13 Awesome 2018 Movies That Deserve Best Picture (But Won't Get Nominated)

7. Mandy

Nicolas Cage Mandy
XYZ Films

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% (7.7/10)

Why It Deserves Best Picture: Because what other movie this year saw Nicolas Cage hoofing an impossibly huge amount of cocaine while battling an acid-tripping biker cult with a giant axe he forged himself?

Without a lick of irony, Mandy has artistry and entertainment value that any eventual Best Picture nominee should be jealous of.

At face value it may be a trashy exploitation film, but thanks to Panos Cosmatos' patient direction, one of Cage's all-time best performances and a searing musical score from the late, great Jóhann Jóhannsson, Mandy is a revenge film par excellence.

Why It Won't Get Nominated: Now, it would be delusional to think that Mandy had any sort of realistic shot at landing even a single Oscar nomination for anything, though that doesn't mean the Academy will be right to exclude it.

Yes, it's too artsy, slow and weird - not to mention gory and ridiculous - which are all descriptors set to ensure a decent portion of the voting body won't even bother watching it. Their loss.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.