2015 Best Picture: 2 Films That Didn’t Deserve The Nomination (& 8 Replacements)

The 87th annual Academy Awards were hosted in 2015 and honored the best films from the previous year in 2014. Some of the films released that year that could have been nominated, but weren’t, were: Gone Girl, Divergent, The Fault in our Stars, and Lucy. Instead, the films that were praised and given the biggest nomination, in the Best Picture category, were: Whiplash, Birdman, American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Boyhood.

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: Gone Girl

This film from director David Fincher is based on the novel by the same name and stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, who was nominated in the Best Actress category for her work in this film.

The film is one of the few book-to-film adaptations, that not only stays true to the original story but is executed brilliantly. Most movie-goers and critics were surprised this film was left out of the Best Picture category in 2015.

9 Should Have Been: Unbroken

This film is a biographical drama about the real story of Louis Zamperini who survived as a prisoner of war and went on to become an Olympian. The incredible story was brought to life by Angelina Jolie, who produced and directed the film.

Not only was this film left out of the Best Picture category, but it was left out of most of the major categories, including Best Director for Jolie, which was an additional snub by Academy voters.

8 Should Have Been: Wild

Both Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern were nominated for their work in this film, which is based on the novel by the same name and tells the story of a woman who sets out on a backpacking trip through the Pacific Crest Trail in an attempt to reclaim and rebuild her life.

The film received a lot of praise from the big film critics and did very well at the box office, so it came as a surprise when the film was only nominated in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

7 Nominated: The Imitation Game

This historical drama is based on the biography of a man named Alan Turing, who encrypted German intelligence messages for the British government during World War II. Upon its release, the film received some criticism for its inaccuracies and the way it downplayed Turing’s homosexuality.

Though critics gave it mostly positive reviews, the average movie-goer found the film less interesting and its nomination in the bigger categories during award season was surprising to the general public.

6 Should Have Been: Fury

This war drama was written and directed by David Ayer and starred Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, and Scott Eastwood.

The film received a handful of awards during award season, including one at the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards and a couple at the Critics Choice Awards, but it was left out of both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, despite most fans and critics assuming the film would receive a lot of praise from those voters.

5 Should Have Been: Into The Woods

This Stephen Sondheim musical turned epic feature film boasts an incredibly impressive ensemble cast. The film, directed by Rob Marshall, stars Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, and Johnny Depp.

The story is based on the famous Grimm Brothers’ fairytales and given the cast and the source material, seemed like an obvious choice for Academy voters, but the film only received nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category, for Meryl Streep, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design.

4 Nominated: Whiplash

This film was Damian Chazelle’s first introduction to the Academy and award season. The film, starring Miles Teller as a jazz drummer and J.K. Simmons as his abusive bandleader, premiered at Sundance, where it was acquired for distribution by Sony.

The film did well at the Academy Awards, taking home a handful of the awards they were nominated for, but it still seemed a little too problematic in its execution to receive the coveted Best Picture nomination, which is probably why it didn’t win.

3 Should Have Been: Interstellar

Christopher Nolan co-wrote, produced, and directed this science fiction film, which stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, Matt Damon, and Michael Caine.

Considering the film’s director and ensemble cast are all names the Academy loves to root for, it was shocking that this film didn’t receive more praise at the awards ceremony and was left out of the Best Picture category.

2 Should Have Been: Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal was praised for his role in this film about a man who records violent events while walking the Los Angeles streets late at night and sells his footage to local news stations.

The film was incredibly well-received by both fans and critics alike and seemed like a shoo-in for multiple awards in 2015, but was only nominated for one award by the Academy and that was for Best Original Screenplay.

1 Should Have Been: This Is Where I Leave You

Though this film didn’t receive much attention at the box office and the critics’ reviews were mixed at best, this film may have just been unfairly overlooked at the time of its release.

Not only is this dark comedy the perfect mix of laughter and drama, but it also features a very impressive and talented ensemble cast that received more praise than they were given. This may be a movie that ends up on “underrated” lists for years to come.

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