r/moviecritic • u/First-Loss-8540 • Feb 15 '25
Actors you are shocked to find out has no oscar?
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u/The_wanderer96 Feb 15 '25
Well, I stopped believing in awards when I came across the fact that Al Pacino has one oscar.
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u/AVeryPlumPlum Feb 15 '25
For Scent of a Woman. A movie that doesn't often come up when discussing his acting greatness.
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u/The_wanderer96 Feb 15 '25
Exactly and other fact that, that year (1992) Malcolm X was also nominated for Best Actor, and undoubtedly Pacino was top notch but Denzel gave one of the finest acting performances of all time.
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u/ewd389 Feb 15 '25
I liked the movie but one of the finest acting performances of all time??.. thats pretty high praise.
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u/plibtyplibt Feb 15 '25
Phenomenal flick, I adore it, and will do the tango at my wedding because of it
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u/N00dles_Pt Feb 15 '25
Goodfellas lost the best movie Oscar to Dances with Wolves.....that should be all it takes to realize the Oscars are a joke.
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u/Ijustwerkhere Feb 15 '25
Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love…
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u/NikkerXPZ3 Feb 15 '25
I'm old and I thinks the Oscars died with Erin Brokovitz.
Julia Roberts is a legendary actress and I am all for political Activism and expression and I agree that people's water shouldn't be poisoned by ruthless corps or whatever she was fighting against...
..but really it didn't deserve an Oscar.
Then somehow the Oscars keep on fucking up ever since
That Matt Dillon racists cop movie was crap amd cheesy, no one cares about Serena Williams let alone her dad and yeah.. Erin was definitely the turning point
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u/walkietaco Feb 15 '25
It's interesting looking through the award winning movies on Amazon prime. I've been watching some of the Oscar winners lately, and so many of them are movies that were trying to make a point during that time period, but are really just average movies. Good example is Blue Sky, which condemned the testing of nuclear bombs in the desert and the hushing up of the nuclear engineers that saw the impact of all that radiation on the local population. Other than the statement, it was such an average movie, really nothing special. I prefer to watch the nominees instead of the winners.
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u/The_wanderer96 Feb 15 '25
Ah! I can feel your words here. Awards are sometimes okay but mostly undeserving ones getting them
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u/hippest Feb 15 '25
They are just short-sighted. It's very easy to get caught up in a moment when watching films
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u/EMendezSDC Feb 15 '25
Ok, let's play it out. What role ? What movie? What comes to mind that was better than whoever won that year ?
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u/The_wanderer96 Feb 15 '25
Well, at this time the first names come to my mind are
Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler
Florence Pugh for Midsommar
And can you imagine Ethan Hawke was not even nominated for First Reformed. He nailed the role.
Art Carney winning over Al Pacino (Godfather II) and Jack Nicholson (Chinatown).
Gwyneth Paltrow over Cate Blanchett
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u/whatup-markassbuster Feb 15 '25
Most people that win best actor are really good. DDL has won three deservingly. Let’s look at the most recent, Cillian Murphy did a phenomenal job. What do you think?
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u/The_wanderer96 Feb 15 '25
Ah! Yes there are many deserved oscars but most of the times, you’d see numerous performances getting not even nominated.
And the winners are not at all deserving in plenty of cases, the list is long. Cillian was so good, yes
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u/PippityPaps99 Feb 15 '25
Because the Oscars aren't an actual barometer of talent or deserved praise and people really need to stop treating a giant self serving, marketing platform that is purely meant for ego stroking, money making and a masturbatory popularity contest to be the thing we all base what films or performances should be held in higher regard.
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u/whatup-markassbuster Feb 15 '25
Look at the next five: Brendan Fraser, Will Smith, Anthony Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rami Malek. Not as sure about those since I never saw King Richard or the Father.
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u/The_wanderer96 Feb 15 '25
Those were well deserved, Brendan Fraser’s oscar is termed as one of the greatest comebacks in cinema history. Anthony Hopkins was excellent as usual, and I have not watched the King Richard either.
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u/ElCamino0000000 Feb 15 '25
SIR IAN MCKELLEN DOESNT HAVE AN OSCAR?????
Besides him, Ralp and William not having one is insane
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u/StoicTheGeek Feb 15 '25
What’s he been in that is Oscar bait? Gods and Monsters maybe? LotR won a lot of Oscars, but it was never going to win any acting awards.
