PULP FICTION (1994): The gold shining from Marsellus Wallace’s briefcase wasn’t a best picture Oscar. Quentin Tarantino’s Palme d’Or winning film wouldn’t repeat at the Oscars, losing to “Forrest Gump”
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939): Much like 2013, 1939 was a stacked year in film. “Gone With the Wind” took the best picture trophy, but that left out “The Wizard of Oz” and others, including “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “Stagecoach”
CHINATOWN (1974): Roman Polanski’s noir classic was nominated for 11 total Oscars, but forget about it, it was “The Godfather: Part II’s” year
APOCALYPSE NOW (1979): Francis Ford Coppola ended the ’70s with his third classic, but couldn’t pull off the Best Picture hat trick with “Apocalypse Now,” losing to the Dustin Hoffman/Meryl Streep film “Kramer vs. Kramer”
CITIZEN KANE (1941): “Citizen Kane” has been the consensus choice for Greatest American Film for quite a while — the Academy, however, would take a little time to warm up to it. “Kane” lost to “How Green Was My Valley” and only took home one Oscar for Best Screenplay
BLADE RUNNER (1982): The Academy’s reluctance to honor sci-fi definitely affected “Blade Runner,” which only wound up with two nominations, neither Best Picture. “Gandhi” took home the top prize in ’82
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969): Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s buddy movie won four of the seven Oscars it was nominated for, but “Midnight Cowboy” would be the one to make history becoming the first X-rated (now NC-17) film to win Best Picture
BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967): 1967 was a big year for movies, but “Bonnie and Clyde” was considered a favorite with its 10 nominations. The film would suffer a similar fate to its protagonists when it had its Best Picture chances snuffed out by “In the Heat of the Night”
CITY LIGHTS (1931): Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece not only failed to win Best Picture, it did not receive a single Oscar nomination. Chaplin would only win one competitive Oscar in his career, for Best Score in 1973. “Cimarron” beat out “City Lights” for top honors
DO THE RIGHT THING (1989): Spike Lee’s racially infused drama stirred many in 1989, but apparently not Academy members, who played it safe by voting “Driving Miss Daisy” as the year’s Best Picture
DR. STRANGELOVE (1964): Stanley Kubrick’s first film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture lost to musical “My Fair Lady,” setting the precedent for his subsequent Best Picture nominations; “A Clockwork Orange” and “Barry Lyndon” also lost out in that category.
E.T. (1982): The story of a lonely boy befriending a lost alien was not enough to warm the Academy’s heart. Despite four wins, all in below the line categories, Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” couldn’t take the top prize
THE GRADUATE (1967): Mike Nichols movie about a disaffected college graduate (Dustin Hoffman) joined “Bonnie and Clyde” in the Best Picture losers circle in 1967. Nichols did, however, win the Best Director prize
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946): This Christmas classic didn’t have the magic to pull out a Best Picture win — William Wyler’s WWII drama “The Best Years of Our Lives” earned that honor. Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart’s third collaboration earned five nominations but no wins
JAWS (1975): Steven Spielberg’s feature debut struck fear in the heart of beach goers, but the Academy went with “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest” in the end. “Jaws” took three trophies overall
KING KONG (1933): Not to be confused with Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake, the original “King Kong” has earned a place as an all-time classic. The monster movie didn’t get such recognition from the Academy when it was released — it netted no nominations
NASHVILLE (1975): Robert Altman’s country music ensemble featured a stellar cast that included Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, Shelley Duvall and Jeff Goldblum and even received a win out of 5 nominations at the Academy, but that win wasn’t for Best Picture
NETWORK (1976): “Network’s” warning about media’s growing power still resonates today, but it couldn’t overcome the cinderella story of “Rocky”
PSYCHO (1960): Alfred Hitchcock took home one Best Picture trophy in his career, it just wasn’t “Psycho.” Hitchcock’s thriller would be topped by Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy “The Apartment”
RAGING BULL (1980): In one of its more controversial picks, the Academy decided to go with Robert Redford’s family drama “Ordinary People” than Martin Scorsese’s boxing classic “Raging Bull”
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981): Steven Spielberg earned his first nomination for Best Director for “Raiders” but would have to wait to take the Best Picture prize as “Chariots of Fire” beat out the adventure tale
REAR WINDOW (1954): Hitchcock’s contained thriller would earn four Oscar nominations, but was excluded from the Best Picture race. Hard to think anything was going to beat fellow classic “On the Waterfront” that year, though
SHANE (1953): Alan Ladd’s iconic hero rode off into the sunset at the end of the film, but in real life its storybook ending didn’t come true in the form of a Best Picture win
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952): The Academy has proven the last two years they like to honor films depicting Hollywood, but that wasn’t the case in 1952, when “Singin’ in the Rain” couldn’t even muster a Best Picture nomination. “The Greatest Show on Earth” won that year
TAXI DRIVER (1976): “Taxi Driver” joined other accomplished contenders “Network” and “All the President’s Men” in the also-ran category in ’76. Martin Scorsese’s first Best Picture nominee would get knocked out by “Rocky”
THE SEARCHERS (1956): John Ford and John Wayne’s most famous collaboration didn’t enjoy the same love it does today when it was first released. “The Searchers” failed to earn a single Oscar nomination
VERTIGO (1958): “Vertigo” has become Alfred Hitchcock’s most renowned work, but the Academy certainly didn’t think so at the time. Mustering only two Oscar nominations, “Vertigo” could only watch as “Gigi” wound up with Best Picture and eight more statuettes
STAR WARS (1977): “Star Wars” became an instant sensation when it hit screens in 1977, but it would have to settle for six Oscar wins and a loss to “Annie Hall” in Best Picture category