Oscar Snubs: From City Lights to Maestro

MacDonald’s previous book covers all of the Academy Award-

winning Best Pictures from 1927 to 2022. In his new book, Oscar

Snubs, the author takes a critical look at films that deserved

Oscars, but were denied them in the annual contests. It is his

belief that many outstanding films have been snubbed by

members of the Motion Picture Academy over the more than

95 years of the Academy’s existence. In fact, many of these

films, such as Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights and Bradley Cooper’s

Maestro, have proven to be far worthier of Oscars than the films

they competed against. In this volume, 52 films are presented,

along with critical evaluations of their artistic merits and

personal suggestions by the author about awards that these

films deserved. Although the worth of any film may be based

on the viewer’s individual opinion, MacDonald contends that

these 52 films are prime examples of filmmaking at its best.