The Banshees of Inisherin was one of just three films to receive nine or more Oscar nominations this year, along with Everything Everywhere All at Once and All Quiet on the Western Front. But while EEAAO and All Quiet each piled up multiple Oscar wins on Sunday (March 12), Banshees was shut out.
The film, which was written, directed and co-produced by Martin McDonagh, is one of only nine films in Oscar history to receive nine or more nominations and wind up with no wins at all. Six films did even worse than Banshees — four went 0-10, while two went 0-11.
Martin Scorsese directed two of the films on this list. Scorsese is universally regarded as one of the greatest directors in film history, so experiencing a shutout (or even two) does not consign someone to a hall of shame.
It’s important to keep in mind that all of these films did very well with Oscar voters. Amassing nine or more nominations is a tremendous achievement. The Oscars have just 23 categories, about one-quarter as many as the Grammys (which has 91).
So Banshees did well. It’s just that other films this year did better. Banshees lost in six categories to the unstoppable force that was EEAAO.
It’s probably not much fun for the cast and crew of a film to sit in a theater and watch their film get shut out. But there are worse fates, like not being nominated at all, or getting just a few token nods. Nothing should take away from the high the filmmakers felt when the nominations were announced – even an Oscar Night that fell short of their hopes.
Here are all the films that received nine or more nominations yet wound up with no hardware, along with the categories in which they scored their many nods.
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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022, 9 nods)
Best picture: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh
Best actor: Colin Farrell
Best supporting actor: Brendan Gleeson
Best supporting actor: Barry Keoghan
Best supporting actress: Kerry Condon
Best directing: Martin McDonagh
Best original screenplay: Martin McDonagh
Best film editing: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
Best original score: Carter Burwell
Notes: Everything Everywhere All at Once beat The Banshees of Inisherin in six categories, including best picture. McDonagh received three nominations for his work on the film.
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Peyton Place (1957, 9 nods)
Best picture: Jerry Wald, producer
Best actress: Lana Turner
Best supporting actor: Arthur Kennedy
Best supporting actor: Russ Tamblyn
Best supporting actress: Hope Lange
Best supporting actress: Diane Varsi
Best directing: Mark Robson
Best adapted screenplay: John Michael Hayes
Best cinematography: William Mellor
Notes: The Bridge on the River Kwai beat Peyton Place in four categories, including best picture. Sayonara prevailed in both supporting acting categories.
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The Little Foxes (1941, 9 nods)
Best picture: Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Best actress: Bette Davis
Best supporting actress: Patricia Collinge
Best supporting actress: Teresa Wright
Directing: William Wyler
Writing (screenplay): Lillian Hellman
Best art direction (black and white): art direction: Stephen Goosson; interior decoration: Howard Bristol
Film editing: Daniel Mandell
Music score of a dramatic picture: Meredith Willson
Notes: How Green Was My Valley beat The Little Foxes in three categories, including best picture. Willson went on to create the beloved Broadway musical The Music Man.
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The Irishman (2019, 10 nods)
Best picture: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, producers
Best supporting actor: Al Pacino
Best supporting actor: Joe Pesci
Best directing: Martin Scorsese
Best adapted screenplay: Steven Zaillian
Best cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto
Best costume design: Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson
Best film editing: Thelma Schoonmaker
Best production design: production design: Bob Shaw; set decoration: Regina Graves
Best visual effects: Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli
Notes: Parasite beat The Irishman in two categories – best picture and best directing. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and 1917 also each beat The Irishman in two categories. Scorsese received two nominations for his work on this film.
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American Hustle (2013, 10 nods)
Best picture: Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, producers
Best actor: Christian Bale
Best supporting actor: Bradley Cooper
Best supporting actress: Amy Adams
Best supporting actress: Jennifer Lawrence
Best directing: David O. Russell
Best original screenplay: Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
Best costume design: Michael Wilkinson
Best film editing: Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten
Best production design: production design: Judy Becker; set decoration: Heather Loeffler
Notes: 12 Years a Slave beat American Hustle in two categories – best picture and best supporting actress. Dallas Buyer’s Club, Gravity and The Great Gatsby also each beat American Hustle in two categories. Russell received two nominations for his work on this film.
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True Grit (2010, 10 nods)
Best picture: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, producers
Best actor: Jeff Bridges
Best supporting actress: Hailee Steinfeld
Best directing: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Best adapted screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Best cinematography: Rogers Deakins
Best art direction: production design: Jess Gonchor; set decoration: Nancy Haigh
Best costume design: Mary Zophres
Best sound editing: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Best sound mixing: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Notes: The King’s Speech beat True Grit in three categories, including best picture. Inception also beat it in three categories. Alice in Wonderland beat it in two. The Coen Brothers received three nominations for their work on True Grit. Lievsay and Berkey each received two. The original True Grit in 1969 didn’t receive nearly as many nominations – just two – but it managed to parlay one of those into a win (John Wayne’s first and only Oscar, for best actor).
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Gangs of New York (2002, 10 nods)
Best picture: Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, producers
Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Best directing: Martin Scorsese
Best original screenplay: screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan; story by Jay Cocks
Best cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Best art direction: art direction: Dante Ferretti; set decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Best costume design: Sandy Powell
Best film editing: Thelma Schoonmaker
Best original song: “The Hands That Built America,” music and lyric by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
Best sound: Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, Ivan Sharrock
Notes: Chicago beat Gangs of New York in five categories, including best picture. The Pianist beat it in two key categories – best actor and best directing.
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The Color Purple (1985, 11 nods)
Best picture: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, producers
Best actress: Whoopi Goldberg
Best supporting actress: Margaret Avery
Best supporting actress: Oprah Winfrey
Best adapted screenplay: Menno Mevies
Best cinematography: Allen Daviau
Best art direction: art direction: J. Michael Riva, Robert W. Welch; set decoration: Linda DeScenna
Best costume design: Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Best makeup: Ken Chase
Best original score: Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andrae Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey, Randy Kerber
Best original song: “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” Music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton; Lyric by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie
Notes: Out of Africa beat The Color Purple in five categories, including best picture. Jones received three Oscar nominations for his work on The Color Purple. Temperton and Richie each received two. The first sign of trouble for The Color Purple came when Steven Spielberg was passed over for a nod for directing the film. But if he had been nominated in that category, the film would presumably have wound up 0-12 and would occupy the cellar position on this list all by itself. At least this way, it has a little company.
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The Turning Point (1977, 11 nods)
Best picture: Herbert Ross and Arthur Laurents, producers
Best actress: Anne Bancroft
Best actress: Shirley MacLaine
Best supporting actor: Mikhail Baryshnikov
Best supporting actress: Leslie Browne
Best directing: Herbert Ross
Best original screenplay: Arthur Laurents
Best cinematography: Robert Surtees
Best film editing: William Reynolds
Best art direction: Albert Brenner, art direction; Marvin March, set decoration
Best sound: Theodore Soderberg, Paul Wells, Douglas O. Williams, Jerry Jost
Notes: Annie Hall beat The Turning Point in four categories, including best picture. Star Wars beat it in three categories; Julia in the two supporting acting categories. Ross and Laurents each received two nominations for their work on The Turning Point.
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