The Worst Oscar Snubs, According to Times Film Fans

I have never forgiven the Oscars for picking “Birdman” over “Boyhood.” What can I say — “Boyhood” was moving and meaningful, while “Birdman” was pretentious and obtuse, and none of my cinéaste colleagues are going to persuade me otherwise. MICHAEL PAULSON, theater reporter

I am still mad about the academy’s refusal to recognize, even just to nominate, Greta Gerwig for her creative work on one of the best movies of its decade. The film I’m of course referring to is “Frances Ha,” for which Gerwig was the lead actress and co-screenwriter (with Noah Baumbach, who directed) — a brilliant, joy-filled movie about art and youth that borrowed from mumblecore, Rohmer and Woody Allen while arguably surpassing them all, and which was nominated for a grand total of zero Oscars. MARC TRACY, reporter

When I first started to comprehend what Oscars recognize and celebrate, I was a tween who’d recently been enraptured by the greatest onscreen performance I’d ever seen: Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle turned Catwoman in Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns,” in which she nails the attitude of a woman who’s been belittled and underestimated one too many times. When I expressed dismay that she’d been snubbed, I was met with condescension from adults who informed me, with a pat on the head, that superhero movies don’t get acting Oscars. Of course today, that couldn’t be more untrue, and every year, when l watch “Batman Returns” (it’s a Christmas movie, don’t forget), I grow more convinced that Pfeiffer’s unhinged yet unflappable performance delivers a rare frisson and deserved a nomination. When she purrs, “Life’s a bitch, now so am I,” I still gasp. MAYA SALAM, editor and reporter

Ava DuVernay should have been recognized for directing both 2014’s “Selma” and last year’s “Origin.” She is one of the greatest storytellers of our time. Her leading stars — David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma,” and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson in “Origin” — also deserved nominations for their staggering work in both films. BARBARA CHAI, deputy culture editor

“Shakespeare in Love” beating “Saving Private Ryan” for best picture is the snub I can never let go of, partly because it just feels artistically wrong but mostly because it cost me a payday on my office Oscar pool that year. DAVID RENARD, senior editor

Eddie Murphy not winning for “Dreamgirls” in 2007. And I get him walking out, too. Why should he have to put on another performance for the academy that robbed him? (And then he pulled out of hosting the ceremony five years later … nothing against Billy Crystal, of course, but that was a massive disappointment.) ALEXANDRA JACOBS, book critic