The 88th annual Academy Awards were hosted in 2016 and honored the best films from the previous year in 2015. Some of the films released that year that could have been nominated, but weren't, were movies like The Witch, Trainwreck, and The Age of Adelaide . Instead the films that were praised and given the biggest nomination, that in the Best Picture category, were Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Room, Spotlight, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, and The Big Short.
Looking at this list now, there are a few nominees that haven't aged well and probably didn't deserve the praise they received, and there are definitely a handful of other great films that should have been recognized.
10 Should Have Been: The Hateful Eight
Tarantino's 2015 Western film starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern tells the story of eight strangers who all find themselves in the same spot, snowed in.
The film received a couple of awards, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Jennifer Jason Leigh, but was surprisingly left out of most major categories, despite having such a great cast under such impeccable direction.
9 Should Have Been: The Lobster
This dark comedy stars Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz and is about an experiment where people are given forty-five days to find a partner, and if they don't, they're turned into animals.
The film received a lot of praise despite it's obscure storyline and execution, with some critics hoping the Academy would think outside of the box and nominate this film. Of course, that didn't happen, and this film was one of the many snubs that year.
8 Should Have Been: Straight Outta Compton
The biggest snub of the year by the Academy went to F. Gary Gray's biographical feature film about the rise and fall of the group N.W.A. and its members, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre. The film was a success both at the box office and in the reviews from the major film critics, yet the film only received one nomination from the Academy, and that was for Best Original Screenplay.
This film's snub upset a lot of fans who expected more, and they have since put out a call to Academy voters to honor diverse storytelling more than they currently do.
7 Nominated: Bridge Of Spies
This historical drama was directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and stars Tom Hanks, so it was clearly going to be a contender at the Academy Awards in 2015.
The historical drama is set during the Cold War and tells the story of a real life prisoner exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. With this subject matter and these storytellers behind it, the film was a clear front runner for award season, but most people assumed it was because it fit the Academy's formula so well, not because the film was necessarily worthy of the praise.
6 Should Have Been: Carol
This romance drama directed by Todd Haynes is based on a 1952 novel titled "The Price of Salt" by Patricia Highsmith. The film stars Cate Blanchett as the title character and Rooney Mara as Therese Belivet, the photographer she falls in love with.
The fact that this film was left out of major categories like Best Director and Best Picture caused a lot of controversy with critics who claimed the Academy seemed incapable of thinking outside of the box and voting for female-led and LGBTQ stories.
5 Should Have Been: Joy
David O. Russell reunites with some of his favorite actors in this film based on the real life person, Joy Mangano, who created her own empire and became a self-made millionaire.
The film was recognized in a couple of major categories at the 2015 Academy Awards, but was left out of the coveted Best Picture category, which was a shock to a lot of fans of David O. Russell because he had been such an Academy favorite in previous years.
4 Nominated: Brooklyn
This period drama was directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby, and is based on the novel by the same name. The film stars Saorise Ronan as Eilis Lacey, a young Irish woman in 1951 who emigrates to Brooklyn.
The film received a lot of praise from critics, but didn't seem to do as well with audience members and the average movie-goer. The film may have had some great performances, but giving it the Best Picture nomination seemed like a bit of a stretch to most audiences.
3 Should Have Been: Sleeping With Other People
This independent romantic comedy stars Alison Brie and Jason Sudekis as friends who spend a lot of time pretending not to fall for one another. The film is not only a love story between two people, but New York City serves as an additional character for audiences to love.
The film didn't get a very wide release, but it did well with audiences and at the box office, and if Academy voters wanted to honor more unique films then this film might have cleaned up at the 2015 ceremony.
2 Should Have Been: Paper Towns
This film is part romantic comedy and part mystery. Based on the novel by the same name, the film stars Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne. The film was both a box office success and critically well-received.
This is another film that could have done well during award season if Academy voters wanted to vote for films that appeal to mass audiences, instead of choosing to vote for the films that fit into their formula and tastes.
1 Should Have Been: Legend
Tom Hardy gives an incredibly impressive performance in this biographical film about the Kray twins, who led a life of brutal crime until their imprisonment.
The film didn't do nearly as well as the filmmakers had hoped at the box office, but that rarely prevents a film from being nominated by the Academy, and sometimes even helps the film get more nominations. However that was not the case for this crime thriller, which received zero nominations.
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