Oscars 2014 Nominations: 10 Things We Learned About This Year's Picks

7. The Coen Brothers Aren't Untouchable...

Remember that year when Joel and Ethan Coen received a Best Picture nomination for A Serious Man? Well, you're not alone in wondering how that happened. Once perennial indie outsiders hanging around the fringes of Oscar recognition, it seemed the Coens had finally been accepted following their No Country for Old Men success. Picking up nominations (and a screenplay win for Fargo) here and there prior to 2008, the brothers secured a whopping 16 nominations and four wins for just three of their subsequent films. One of those, a Best Picture nom for the dry, very Academy-unfriendly (but no less brilliant) A Serious Man hinted that the Coens had actually become Oscar mainstays. However, the much-lauded Inside Llewyn Davis has been almost shut out of the 2014 Oscars, with no nods for Best Picture, Director, Actor or Screenplay. The Coens instead have to make do with two measly noms, for Cinematography and the distinctly consolation prize-esque Sound Mixing.