Seeing as how the Oscar nominations are due to be announced on Tuesday, I thought I would devote this edition to Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation trailers to films that were snubbed by the Academy. Remember them while you’re watching Rooney Mara accept best actress.
1) A Life of Ninja (1983)
Despite the colorful trailer, this film was not nominated for best Costume Design, Art Design, or Cinematography. Instead, all three of those awards went to Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander.
2) The Shark Hunter (1979)
Franco Nero was not nominated for best actor for his performance here. Instead Dustin Hoffman won for Kramer vs. Kramer.
3) The Terrornauts (1967)
The true terror is that the 1967 Oscar for Special Visual Effects went to Doctor Dolittle and not The Terrornauts.
4) Americathon (1979)
The Academy has never really appreciated hard-hitting political satire which perhaps explains why the previously mentioned Kramer Vs. Kramer won best picture while Americathon was not even nominated.
5) Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972)
The Oscar for Best Foreign language film of 1972 was given to Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and not to Lucio Fulci’s classic giallo Don’t Torture A Duckling.
6) The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
And yet somehow, Annie Hall was named best picture.
Through the Shattered Lens 
All deserving of awards they were snubbed from ever getting. Though I will say Luis Bunuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” is a worthy win.
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My God, the injustice.
Clearly, “A Life of Ninja” was robbed. At the very least, it should have snagged Best Screenplay and Most Authentic Dubbing.
As for “The Shark Hunter”, not many people know that Franco Nero was also originally cast for the role of the husband in “Kramer vs. Kramer”, but he was not able to pull his punches while shooting the fight scenes with Meryl Streep. It’s true. Ironically, Woody Allen (two years after he robbed Wes Craven with “Annie Hall”, which I didn’t think was that scary – the wheels of injustice roll down a complex path) had the same problem with Streep while filming “Manhattan” the very same year (at one point, filming had to be halted while Woody recovered from a bruised thorax), but Streep was not replaced. Travesties, all.
And as for that marauding intergalactic campfire in “The Terrornauts”, if those fools who comprise the Academy don’t recognize special effects wizardry when they see it, screw ‘em. (Dr, Doolittle? Really?)
Sigh…the injustice of it all…At least you are here to shine a spotlight on it.
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