John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love surprisingly won Best Picture of 1998 over Best Director Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Also nominated were Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line, Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful and Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth. Not nominated were Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters, Walter Salles’ Central Station, and Kirk Jones’ Waking Ned Devine.

Best Director Sam Mendes’ American Beauty took the 1999 Best Picture Oscar over M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, Michael Mann’s The Insider, Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile, and Lasse Hallstrom’s The Cider House Rules . Among the remarkable films that were ignored were Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, Neil Jordan’s The End of the Affair, and Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich.

Oscar’s 2000 Best Picture winner was Ridley Scott’s Gladiator which won over Best Director Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic as well as Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Lasse Hallstrom’s Chocolat. Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot, Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys, and Edward Yang’s Yi Yi were among those that were left out in the cold.

For 2001, Oscar gave its Best picture and Director awards to Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind over Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, Todd Field’s In the Bedroom, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!. Among the missing were David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Christopher Nolan’s Memento, and Steven Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.

Oscar’s 2002 Best Picture went to Rob Marshall’s Chicago over Best Director Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Egregiously ignored were Todd Haynes’ Far from Heaven, Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt, and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can.

For 2003, Oscar chose Best Director Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for Best Picture over Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River, Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Gary Ross’ Seabiscuit. Among the nonnominated were Jim Sheridan’s In America, Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent, and Fernando Meirelles’ City of God.

Oscar’s 2004 Best Picture and Best Director prizes went to Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby over Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Marc Foster’s Finding Neverland, Taylor Hackford’s Ray, and Alexander Payne’s Sideways. Bill Condon’s Kinsey, Terry George’s Hotel Rwanda, and Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake are among the films that went unnominated.

Oscar’s 2005 Best Picture went to Paul Haggis’ Crash over Best Director Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, Bennett Miller’s Capote, George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck, and Steven Spielberg’s Munich. Among those that failed to be nominated were David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardener , and Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale.

Oscar’s 2006 Best Picture and Best Director awards went to Martin Scorsese’s The Departed over Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Little Miss Sunshine, Stephen Frears’ The Queen, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Babel. Not Nominated were Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, Guillermo del Toro’ Pan’s Labyrinth, and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others.

Oscar closed out the decade with its 2007 awards going to Best Directors Joel and Ethan Coen for their Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men over Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, Joe Wright’s Atonement, Jason Reitman’s Juno, and Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton. David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, and Sarah Polley’s Away from Her failed to make the cut.

FILMS THE ACADEMY SHOULD HAVE NOMINATED BUT DIDN’T

GODS AND MONSTERS, directed by Bill Condon (1998)

Condon’s film of 1930s director James Whale at the height of his career in Hollywood and in his waning days in the 1950s is a masterpiece of storytelling, one of only three films to win an Oscar for Adapted Screenplay without being nominated for Best Picture. The others were The Bad and the Beautiful and Sling Blade. Ian McKellen was nominated for Best Actor his brilliant portrayal of Whale, as was Lynn Redgrave for Best Supporting Actress as his housekeeper. Brendan Fraser received awards recognition from various critics but not from the Academy for his portrayal of Whale’s gardener and sometimes model.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, directed by Antony Minghella (1999)

The second screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel was written by director Minghella directly from the source, not as a remake of René Clément’s 1960 film, Purple Noon in which Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet had the roles played here by Matt Damon and Jude Law as the con man and the wealthy man whose identity he steals after murdering him. The film was nominated for five Oscars for Minghella for his screenplay, Law for Best Supporting Actor, Art Direction, Costume Design, and Score. The strong supporting cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, Jack Davenport, and Philip Baker Hall.

FAR FROM HEAVEN, directed by Todd Haynes (2002)

Awards season started off strongly for Haynes’ tribute to Douglas Sirk’s 1956 film, All That Heaven Allows, winning New York Film Critics awards for Best Film, Director, Cinematography, Supporting Actor (Dennis Quaid in the Rock Hudson role), and Supporting Actress (Patricia Clarkson in the Agnes Moorehead role). It was Oscar nominated it for Best Actress (Julianne Moore in the Jane Wyman role), Screenplay (Haynes), Cinematography, and Score. Moore lost the New York Film Critics award to Diane Lane in Unfaithful and the Oscar to Nicole Kidman in The Hours.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, directed by David Cronenberg (2005)

Cronenberg, who is not a fan of films made from comics, was unaware that the film was taken from a graphic novel until he signed on to direct. Voted the top film of 2005 by a Village Voice poll, the film received widespread critical acclaim for the performances of Viggo Mortensen as the small-town diner owner who may or may not be a former big city hitman, Maria Bello as his wife, Ashton Holmes as their teenage son, and Ed Harris as the principal villain were all highly acclaimed, but it was William Hurt in a ten-minute role as another mobster who received the film’s only Oscar nod for acting. John Olson was also nominated for his adapted screenplay.

CHILDREN OF MEN, directed by Alfonso Cuaron (2006)

Cuaron received two of his ten Oscar nominations for his writing and editing of this film version of P.D. James’ dystopian novel set in 2021. Although better known for Gravity and Roma for which he won his four Oscars to date, this is the multi-talented Cuaron’s finest film bar none. Although not a mystery in the traditional way that James’ other novels are, there are plenty puzzles to be investigated and resolved here, including the ending that depends on your close listening as well as looking to figure it all out. The film features great performances from Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, and others.