused to accept his entry because it wasn’t him on the screen, which is strange as he did do the voice, and I thought voiceovers were allowed to be nominated in acting categories. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/48 "2016-03-01T22:20:14Z")
Steve Martin for All of Me. Steven Spielberg for The Color Purple. How does a movie get 11 nominations and NOT Best Director? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/49 "2016-03-01T23:03:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > How does a movie get 11 nominations and NOT Best Director? That was exactly my point with Streisand and \*Prince of Tides. \*I guess these movies directed themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/50 "2016-03-02T01:32:43Z")
Emil Jannings over Richard Barthelmess in 1928. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/51 "2016-03-02T03:19:16Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I was under the impression that the Academy refused to accept his entry because it wasn’t him on the screen, which is strange as he did do the voice, and I thought voiceovers were allowed to be nominated in acting categories. Similar excuse as not nominating _Tron_ for special effects, because computers did all the work. In reality, actual CGI in that movie was limited to three short sequences and most of the “computer” imagery was painstakingly rotoscoped by hand, frame-by-frame. Nowadays, of course, CGI is routinely nominated for - and wins - Academy Awards. The Gollum character may have been computer generated, but the performance, the soul of the character, the **acting** was all due to Andy Serkis. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/52 "2016-03-02T04:48:56Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > On a related note, Ian McKellen for LOTR. Playing a wizard without making it campy is hard and he nails it. Good catch. Totally agree. In a strong ensemble cast, he was far and away the best, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/53 "2016-03-02T10:17:05Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I always figured that was just a case of vote splitting. Tomei versus 4 classically trained British actresses. And Tomei was great in that role, I don’t care what anybody else says. She certainly was great and blew away the rest of the cast (except Fred Gwynne) and has been nominated twice since for dramatic roles. I like the story of how she got the part. Her agents William Morris didn’t even pass her name to the producers who had previously tried to interest dozens of actresses in the role. Director Jonathan Lynn saw cutting room footage of her while visiting John Landis’s editing suite and thought her comic timing was superb so got her in to audition. The studio didn’t want her because she wasn’t well known but Joe Pesci insisted that they stick with her. As he was the only name they had signed the studio capitulated. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/54 "2016-03-02T10:50:39Z")
_To Sir, With Love_, from the Sidney Poitier movie of the same name, is one of my favorite songs from 1967. And I’m not alone, since it was \*Billboard’s \*#1 pop song of the year. But it wasn’t even nominated. I know what you’re thinking — the Academy tends to go for songs with more gravitas, not pop songs, even if they have lush strings like\* TSWL\* did. Nope, the 1968 Best Song Oscar went to _Talk to the Animals_, an instantly forgettable piece of fluff from\* Dr. Doolittle\*. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/55 "2016-03-02T12:24:42Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > _To Sir, With Love_, from the Sidney Poitier movie of the same name, is one of my favorite songs from 1967. And I’m not alone, since it was \*Billboard’s \*#1 pop song of the year. But it wasn’t even nominated. > > I know what you’re thinking — the Academy tends to go for songs with more gravitas, not pop songs, even if they have lush strings like\* TSWL\* did. > > Nope, the 1968 Best Song Oscar went to _Talk to the Animals_, an instantly forgettable piece of fluff from\* Dr. Doolittle\*. Another song not nominated that year was Simon and Garfunkel’s _Mrs Robinson_ from _The Graduate_. And incredibly, talk about how hard black actor’s have it, Sidney Poitier received no nominations for his three 1967 starring roles in the Best Picture-winning _In the Heat of the Night_, the previously mentioned _To Sir, With Love_ and\* Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.\* Rod Steiger and Katherine Hepburn won Oscars opposite him though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/56 "2016-03-02T16:08:31Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > …Nope, the 1968 Best Song Oscar went to _Talk to the Animals_, an instantly forgettable piece of fluff from\* Dr. Doolittle\*. Hadn’t thought of that song in years and years, and just heard it on the radio on Saturday! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/57 "2016-03-02T21:38:59Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > _To Sir, With Love_, from the Sidney Poitier movie of the same name, is one of my favorite songs from 1967. And I’m not alone, since it was \*Billboard’s \*#1 pop song of the year. But it wasn’t even nominated. > > I know what you’re thinking — the Academy tends to go for songs with more gravitas, not pop songs, even if they have lush strings like\* TSWL\* did. > > Nope, the 1968 Best Song Oscar went to _Talk to the Animals_, an instantly forgettable piece of fluff from\* Dr. Doolittle\*. To the Academy, Lulu falls into the category of “Rock”, which they made an explicit effort to completely ignore throughout the 50s & 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/58 "2016-03-02T21:48:22Z")
People were shocked back in 1950 when Judy Holliday won best actress for _Born Yesterday_. She beat out Gloria Swanson in _Sunset Boulevard_ and both Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in _All About Eve_. Movie buffs continue to bitch about it to this day, although Holliday was brilliant in her role, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/59 "2016-03-02T21:54:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > People were shocked back in 1950 when Judy Holliday won best actress for _Born Yesterday_. She beat out Gloria Swanson in _Sunset Boulevard_ and both Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in _All About Eve_. Movie buffs continue to bitch about it to this day, although Holliday was brilliant in her role, IMO. People constantly complain that comedy never gets rewarded by the Academy, but when it is (Holliday, Tomei), then people complain even more then. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590/60 "2016-03-02T22:29:46Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > And incredibly, talk about how hard black actor’s have it, Sidney Poitier received no nominations for his three 1967 starring roles in the Best Picture-winning _In the Heat of the Night_, the previously mentioned _To Sir, With Love_ and\* Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.\* Rod Steiger and Katherine Hepburn won Oscars opposite him though. While In the Heat of the Night was bought as a vehicle for Poitier, Rod Steiger just stole that movie from him. An absolutely marvelous performance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-oscar-robberies-snubs/747590.md?page=4)