The best movies of 2019 that should win Oscars, but won't

The most shocking snub of this year's Oscar race has to be Jennifer Lopez going from Best Supporting Actress front-runner to completely out of the running. There was a time when the rapturously reviewed "Hustlers" was considered a legit contender for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and maybe Best Costumes. Those hopes dimmed over the last month, but J-Lo was always considered a lock for a nomination. A whole bunch of Academy voters got some 'splainin to do.

Josh and Benny Safdie's hyperadrenalized, diamond-district drama got a late campaigning start this awards season, and it might've been too much for older voters to handle. Adam Sandler was very much in the running for a Best Actor nomination, but some Academy members ignorantly held the Sandman's lowbrow comedy career against him. Years from now, "Uncut Gems" will be hailed as a masterpiece while many of these contenders will be long forgotten.

When asked why the Academy overlooked Eddie Murphy's ebullient performance as comedian Rudy Ray Moore, one Academy member complained that he campaigned too aggressively. Given that a) the hardest campaigners are traditionally rewarded with nominations (see: Weinstein, Harvey), and b) Eddie was no more persistent than, say, Brad Pitt, it feels like there's something else going on here. Murphy's brilliant co-stars, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Wesley Snipes, were also snubbed along with the screenwriting duo of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.

Gaspar Noé’s LSD-fueled freakout was one of 2019’s wildest rides, but as is always the case with the Argentinian filmmaker, viewers were sharply divided as to whether it was a work of untamed genius or nihilistic posturing. It’s actually both. The story, such as it is, unfolds at a dance troupe’s after-party where it becomes increasingly, horrifyingly clear that someone has spiked the sangria with acid. Ever the showoff, Noé traffics in long, disorienting takes; if you’re able to get on its goofy wavelength, “Climax” is a masterfully crafted nightmare that leaves you rattled and oddly exhilarated.

David Robert Mitchell’s ineffable Los Angeles noir is ostensibly about a smitten young man’s (Andrew Garfield) quest to track down the girl of his dreams (Riley Keough) after she disappears from his apartment complex without a trace, but it spins off into feverishly intense examination of conspiracy theories, doomsday cults and other inscrutable mysteries. Mitchell’s follow-up to his critically lauded “It Follows” was simply too daring and flat-out weird to find favor with the middlebrow organization that gave “Green Book” Best Picture a year ago. Their loss.

Steven Soderbergh’s iPhone-shot critique of professional sports somehow succeeds in transforming the nitty-gritty negotiating of an NBA lockout into an immensely entertaining, boardroom-set caper flick. André Holland is superb as an agent forced to get creative when a prolonged work stoppage threatens his livelihood. The screenplay by Tarell Alvin McCraney (“Moonlight”) is radical in its thinking, and, if its central concept ever caught on, dangerous to the bottom lines of the owners and executives who capitalize on the elite talent of their players. 

Edward Norton’s adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s classic neo-noir novel takes some potentially dicey liberties with its source material but works emphatically on its own digressive terms. You know you’re watching a passion project from frame one, and it’s often self-indulgent, but Norton’s zeal for Lethem’s story is ultimately intoxicating. He’s poured all of his creative energies into this movie as if it’s the last one he’ll ever make, and the result is something unusually tender and considered.

Ari Aster’s follow-up to “Hereditary” combines elements of “The Wicker Man” and the real-life Guyana massacre to disturbing and strangely satiric effect. Within the span of two years, he’s established himself as one of our most audaciously gifted filmmakers, but if he wants to win Oscars, he’ll have to break free of the horror genre — which only gets its due when something transformative like “Get Out” comes along. Florence Pugh should've received Oscar buzz for her multilayered lead performance, but it was much easier for the Academy to nominate her for the decidedly less unnerving "Little Women."

Like most of Bertrand Bonello’s films, “Zombi Child” is unlikely to get much in the way of a U.S. theatrical release, which means its only shot at an Oscar would have been a Best Foreign Film nomination. Given that each country can nominate only one film for consideration, this beguiling genre hybrid, which delves into the Haitian origins of modern-day zombie movies (while also functioning quite well as a coming-of-age tale), is yet another ignored triumph from a world-class filmmaker.

Mati Diop’s visually stunning supernatural drama does not belong on this list, but unless it would have earned a surprise cinematography or screenplay nomination, it’s hard to see how her critically acclaimed feature debut could have broken through with Academy members. On the plus side, it’s currently available on Netflix, which, in a just world, would give it a higher profile. But the streaming giant was flooded with buzzy movies at the end of this year, and “Atlantics” sadly got lost in the shuffle.

Though he’s considered one of our greatest living filmmakers, the newly prolific Terrence Malick hasn’t had a movie in Oscar contention since 2011’s “The Tree of Life." There was an outside chance his cinematographer, Jörg Widmer, would make the Academy’s shortlist for his gorgeous pastoral imagery, but his brilliant work failed to make the cut in an ultra-competitive field.

Scott Z. Burns’ dramatization of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” aka “torture,” in the wake of 9/11 is a righteously furious condemnation of American moral failure. Adam Driver is sensational as Senate investigator Daniel Jones, and he probably would've been a front-runner for Best Actor had he not turned in another tour de force performance in “Marriage Story." Annette Bening had a slim chance of snagging a surprise Best Supporting Actress nomination, but it didn't happen.

James Gray’s intergalactic riff on Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” features Brad Pitt giving one of the year’s best performances; unfortunately for Gray and 20^th Century Fox, he was splashier and sexier in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” (for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor). Also not helping matters: The Best Actor category was as competitive as it's ever been, and “Ad Astra” was a little too emotionally remote for most viewers.

