Oscars - Losers Trivia

1. The 82nd Academy Awards honoured the films of 2009. The coveted Best Picture award went to "The Hurt Locker". Which of the nine runners-up, directed by James Cameron, was nominated for an incredible nine awards?

From Quiz The Film Lost...Forever

Answer: Avatar

"Avatar" was a box office smash, and brought back the 3D film craze. Director James Cameron, known for directing "Aliens" and "Titanic", also wrote and co-produced the science fiction epic that missed out on the Best Picture award. It did, however, win the awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. "Avatar" takes place on the moon Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi. Humans are trying to mine a precious ore known as unobtanium. The size of the mining setup threatens the home of the Na'vi species, native to Pandora. The titular 'avatars' are scientifically grown Na'vi bodies, which a human can control via a mental link if the genetics match. The main character, Jake Sully, finds himself separated from the humans whilst in avatar form, and is taken in by the Na'vi clan. Jake Sully's mission is to collect intelligence that would force the Na'vi into cooperation, but Jake eventually rebels against the humans, with the help of the rest of his newly-acquired friends. The film ends with Jake being permanently transferred from his human form to his avatar form in a sacred ritual.

From Quiz 10 Movies That Didn't Win 'Best Picture' [1]

Answer: 12 Angry Men

Based around twelve jurors of a controversial murder case, "12 Angry Men" focuses on the conversations held, as the dozen attempt to hash out a unanimous vote in the case. As they go on, many of the jurors tear apart the evidence, realizing that not everything is as it seems for those involved. The original, starring Henry Fonda, was added to the National Film Registry fifty years after its release. Forty years after its release, a remake was produced for television, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Danza, and others. While "Bridge on the River Kwai" took home the 1957 'Best Picture', "Peyton Place", "Sayonara", and "Witness for the Prosecution" all followed the suit of "12 Angry Men" and didn't win. "Sayonara" is the only film of the five to take home any awards; it won four (including 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role').

From Quiz Hey, Where's MY Oscar?

Answer: M*A*S*H

Altman was nominated for "M*A*S*H" in 1970. The movie was an adaptation of Richard Hooker's 1968 novel about the lives of the 4077th mobile army surgical hospital unit during the Korean War. The movie would later spawn a successful TV series that ran from 1972-1983. Altman was also nominated for "Nashville," "The Player," "Shortcuts," and "Gosford Park". Altman died in November 2006, never winning a competitive Oscar, but earning an honorary Oscar earlier that year.

From Quiz What? I Didn't Win?

Answer: Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis was excellent in his Oscar-winning performance as Christy Brown in the 1989 film 'My Left Foot', but his acting in 'Gangs of New York' was superior (in my view). Day-Lewis was beaten out for the Academy Award in March of 2003 by Adrien Brody for his stunning performance in 'The Pianist'.

From Quiz Lose Now Win Later

Answer: Meryl Streep

"Kramer vs. Kramer", "Sophie's Choice" and "The Iron Lady" were her wins.

From Quiz The Oscars - The 'Losers'

Answer: Gloria Stuart

Stuart began her career opposite Boris Karloff in 'The Old Dark House' in 1932. Her role in 'Titanic' (the young Rose was played by Kate Winslet) lost out to Kim Basinger for 'L.A. Confidential' in 1997.

From Quiz The Film Lost...Forever

Answer: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Loosely based on a short story written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" tells the story of a man who is born with the physical traits of an elderly man, and ages backwards. He is abandoned by his parents and is taken in by a couple at a nursing home. There, Benjamin meets Daisy, and will continue to meet her throughout his reversed life, eventually dying in her arms, as an infant, before she dies, as an elderly woman. It was nominated for no less than 13 Academy Awards. It lost the award for Best Picture to Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire", but managed to win three awards for Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup.

From Quiz Hey, Where's MY Oscar?

Answer: Psycho

Hitchcock was nominated six times for a Best Director Oscar. The 1960 horror classic is about secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) who hides out at the motel owned by the creepy Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who is still obsessed with his mother. Marion moves into the Bates Motel after she embezzles $40,000 to pay for her wedding to Sam (John Gavin). A 1998 remake of "Psycho," which was dirercted by Gus van Sant, was a failure as it made less than the original, even before inflation.

From Quiz Lose Now Win Later

Answer: Spencer Tracy

"Captain's Courageous" and "Boy's Town" were his wins.

