As the annual campaign for the Academy Awards winds down, it's fun to remember those hopeful films that, months before nominations were handed out, we all expected to be Oscar front-runners. Though the likes of Gravity, 12 Years A Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street have fulfilled their potential this year in terms of scoring major nominations in most significant categories, what about the movies that were so clearly made to win Oscars, that audiences and critics ended up rejecting them? This typically resulted in a disappointing awards performance, be it just one Oscar win, multiple nominations without a win, or even not a single nomination at all. These 15 movies all had lofty ambitions, to tell a worthy, emotional story, and each was clearly vying for year-end awards attention. For every Slumdog Millionaire, there are dozens of movies that tried hard to play the awards game, and either disappointed or flat-out failed on an epic scale. It's a fickle game to play, but these movies were just too eager to earn our hearts, and as a result, they have mostly faded into the cinematic ether. Of course, Oscar bait is subjective, so feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments!
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.
