Why did five top films get snubbed at the Oscars?

Peter Howell

Movie Critic

I still can't get over that five of the 10 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 nominees at #Oscars95 — "Elvis," "The Banshees of Inisherin," "The Fabelmans," "Tár" and "Triangle of Sadness" — didn't win a single prize at the Academy Awards, despite a combined 33 noms. Feels like a record loss.

The easy answer is that multiverse mash-up "Everything Everywhere All at Once" mowed down everything in its path as it proceeded to win seven Oscars, among them Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Sheinert), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan).

"EEAAO" proved to be so popular with the Academy, it sucked up the lion's share of the votes, much like the malevolent "Everything Bagel" sucks up souls in the film. Only one other Best Picture nominee gave "EEAAO" a run for it's money: "All Quiet on the Western Front," which took four Oscars, among them Best International Feature.

Of the remaining Best Picture nominees, "The Whale" received two Oscars (including Best Actor for Brendan Fraser) while "Top Gun: Maverick," "Avatar: The Way of Water" and "Women Talking" received just one apiece.

It still seems hard to believe, though, that "Elvis," "The Banshees of Inisherin," "The Fabelmans," "Tár" and "Triangle of Sadness" got nothing, zilch, nada, bupkis. "Banshees" and "Fabelmans" were considered Oscar front-runners at one point , "Elvis" was a solid challenger, "Tár" was a critical favourite and "Triangle" was a Palme d'Or winner.

Here are some selected responses to my Twitter post:

"The voters did not spread the love." — Anne Thompson, IndieWire.

"Closest I can find is 2013:

0/10 American Hustle

0/6 Captain Phillips

0/6 Nebraska

0/5 Wolf of Wall Street

0/4 Philomena

Collectively 31 total BP whiff nods.

Interestingly was also the last year a film won 7 Oscars."

— Hans von Walter.

"Ironically, for me, those 5 were the best of the Best Picture nominess."

— Benjamin Santander.

"It seems Elvis especially was ignored. I was sure it would get some sound or visual awards and there was a good argument for Butler to get best actor. Sad it walked away empty handed."

— James Bramble.

"I love The Banshees — the acting, the sound (or lack thereof — such a quiet movie), the writing — I wish they’d won something."

— The Last Linda. 🌓