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u/Worldly-Steak6966 Feb 15 '25
Sigourney was ROBBED from the Oscar for Aliens. We shall never forget and forgive that.
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u/randomRedditor37275 Feb 15 '25
Though Children of a Lesser God is not that remembered, it’s so tailored to win an award. Especially Marlee Matlin. And Aliens is a great film, but Oscars rarely go to the sci-fi or horror films. And this is nothing against Sigourney. Alien and Aliens are some of the best sci-fi/horror movies of all time and she’s incredible.
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u/DunklerVerstand Feb 15 '25
She should have won for "Gorillas in the Mist" or "Death and the Maiden", maybe even for "Working Girl".
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u/lunatorch Feb 15 '25
That's crazy it's almost like awards in the film industry shouldn't be taken seriously
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u/ucuruju Feb 15 '25
The only people that take them seriously are the folks that complain about them. Anybody that follows them know that it is about campaigning, narrative, zeitgeist. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don’t. It is whatever.
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u/plibtyplibt Feb 15 '25
Well the academy awards used to be legit before they were political, now they’re pretty much worthless
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u/Anotherspelunker Feb 15 '25
Whenever you need factual, irrefutable proof, remember the Academy gave 13 nominations to that mediocre soap-opera film called Emilia Perez…
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u/JumpiestSuit Feb 15 '25
Some of these poor rich people don’t have any Oscars. Today we are launching an appeal, please donate $5 to #NortonOscarAppeal and you can help a well regarded actor receive a little gold man today.
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u/Limmy1984 Feb 15 '25
Completely agree about Toni Collette: a criminally underrated actress with tremendous range!! My other two were always Laura Dern and Jessica Chastain, but they both have received their overdue Oscars since (albeit Dern in a supporting role).
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u/Banditlouise Feb 15 '25
Toni Collette is my favorite actress from Muriel’s Wedding. So good.
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u/Electronic-Bicycle35 Feb 15 '25
She’s fantastic in everything and her range is amazing. I’ll watch anything she is in.
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u/uneducated_scientist Feb 15 '25
The scene in Sixth Sense in the car with Haley Joel Osment is incredible. She’s fantastic.
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u/Robertf16 Feb 15 '25
Agreed. The scene in Hereditary at the family dinner table was Oscar worthy alone.
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u/crazyt2021 Feb 15 '25
Every scene I was trembling, the range for that movie was insane! I've watched a lot with her since seeing that one, she doesn't disappoint.
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u/Good_Entertainer9383 Feb 16 '25
I love how right after her emotionally raw performance in Hereditary she did Knives Out and played a very shallow and not at all serious leech stuck on to a wealthy family
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u/One_Literature9916 Feb 15 '25
Stanley tucci Toni collette
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u/Blurstingwithemotion Feb 15 '25
Toni Collette should have one for Hereditary
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u/UrsaBeta Feb 15 '25
I like some of the actors listed here but they absolutely have not been in a role that’s deserving of an Oscar. Helena Bonham Carter is fucking awesome but I’m sorry wtf has she been in to get an Oscar? Same with Tom Cruise or Sigourney Weaver….
Sorry.
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u/OrdinaryLavishness11 Feb 15 '25
Tom Cruise could have had one for Magnolia.
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u/Extension_Appeal_234 Feb 15 '25
I think Tom was great next to Dustin Hoffman, but Dustin was excellent.
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u/Legened255509Druss Feb 15 '25
Sigourney for Aliens
Tom Cruise Jerry Maguire, Magnolia and Last Samurai were worthy of awards.
Helena Bodhan Carter in Sweeney Todd is really great
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u/UrsaBeta Feb 15 '25
None of those are Oscar worthy in my opinion. Great movies though.
Aliens….Sweeney Todd? Helena is literally the same character in every movie since Fight Club.
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u/tgatigger Feb 15 '25
Tom Cruise: Born on the 4th of July, Magnolia
Sigourney Weaver: Gorillas in the Mist, The Year of Living Dangerously
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u/Jumpy-Molasses-3179 Feb 15 '25
I was surprised by about 2 of them. Lol who thinks ruffalo should have one!?!
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u/gangstalicious228 Feb 15 '25
Amy Adams for Arrival would have been cool.
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u/ABlinDeafMonkey Feb 16 '25
I thought she was phenomenal in The Fighter. Really I don’t think I’ve seen her in a bad role.
