Greatest Movies That Should've Won an Oscar

Director Herbert Ross’s 1977 drama about two women’s relationship with ballet is tied with Stephen Spielberg’s “The Color Purple” for the film with the most Oscar nominations and no wins at 11. The movie received two prestigious Golden Globe awards: Best Picture (drama) and Best Director. Ross, who passed away in 2001, never won an Oscar.

No Oscar nominations went to “Touch of Evil,” Orson Welles’ film noir about a corrupt, bullying police chief in conflict with a Mexican-born policeman investigating a bomb blast that killed an American contractor. Critics hailed the tense drama starring Charlton Heston and Welles, with 96% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes approving of the film. The Critics Consensus cites it as “artistically innovative and emotionally gripping.” The movie grossed more than $2 million worldwide. Film fans remember 1958 as the year the musical “Gigi” dominated the Oscars, winning nine statues.

As the first animated feature film to be completely computer generated, Pixar’s debut “Toy Story” was hugely influential. It was also a financial success, grossing more than $191 million at the domestic box office. The film was nominated for three Oscars — two for music and one related to writing — but won none. It did receive a non-competitive Special Achievement Award. The sequel “Toy Story 3,” released fifteen years later, won two Oscars.

The work of critically acclaimed filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen has garnered numerous Oscars, including Best Picture for “No Country for Old Men” and Best Writing – Screenplay for “Fargo.” Yet the brothers walked away empty handed at the 2011 Academy Awards when their Western “True Grit” failed to win any awards despite 10 nominations, including Best Picture. The movie, which grossed more than $250 million worldwide at the box office, is the Coens’ top-grossing film of all time.

Director and co-writer Debra Granik’s second feature film “Winter’s Bone” follows a young woman named Ree — played by Jennifer Lawrence — who must track down her criminal father somewhere in the Ozarks. The movie’s bleak, realist approach won over critics — it currently holds a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes — and earned it four Oscar nominations in 2011, including Best Picture, which was won by “The King’s Speech.” Had it won, “Winter’s Bone” would have been the second female-directed movie ever to win the award, after Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker.”