Best Director Barry Levinson’s Best Picture, Rain Man prevailed over Lawrence Kasdan’s The Accidental Tourist, Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons, Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning and Mike Nichols’ Working Girl at the 1988 Oscars. Overlooked were Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, and Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty.

Non-nominated Bruce Beresford’s Driving Miss Daisy took the 1989 Best Picture Oscar, while the Best Director award went to Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July. Also in contention were Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, Phil Alden Robinson’s Field of Dreams, and Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot . Among those that were ignored were Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies, and videotape, Steve Cloves’ The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Edward Zwick’s Glory.

Oscar’s 1990 Best Picture winner was Best Director Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves which won over Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III, Penny Marshall’s Awakenings, and Jerry Zucker’s Ghost. Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso, Stephen Frears’ The Grifters, and Barbet Schroeder’s Reversal of Fortune were left out in the cold.

For 1991, Oscar gave its Best picture and Director awards to Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs over Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s Beauty and the Beast, Barry Levinson’s Bugsy, Oliver Stone’s JFK, and Barbra Streisand’s The Prince of Tides. Among the missing were Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, and Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King.

Oscar’s 1992 Best Picture was Best Director Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven over James Ivory’s Howards End, Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game, Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men, and Martin Brest’s Scent of a Woman. Egregiously ignored were Robert Altman’s The Player, James Foley’s Glengarry Glen Ross, and Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans.

For 1993, Oscar chose Best Director Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List for Best Picture over Jane Campion’s The Piano, James Ivory’s The Remains of the Day, Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father, and Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive. Among the nonnominated were Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia, Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet, and Lasse Hallstrom’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

Oscar’s 1994 Best Picture and Best Director prizes went to Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump over Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Robert Redford’s Quiz Show, Mike Newell’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption. Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, and Gillian Armstrong’s Little Women went unnominated.

Oscar’s 1995 Best Picture was Best Director Mel Gibson’s Braveheart over Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, Chris Noonan’s Babe, Michael Radford’s Il Postino, and Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility. Among those that failed to be nominated were Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking, Clint Eastwood’s The Bridges of Madison County , and Rob Reiner’s American President.

Oscar’s 1996 Best Picture and Best Director awards went to Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient over Ethan Coen’s Fargo, Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire, Mike Leigh’s Secrets & Lies, and Scott Hicks’ Shine. Not Nominated were David O. Russell’s Flirting with Disaster, John Sayles’ Lone Star, and Billy Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves.

Oscar closed out the decade with 1997 awards going to James Cameron for Best Director for his Best Picture winner, Titanic over Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential, James L Brooks’ As Good as It Gets, Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, and Peter Cattaneo’s The Full Monty. Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, and Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm failed to make the cut.

FILMS THE ACADEMY SHOULD HAVE NOMINATED BUT DIDN’T

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, directed by Philip Kaufman (1988)

Not only did this celebrated film about sex and the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia failed to nominated for Best Picture, but Philip Kaufman also failed to be nominated for Best Director. although he was nominated for co-writing the screenplay. Five years earlier, he had also failed to be nominated for Best Director for Best Picture nominee The Right Stuff. Also failing to pick up nominations were Daniel Day-Lewis in his first starring role as the sex-crazed doctor, Juliette Binoche as his wife, and Lena Olin as his mistress. Day-Lewis would make up the slight with three Oscar wins beginning the following year with My Left Foot

THE PLAYER, directed by Robert Altman (1992)

Robert Altman received his third Best Director nomination for this lacerating comic skewering of the Hollywood scene. Tim Robbins, who would also fail to pick up a nomination for The Shawshank Redemption two years hence, gave a career high performance as a writer whose script is rejected, making him a suspect in making anonymous threats against a studio head. The film has an all-star cast that includes Steve Allen, Harry Belafonte, Karen Black, Gary Busey, Charlie Chaplin, Cher, Peter Falk, Jack Lemmon, Malcom McDowell, Burt Reynolds, Lily Tomlin, Bruce Willis and more playing themselves.

DEAD MAN WALKING, directed by Tim Robbins (1995)

Tim Robbins finally received his first Oscar nomination, albeit for directing, not acting, in this adaptation of Sister Jean Prejean’s book about her sympathies for both the convicted man and the family of the man he killed. Robbins’ partner, Susan Sarandon, won an Oscar for Best Actress, the first time an actress won an Oscar for playing a nun since Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette. Also nominated were Sean Penn as the convict on his way to the gas chamber, and Bruce Springsteen for his haunting title song. Robbins would eventually win an Oscar for his acting in Mystic River for which Sean Penn also won.

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, directed by David O. Russell (1996)

Released in April, Flirting with Disaster was one of two great comedies that kept audiences laughing throughout the remainder of the year. The other one was Fargo which got its share of awards recognition. The best that this film could do was nominations from the Film Independent Spirit Wards for Best Supporting Female (Lily Tomlin) and Best Supporting Male (Richard Jenkins) along with two for David O. Russell for writing and directing the film about a young man in search of his birth parents. The hilarious film also starred Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Alan Alda, and John Brolin,

BOOGIE NIGHTS, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (1987)

Paul Thomas Anderson received the first of his 11 Oscar nominations for his screenplay of this comedy-drama about a porn producer (Oscar nominee Burt Reynolds) who attempts to elevate the genre after discovering newcomer Mark Wahlberg. Julianne Moore also received her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of an aging porn actress. Moore would eventually win an scar on her fifth nomination for Still Alice. Anderson would not win an Oscar until his eleventh nomination for Licorice Pizza, which like this film, was about fringe workers in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.