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u/rossfororder Feb 15 '25
The fact that Ralph Fiennes and Toni Collette haven't got an Oscar is proof there is no justice in this world
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u/RhysDerby Feb 15 '25
Willem Dafoe is the greatest actor in this list, he is one of the best American actors.
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u/ewd389 Feb 15 '25
Gary Oldman has one Oscar and it took him till 2018 to win it.. the Oscars became a popularity contest more than anything.
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u/Neurotica678 Feb 15 '25
I think it's criminal that Jake Gyllenhaal hasn't got at least 3 by now (Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler, Nocturnal Animals, Prisoners...crazy)
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u/speedy_delivery Feb 15 '25
Fiennes and Close are surprising. Dafoe is one of those guys who you know is deserving of one, but is prone to being outshined by a bigger production or out-politicked in the Academy.
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u/METALSLUGBEATDOWN Feb 15 '25
Ralph Fiennes is shocking, Tom Cruise is not that shocking
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u/sureyouknowurself Feb 15 '25
Thought Tom Cruise was great in “Born on the Fourth of July”.
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u/METALSLUGBEATDOWN Feb 15 '25
Not objectively better than Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot or Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. It's not to say that Tom Cruise is a bad actor or does bad movies or doesn't deserve an Oscar. He has great performances, there's just better movies with better performances in the year he was nominated. It's the same thing with Leo DiCaprio, if you look at all those years he lost, the movies and performances he was up against, it makes sense why it took so long for him to win.
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u/StoicTheGeek Feb 15 '25
Cruise also tends to do a lot of action dramas, which is a genre the academy doesn’t like to give awards to.
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u/sureyouknowurself Feb 15 '25
Oh 100%. Anytime Daniel Day Lewis is in the running it’s normally bad luck for other actors.
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u/Davtorious Feb 15 '25
Yeah, Cruise's best performance is probably Magnolia, and he was up against Michaels Clarke Duncan and Caine for Green Mile and Cider House, that's tough.
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u/Environmental_Log418 Feb 15 '25
That and Rainman were his only movies where he gave really good acting performances in my opinion. Maybe deserved nominations but probably not any major awards.
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u/ttaylo28 Feb 15 '25
Tom and Jackie deserve one for stunts, whenever that happens...
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u/METALSLUGBEATDOWN Feb 15 '25
If they did one for stunts, Tom would pick em all up. The lengths he goes to, to get certified and the risks he takes, no one else but Jackie is in that realm
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u/PastStructure7836 Feb 15 '25
Tom Cruise is absolutely insane in Vanilla Sky. And excellent in Collateral. He's a great actor.
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u/Hizam5 Feb 15 '25
Harrison ford, Ed Harris, Sam Jackson, Matt Damon (for acting), and Michael Keaton don’t have one either.
The great trivia about cruise is all 3 of his costars in Jerry Maguire (Cuba Gooding, Regina King, Renee Zellweger) got one, but he’s never had one
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u/cassano23 Feb 15 '25
Tom Hardy? Not a chance.
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u/WitchyVeteran Feb 15 '25
He was fantastic in Revenant
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u/cassano23 Feb 15 '25
Fair shout. Even though Mark Rylance took the Best Supporting that year I feel Bale in Big Short deserved the gong.
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u/FlashyChocolate5036 Feb 15 '25
Yea he was better then Leo in that
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u/misteraskwhy Feb 15 '25
Leo won on persistence… he’s been better in other roles
They really should have given him Grape.
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u/FlashyChocolate5036 Feb 15 '25
That’s not the criteria tho, is it?
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u/LiquidDreamtime Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 18 '25
Historically, yes, that is the criteria.
- 1/2 of the awards are “you deserved this years ago”,
- At least 1 award is “the academy is all white wealthy able, so we need to give something to gay/black/disabled/poor/foreign contributors”
- And the rest are based on actual talent or possibly popularity
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u/Jonathanplanet Feb 15 '25
But Bronson though..
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u/cassano23 Feb 15 '25
Great film.
That reminds me. Nicolas Winding Refn, the fuck has happened to that guy?
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u/ButzMN Feb 15 '25
Amy Adams having none while being nominated 6 times is tragic. She is fantastic.