From Quiz The Oscars - The 'Losers'

Answer: Lee J. Cobb

Cobb, best known for playing straight man to James Coburn in the 'Flint' series, lost for his role in 'On The Waterfront' to Edmund O'Brien for 'The Barefoot Contessa'. Cobb was also saddled with running against costars Steiger and Malden.

From Quiz Great Actors Who Never Won an Oscar

Answer: Montgomery Clift

Who knows what Montgomery Clift might have achieved had he lived a longer, healthier life? It's one of the great "what ifs" of film history. Sadly, his self destructive tendencies, exacerbated by a near fatal automobile accident in 1956, would ultimately catch up with him and he died at the age of 45 in 1966. Montgomery Clift's nominations: "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961), for Best Supporting Actor For Best Actor: "From Here to Eternity" (1953) "A Place in the Sun" (1951) "The Search" (1948)

From Quiz The Film Lost...Forever

Answer: Juno

Winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, "Juno" stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera, who is known for his roles in the film "Superbad" and the TV series "Arrested Development". The film received three Oscar nominations, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress for Page. The main character, Juno, played by Page, finds herself pregnant, and her close friend Paulie, played by Michael Cera, is the father. The film shows the things Juno faces as she copes with the pregnancy, and finds a couple to adopt the baby.

From Quiz Movies Snubbed by Oscar

Answer: The Court Jester

Danny Kaye is absolutely wonderful in 'The Court Jester.' The IMDB gives it an 8.0 (out of 10), compared to only 6.8 for the Oscar-winner.

From Quiz Lose Now Win Later

Answer: Robert Donat

He won for "Goodbye Mr. Chips".

From Quiz The Oscars - The 'Losers'

Answer: Sigourney Weaver

Weaver, daughter of TV pioneer Sylvester 'Pat' Weaver, lost for her role in the sequel, 'Aliens', to Marlee Matlin for 'Children Of A Lesser God' in 1986.

From Quiz Great Actors Who Never Won an Oscar

Answer: Barbara Stanwyck

She is often described as the greatest actress who never won an Oscar. Barbara Stanwyck's villainous performance as Phyllis Dietrichson in 1944's "Double Indemnity" was ranked #8 on AFI's "100 Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains" list. She was versatile enough to play characters filled with depth and compassion as well - such as her sympathetic turn as a working class mother in "Stella Dallas". Her honoroary Oscar in 1982 was for "superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting". Well said. Barbara Stanwyck's nominations (all for Best Actress): "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948) "Double Indemnity" (1944) "Ball of Fire" (1941) "Stella Dallas" (1937)

From Quiz The Film Lost...Forever

Answer: Little Miss Sunshine

Despite not winning the Best Picture award, "Little Miss Sunshine" picked up two other Academy Awards - for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. The film is about a dysfunctional family who must travel across America to a beauty pageant (the 'Little Miss Sunshine' pageant) that the daughter, played by Abigail Breslin, has qualified for. The film was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where its distribution rights were bought.

From Quiz Hey, Where's MY Oscar?

Answer: Il Casanova di Federico Fellini

Fellini's earned his eighth nomination, for writing, with 1977's "Il Casanova di Federico Fellini", an adaptation of the autobiography of eighteenth century Italian womanizer Giacomo Casanova. Casanova, played by Donald Sutherland, has his life go into sexual abandonment, spends time in a Venetian prison, and goes to a frost fair in London after the Thames river freezes. The Italian film legend also was also nominated four times for directing, also with no success.

From Quiz What? I Didn't Win?

Answer: Ed Norton

The winner for Best Actor that year was Roberto Benigni for his performance in 'Life is Beautiful'. In my view, Benigni's performance was a bit more obnoxious than it was magnificent. Norton's performance as ex-neo-nazi Derek Vinyard in the emotionally jarring 'American History X' will go down as one of history's finest.

From Quiz Lose Now Win Later

Answer: Holly Hunter

"The Piano" was her win.

From Quiz The Oscars - The 'Losers'

Answer: Basil Rathbone

The quintessential Sherlock Holmes, Rathbone was nominated for 'Romeo and Juliet' in 1936, but lost to Walter Brennan for 'Come And Get It'. Bruce played opposite Rathbone as Dr. Watson in the successful series.