This wittily vicious exploitation flick about a newlywed (Samara Weaving) thrust into a bizarre wedding-night ritual that involves her new in-laws hunting her for sport was awfully on-the-nose with its social commentary, but co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka "Radio Silence") were genuine in their fury. They also assembled a talented ensemble cast headed up by the winningly badass Weaving, who would've absolutely been in consideration for Best Actress if the Academy treated horror with the respect it deserves.

Whereas 2017’s “Happy Death Day” was content to work as a clever slasher-film riff on “Groundhoug Day," writer-director Christopher Landon took the sequel into sci-fi territory and topped the original in every way. The multi-dimensional premise is treated with just enough smarts that you don’t mind when it cheats, but it’s all gleefully elaborate window-dressing for Jessica Rothe’s hugely appealing star turn as eternal victim Tree Gelbman. It’s a first-rate comedic performance that should kick her career into overdrive and pay off in an Oscar nomination somewhere down the road.

The rom-com was officially declared “back” in 2018, and, as was true in its heyday, the genre is suddenly awash in middling films with semi-charming casts going through the clichéd paces. Jonathan Levine’s “Long Shot” was one of this year’s standouts. The unlikely pairing of Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen produces genuine chemistry, while the story is infused with a touch of political idealism that recalls Aaron Sorkin at his non-grandstanding best. Theron was far more deserving of a Best Actress nod for her buoyant comedic performance here than for her showier performance as Megyn Kelly in "Bombshell."

This Elton John jukebox musical snagged a nomination for Best Original Song, but since the Academy was eager to honor Rami Malek for one of the most emotionally fraudulent stunt performances since Val Kilmer’s Jim Morrison, it was duty-bound to give Taron Egerton a nomination for locating the sad, wounded child in a superstar who’s spent his entire career obscuring the truth of his own identity. Egerton drilled deep and emerged with a shockingly revelatory portrayal.

Though Christian Petzold’s film was passed over as Germany’s selection for last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (the organization’s archaic rules allow only one contender per country), the Academy could've seen fit to give this fine film about a German refugee who assumes the identity of a deceased writer a well-deserved Screenplay nomination for its Kafka-esque spin on “Casablanca." Alas, great foreign films slip through the distribution cracks every year, and “Transit” was one of them.

Alex Ross Perry’s punk rock drama boasts a scintillating performance from Elizabeth Moss as a self-destructive riot-grrrl icon. You’ve seen some variation on this tale before, but Perry, Moss and the rest of the top-notch cast (Dan Stevens, Cara Delevingne, Ashley Benson, Virginia Madsen) give it a serrated edge. Moss was hailed as a Best Actress contender earlier this year, but she was relegated to dark horse status by November.

There was a vocal contingent of critics doing their damnedest to elevate Trey Edward Shults’ formally audacious family drama into the Oscar race, and a sufficient number of voters couldn't be convinced to give their screener a spin, and thus missed out on the filmmaker’s dazzling technique and genuine empathy for characters in a tailspin. It’s the kind of sleeper that, with its appealing cast (Sterling K. Brown, Lucas Hedges, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Taylor Russell and Alexa Demie) and a vigorous push from its distributor, could've snuck into the Picture category.

Joanna Hogg’s acutely observed study of a toxic relationship boasted some of the most quietly devastating scenes of the year and a breakout performance by Honor Swinton Byrne that unfortunately never had a shot at cracking the Best Actress category. Though set in an upper-class milieu, the dynamic between an aspiring young filmmaker and her arrogant, controlling boyfriend will probably be familiar for far too many women. Watching Byrne grow into her talent and independence is glorious to behold. Her day is coming.

It’s worth asking why the unremitting brutality of “The Revenant” was Oscar catnip, but an equally brutal tale of survival and revenge like Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale” was somehow a non-starter for voters? Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr gave two of the year's most unforgettable performances, while Kent proved “The Babadook” only scratched the surface of her considerable talent.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are not always the most accurate predictor of what makes the cut at the Oscars, but it was disheartening to see that the performers’ union snubbed the great Alfre Woodard for her shattering performance as a prison warden about to oversee a controversial execution in Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency." Chukwu composes largely in long takes, allowing Woodard ample space to register a stunning range of emotions. It’s masterful work from one of our most talented performers, and the Oscars blew their chance to right SAG's wrong.

A group of condemned prisoners (including Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche and André Benjamin) are recruited for a mission to a black hole that may contain energy that will prolong life on an endangered Earth. It’s actually a suicide mission — one that spirals way out of control in the kind of shockingly perverse manner we’ve come to expect from the great Claire Denis. “High Life” is the antithesis of an awards movie and was predictably overlooked, but the ones that get under your skin and stay there generally are.

Filmmaker Joe Talbot was the toast of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival for his melancholy portrait of a city and world that is rapidly changing and not for the better. It’s a beautiful, painfully vulnerable work and one that should speak to anyone who’s ever felt wistful about their hometown and, specifically, the house where they grew up. And yet there was never an indication that the film could muster up enough Academy support to make any of the major categories. It’s a shame.

Released in Japan in 2017, “One Cut of the Dead” finally got a U.S. commercial run in 2019, and while it received not a single Academy Award nomination, it will stick far more indelibly in your memory than, say, “Bombshell” or “Richard Jewell." Every time it appears that the zombie film is dead, some rambunctiously talented flmmakers resurrect it. It happened in the early 1980s with Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead," again in 2004 thanks to Edgar Wright’s “Shaun of the Dead” and once more unto the bloody breach with Shin’ichiô Ueda’s indescribably joyful “One Cut of the Dead."