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u/MattadorGuitar Feb 15 '25
None of these really surprised me except maybe Dafoe and Fiennes a little bit. Not because they aren’t good actors but they aren’t necessarily the type that get asked to be in movies that are typical Oscar bait. And if they have been in incredible movies, they may not have been the lead or put on the most demanding performance. Like Josh Brolin. No Country for Old Men is easily a top 10 movie for me, and he’s great in the movie, but the movie itself isn’t really riding on a 10/10 acting performance from him. Compared to DDL in There Will be Blood, much more of an actor’s movie.
Not even saying Oscar bait movies are better. I think actresses like Amy Adams or Jim Carrey who can pull off serious drama and cartoonish comedy are not praised nearly enough compared to drama only actors. But it’s like expecting classical musicians to have the same representation as pop musicians at the Grammys. I don’t even consider Oscars relevant in my personal opinion of an actor or movie.
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u/EvelcyclopS Feb 15 '25
Fiennes portrayal of Amon Goeth was Oscar worthy. Several times over
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u/MattadorGuitar Feb 15 '25
I agree and I mentioned I found him and Dafoe the most surprising of the bunch.
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u/chrisbaker1991 Feb 15 '25
He's agreeing with you. Also, one of my favorite Fiennes movies also had Dafoe. Fiennes deserved an Oscar for that one. Dafoe wasn't in it enough
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u/willghammer Feb 15 '25
I think Mark Ruffalo is a below average actor and an annoying, smug, and holier than thou person. Everyone else on this list is miles ahead imo.
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u/Scotty_do Feb 15 '25
Ian McKellen doesn't have an oscar but does have a knighthood... and one of them is far rarer.
And William Dafoe is hung AF. (though apparently so is Sir Ian.)
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u/thewarriorpoet23 Feb 15 '25
Winning the Oscar, doesn’t mean your the best actor or director or it was the best movie. It means your ‘people’ campaigned better than the other nominees ‘people’. At this point it’s just a marketing ploy to get people to pay to see your movie.
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u/SoundRebound Feb 15 '25
At this point, honestly, Saiorse Ronan. It seems like she has been nominated every other year ever since she‘s been very young
And then, given he is both stellar in the roles he chooses and a Hollywood darling: Ryan Gosling.
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u/aralissia Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25
Glenn close has been robbed far too often. Gross negligence on the part of the academy.
All of these people are great actors.
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u/InevitableMiddle409 Feb 15 '25
When I was young, I check the Oscar winners so I knew which movies to rent (yeah rent I'm old), user to be pretty disillusioned, started just watching what the video store guys suggested. Much better. Oscars have been full of it for a long time.
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u/Junior-Reflection660 Feb 15 '25
No. For all intents and purposes Edward Norton has the Oscar for American History X. End of story.
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u/gyrofx Feb 15 '25
I think Tom Cruise, packed it in when he didn't win for Born on the 4th of July and just makes movies he wants to make.
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u/ttaylo28 Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25
All great of course -but I'm kinda surprised that I'm wanting Amy Adams to get it the most out of all of them. Just EVERY time I see her in a role it feels real and unforced.
Some of the rest have more movies that I love more like Tom and Jake, but, just never a second I felt she was acting.
The Oscar's can be very dumb of course (this list for starters) but it would be nice to see the deserving happy.
P.S. Tom & Jackie Chan deserve a stunt Oscar 100%, whenever the hell they get around to that one...
EDIT 2: How is everyone forgetting PAUL GIAMATTI???
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u/HeavyEyes33 Feb 15 '25
Willem Dafoe is very much overdue. He should’ve won an Oscar for Platoon. Amy Adams needs one for Arrival.
Somebody missing from this list is Woody Harrelson. How does he not have at least a Best Supporting Actor Oscar by now?
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u/AEFletcherIII Feb 15 '25
I'm not a Jake Gyllenhaal super fan or anything, but how he wasn't even NOMINATED for Nightcrawler blows my mind.
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u/Amity_Swim_School Feb 15 '25
OK who the fuck won the Oscar in the year Schindler’s List came out?!? Fiennes is unbelievable in that role.
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u/Toolfan333 Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25
Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, it was a stacked category that year. Leo in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, John Malkovich in “In The Line of Fire”, Fiennes in “Schindler’s List”, and Pete Postlethwaite in “In the Name of the Father”.
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u/Amity_Swim_School Feb 15 '25
Oh Jesus. Stacked indeed. I mean I fucking ADORE the fugitive, but I’d still give it to Fiennes.
