With the 82nd Academy Awards quickly approaching, I thought I would write a series of blogs on my favorite movies that were never nominated for an Oscar in any category.
I have to say that most of the time, the Oscars do recognize good movies in some form or fashion, even if it’s just for great sound. That’s not to say that I always agree with the outcomes or that they haven’t left out a movie that deserved to be in a certain category, but for the most part, the best made movies can boast at least 1 Oscar nomination. Still, I am amazed at how some really deserving films slipped completely from the minds of the members of the Academy.
After perusing my list of outcast movies, I decided that they generally fall into 1 of 3 categories: 1. The film is a genre film (Horror, Action, Thriller, etc.) 2. The film is foreign or 3. The film is just too indie (and therefore probably didn’t have the right Oscar campaign budget.)
So my first pick in the series is a very familiar one and perhaps one of the most iconic films ever made in the genre of Horror: “The Shining.”
Strange, because “Carrie” was nominated for 2 Oscars, “Psycho” was nominated for 4, “The Sixth Sense” was nominated for 6 and “The Exorcist” racked up a whopping total of 10 nominations (and actually won 2). How could the Academy let “The Shining” slip by?
Any compendium of cinematic history will show Jack Nicholson’s head popping through the bathroom door with an axe and declaring “Here’s Johnny!” and who hasn’t made a finger talking parody at some time when they were a kid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmn6FRgYwBQ
Watching “The Shining” was scary in so many ways and not just for the ghosts. I know all of us writers feel that “All Work and No Play” Jack with his alcoholism and eventual demise into madness is something we all fear we’ll eventually turn into!
So this is what I think the picture should have been up for:
Best Director – Stanley Kubrick
Best Actor – Jack Nicholson
Best Film Editing – Ray Lovejoy
Best Art Direction – Les Tomkins
Best Adapted Screenplay – John Alcott
Yes! It’s hard to believe. It was so well-made and I was all about The Shining a couple months ago.
I thought that “the Namesake” was a brilliant film! It deserved far more recognition than it received.
you forgot one category…
Best Corpse being made love to by Best Actor
perhaps the necrophiliac element didn’t ring too well with the academy. or perhaps it was the selling point but they didn’t want to out themselves and corpse lovers. hmmm…
You had to go there, didn’t you?
Iris, if you have not figured it out yet, Roger is our resident freak.
A nice freak, but a freak nonetheless.
And Iris, if you have not figured it out yet, Phil is my dad…the high holy father of all freaks
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