The Oscar Winners are here! There were a few surprises along the way, but nothing too jolting. Here are the big winners:

Picture-Argo

Actor-Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Actress-Jenifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Director-Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

Original Screenplay-Django Unchained

The results are in, but there are going to be complaints from critics of films for months to come. This disdain is often caused by something referred to as snubbing. Snubbing is ignoring or refusing to acknowledge a film, actor, or director who happens to be very good if not the best that year. The film does not necessarily have to not be nominated, but that is usually the most common case. The 2012 movie year most definitely has its share of snubs some of which include:

• Leonardo Dicaprio for his role in Django Unchained as the soon to be infamous Calvin Candie! Dicaprio’s role was definitely overlooked by the Academy, and considering that Leo is one of the most snubbed actors in Hollywood today, I think that he should have at least been nominated for his brilliant portrayal of a racist plantation owner.

• Kathryn Bigelow for her overlooked directing abilities. Zero Dark Thirty was praised for its great directing by all the critics, yet the Academy chose to ignore her accomplishments.  

• Ben Affleck for his directing abilities on Argo

• Quinten Tarantino for his great directing of Django Unchained 

2012 will be remembered as the year of snubbed directors in the film world. 

The history of snubbing starts as far back as 1939 with the now legendary Citizen Kane! Citizen Kane was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, but managed to only win the award for Best Original Screenplay! Today, Citizen Kane has been recognized by the American Film Institution as the number one best movie! That being considered, why would the film not be awarded for its brilliance? The early demise of this film came from both the press (Rudolf Hearst: the person who the film parodied), and Hollywood (who was scared of what Hearst would do if the film won). 

Another film that was snubbed was the now infamous Pulp Fiction of 1994. This film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, but managed to only win Best Original Screenplay! Sound familiar? Pulp Fiction was revolutionary for the 90’s, and it didn’t help that the film was made by an independent filmmaker. Pulp Fiction is now considered essential for crime film enthusiasts and mind-bending cinema. 

Another person snubbed by the Academy is the legendary Alfred Hitchcock! Alfred Hitchcock is considered to be the absolute, “must watch his films before you die” director! Alfred Hitchcock also directed some controversial movies, such as the quintessential thriller Psycho and the great point-of-perspective film Rear Window. 

Staley Kubrick was one of the many filmmakers who are considered to be the best who never won an Oscar! Staley Kubrick made such classic films as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and of course The Shining! Not a single one of those movies won an Oscar! 

Martin Scorsese has made many great movies that are considered to be the best in the crime genre. Movies like: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas did not win Oscars. 

I see a trend here! Great movies that are now praised as the best have not won awards. The list of films that are considered classics that have been snubbed goes on and on. Don’t ever expect to see comedies or sci-fi movies on the Oscar list; sadly it just never happens, even if the film is amazingly good.

Snubbing is not always bad; in fact I think it helps the film and their popularity in the long run. Just look at the most popular films around; they are usually films that were not rewarded for their brilliance or ingenuity or they are films with a massive cult following, which also helps make the films more popular. Here is a list of directors who have no Oscar wins (some were nominated for Oscars but lost):

Director - Nominations 

Stanley Kubrick - 4

Alfred Hitchcock - 5 

Orson Welles - 1

Akira Kurosawa - 1

Charles Chaplin - 0

David Fincher - 2

Fritz Lang - 0

Quentin Tarantino - 2 

Christopher Nolan - 0

Ingmar Bergman - 3

Paul Thomas Anderson - 1

Federico Fellini - 4

Ridley Scott - 3

Sergio Leone - 0 

Guillermo Del Toro - 0

There were a great number of good movies in 2012, but only a handful of great movies. Here are my top picks for great movies of 2012:

1. Django Unchained

2. Cabin in the Woods

3. Looper

4. The Avengers 

5. Dark Knight Rises 

6. Zero Dark Thirty

7. Skyfall

8. Killing Them Softly

9. Beasts of the Southern Wild

10. Seven Psychopaths 

All of these films hit me as the best of 2012. Here is a breakdown of each of my top three picks:

1. Django Unchained: This movie hands down is the only film on this list that I really appreciated and found convincing. I truly enjoyed this film, and I thought Leonardo Dicaprio should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and won; he was absolutely phenomenal! 

2. Cabin in the Woods: I know, I know, why this movie? It’s just making fun of horror movies. That is the charm behind this movie, it makes you think, “this is stupid,” but this adds to the awesomeness of this film and how ridiculous most horror movie are.   

3. Looper: When I go to a science-fiction-based film I’m not expecting to be blown away, but that is what Looper did to me! The story is very original, and I think it could have been an Oscar contender. Sadly it was not nominated due to the Academy’s dislike of Sci-Fi films.  

Those are my top three movies of a year with ups and downs, which just seemed lacking in awesomeness...yes, I saw The Avengers and Dark Knight Rises, but superhero and action movies do not make a year in movies awesome. Both Dark Knight Rises and Avengers were great movies but they are in fact superhero movies, and superhero movies don’t win awards…yet! I am talking about the Oscar season and movies that are supposed to be the best of the best, this year…was stale.

This upcoming movie year will probably be the same as this year, but 2015 looks like it will be the year of big movies. Star Wars VII is coming out that year along with other great movies like Avengers 2 and possibly a Justice League movie. I’m looking forward to these movies and hope to see at least one them on the Oscar nomination list in 2015 (my fingers are crossed).