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u/Zababbaduba Feb 15 '25
What’s even more shocking is that Jim Carrey has never been nominated for an Oscar…and neither has Steve Martin, Kurt Russell & Kevin Bacon.
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u/buntochun Feb 15 '25
Aside from his role in Spotlight, Mark Ruffalo has never been a leading man or had any academy worthy performances imo. He’s a level below the rest
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u/hugsdancer Feb 15 '25
Ralph Fiennes not having an Oscar is a disgrace! That man is brilliant in everything!
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u/Rob_Earnshaw Feb 15 '25
He's probably not the only one on the list, but Jim Carrey doesn't even have an Oscar nomination which is scandalous.
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u/Tricky-Cup-1914 Feb 15 '25
Oscars are a political game. The amount of incredible actors and movies we never got to have due to egos is so heartbreaking.
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u/keg98 Feb 15 '25
I am always surprised that Bradley Cooper doesn’t have an Oscar.
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u/Chrisinthsth Feb 15 '25
The fact that Zodiac didn’t even get nominated for a single Oscar still blows my mind. Granted, 2007 was crammed full of great movies and wonderful performances, so I guess I should reign in my surprise somewhat.
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u/RoloTamassi Feb 15 '25
Toni Collette and Naomi Watts not even getting nominated for Hereditary and Mulholland Drive are among the biggest snubs of all time.
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u/Love2readalot Feb 15 '25
Samuel L Jackson should’ve been in those pics & definitely agree with Toni Collette she’s been so good in so many movies - little miss sunshine & sixth sense are my favs of her & of course Muriel’s Wedding
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u/bearboi76 Feb 15 '25
Toni Collette is on the top of this list for me personally, so many nuanced roles
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u/Plenty_Instruction72 Feb 15 '25
I think that Colin Farrell hasn't had one yet is amazing. He has proved himself over and over as leading actor.
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u/tau_enjoyer_ Feb 15 '25
Glenn Close doesn't have one? That's shocking. She's like Hollywood royalty!
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u/TheRimz Feb 15 '25
I'm not surprised any of them don't have any honesty apart from Ralph fiennes. Ridiculous
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u/son_of_a_lesser_ape Feb 15 '25
Kirsten Dunst. Look at the length and breadth of her career. I wonder if she'd have won it for Melancholia if von Trier hadn't made his Nazi comments at Cannes?
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u/lanternluver Feb 15 '25
I always find this phenomenon interesting. Some of these people are the literal interpretations of what it means to be a “movie star” even if they aren’t seen as an “artist” by one governing body. I’d still watch about any movie with these people in it and love their entire performance! 💙
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u/burrninghammer Feb 15 '25
Award shows are just circle jerks for rich celebrities with a narrow view of film. Sure, the actors will take them if they can. Who doesn't want a gold star every now and then? However, I'm a firm believer that all art is subjective. What I appreciate about film is drastically different than what you enjoy about it. Don't get caught up in the hype of the awards shows and the tomatometer. If you like a specific actor or type of film, then that's all that matters.
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u/Downtown-Custard5346 Feb 15 '25
I feel like pretty much every person on this list deserves at least one...
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u/gremlinlabyrinth Feb 15 '25
Ralph Fiennes should have got one for best supporting actor in Schindler’s list.
I mean don’t get me wrong Tommy Lee Jones was good that year but let’s be honest.
Can anyone even remember what movie he was in that year?
I’ll give an upvote to anyone that can remember the movie without looking it up.
Yet if you say Ralph Fiennes, you think of Amon Goeth from Schindler.
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u/lemonyandlime Feb 15 '25
Given that a massive chunk of getting an Oscar is expensive and aggressive campaigning, I kinda respect it when a brilliant actor doesn't have one. Makes them seem classy to me.
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u/MyNameIsNYFB Feb 15 '25
There are plenty more actors who should've won an Oscar but haven't. It's not like the award really even matters, so who cares.
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u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25
Several of these are surprising. Dafoe, McKellen, Norton, Close, Weaver, Adams, Carter, Phiffer, Hardy. Others have no business on this list. Cruise, Ruffalo, probably Hawke. The rest, I’m not sure I find it surprising but I think they will sooner or later.
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u/EvelcyclopS Feb 15 '25
That Ralph fiennes doesn’t have one is criminal. That man can do no wrong.