From Quiz The Film Lost...Forever

Answer: Brokeback Mountain

"Brokeback Mountain" was nominated for eight Academy Awards, but won three: Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film gained a high amount of controversy over the same-sex relationship depicted in the film, however it remains one of the highest-grossing romantic films of all time. The two main characters meet and fall in love in 1963, but the two part ways because of the homophobia prevalent in society. They meet again in the future, but cannot stay together, because of the repercussions upon each other's families.

From Quiz 10 Movies That Didn't Win 'Best Picture' [1]

Answer: Moonstruck

"Moonstruck", starring Cher and Nicholas Cage, won both 'Best Actress' for Cher and 'Best Supporting Actress' for Olympia Dukakis. Set in Brooklyn Heights, the film follows the lives of Italian-Americans and the specific events occurring for Loretta (Cher's character) as new love falls into her life. While "Moonstruck" took home four awards, "The Last Emperor" took nine, including 'Best Director' for Bernardo Bertolucci (who never received much Western praise for his other works). This film followed the life of China's last emperor, Puyi, before the Republic of China was declared in 1912. Oddly, the film did not receive a single nod for acting, though star Peter O'Toole has had eight nominations for 'Best Actor' (for "Lawrence of Arabia", "Becket", and "Venus", to name a few). Also up for the award of 'Best Picture' in 1987 were "Fatal Attraction", "Hope and Glory", and "Broadcast News".

From Quiz Hey, Where's MY Oscar?

Answer: Best Actress

Close was nominated for lead acting roles in "Dangerous Liaisons" and "Fatal Attraction", and earned Supporting Actress nominations for "The World According to Garp", "The Natural", and "The Big Chill".

From Quiz What? I Didn't Win?

Answer: Sean Penn

Admittedly, the Academy had a difficult decision to make in 1996 between Cage and Penn, with Cage ultimately coming out on top. Oddly enough, in my view neither Cage nor Penn won Oscars for their best career performances. Penn should have won for 'Dead Man Walking', while Cage put in a superior performance in the film 'Adaptation' (for which he was nominated in 2003).

From Quiz Movies Snubbed by Oscar

Answer: Psycho

'Pyscho' is ranked 19th on the IMDB, but incredibly, it was not even NOMINATED for a Best Picture Oscar. Hitchcock endured many snubs from the Academy. Besides 'Vertigo' and 'Psycho', other Hitchcock films rated higher than this Oscar-winner are 'Notorious' (1946), 'Rear Window' (1954), 'North by Northwest' (1959), and 'The Birds' (1963).

From Quiz Lose Now Win Later

Answer: Vanessa Redgrave

"Julia" was her win.

From Quiz The Oscars - The 'Losers'

Answer: Janet Leigh

Leigh, ex-wife of Tony Curtis and mother of Jamie Lee Curtis, was nominated for 'Psycho' in 1960, but lost out to Shirley Jones for 'Elmer Gantry'.

From Quiz 10 Movies That Didn't Win 'Best Picture' [1]

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

"Beauty and the Beast", critically, became one of the most successful animated films in the nineties, and it became the only full-length animated movie to appear in the 'Best Picture' category (about a decade later, 'Best Animated Film' was released). In addition to winning 'Best Original Score', the film's title song, "Beauty and the Beast", won 'Best Original Song' (beating out two other entries from the same film). "The Silence of the Lambs" took home the awards for 'Best Picture', 'Best Director' 'Best Actor', and 'Best Actress' in 1991, beating out "Beauty and the Beast", "Bugsy", "JFK", and "Prince of Tides". One of the few horror/thriller films to be nominated for such an award, "The Silence of the Lambs" follows an FBI agent as she is commissioned to hunt down a serial killer. After speaking with incarcerated cannibal, Hannibal Lector, she is soon set down the right path for solving the case. This film starred Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins.

From Quiz What? I Didn't Win?

Answer: Schindler's List

Okay, some may suggest that Kingsley was not the 'lead' actor in 'Schindler's List'; regardless, his performance should have somehow been recognized. Kingsley, of course, had already won a Best Actor Oscar for his unbelievable portrayal of Mohandas K. Gandhi in the 1982 film 'Gandhi'. 'Schindler's List' featured Kingsley as the accountant Itzhak Stern, who helped run the successful business of Oskar Schindler during World War II. Stern was able to do this while living within a Nazi death camp, and also was pivotal in assisting Schindler with saving the lives of the many Jews who worked within Schindler's business.

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Last Updated Mar 29 2025 5:45 AM

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