Emma Thompson also earned a Best Actress nomination for her performance in this James Ivory-directed classic based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel of the same name. Unfortunately, in a year featuring Schindler’s List, Philadelphia, and The Piano, this understated yet exquisitely realized drama was unfairly overlooked.
5. Gangs of New York (2002) – 10 Nominations
A movie that had been some 24 years in the making for Scorsese, Gangs of New York failed to yield the awards success many may have been hoping for. While Scorsese once again missed out on the big awards, he had reason to feel aggrieved after the ever-controversial Roman Polanski beat him to the Best Director award for The Pianist.
The musical drama Chicago, meanwhile, claimed the Best Picture award in a decision that has not aged especially well. Daniel Day-Lewis lost the Best Actor Oscar to The Pianist’s Adrien Brody, who became the youngest ever recipient of that particular Academy Award. Neither Cameron Diaz or Leonardo DiCaprio were deemed worthy of a nomination, while Gangs of New York missed out on a glut of technical awards, with Chicago beating them out in no fewer than six categories.
4. True Grit (2010) – 10 Nominations
On paper, Ethan and Joel Coen’s remake of the John Wayne classic True Grit had all the makings of a major Oscar winner. A box office success that went on to become one of the highest grossing Westerns of all time, it featured a stellar lead performance from Jeff Bridges and, in the Coens, had a pair of filmmakers seemingly attuned to the tastes of the Academy.
Yet, in reality, True Grit was facing a huge amount of competition from movies like Black Swan, The Social Network, and The King’s Speech. Meanwhile, the fact Bridges had won the Oscar for Crazy Heart just a year earlier made back-to-back success less likely. Moreover, the Coens had recently swept the board with No Country for Old Men. Despite 10 nominations, the aforementioned frontrunners, as well as movies like The Fighter and Inception, ensured True Grit suffered a shutout.
3. American Hustle (2013) – 10 Nominations
Despite a stellar soundtrack, a few extravagant wigs, and some big and brash performances from the likes of Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle didn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts for the Academy. It was up against a strong field of contenders that included Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, and Dallas Buyers Club, and those three movies ended up taking the majority of the major awards at that year’s ceremony.