Tipped as one of the top candidates for best director, Affleck, who received a Golden Globe nomination in the category, was left off the list despite a strong campaign and a previous nomination for The Town. His film, Argo, still received a best picture nomination.
Irony alert: playing the role of Alma Reville, the historically overlooked wife and filmmaking partner of Alfred Hitchcock, Mirren was left off the best actress list despite strong reviews and Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.
This physically demanding role saw former nominee Hawkes spend endless hours flat in a bed, at once approximating disability and actually crippling his body to play a polio-afflicted writer named Mark O'Brien. The unassuming actor earned a Globe nom, but fell short of the Oscar.
The 2009 winner for The Hurt Locker, Bigelow has been racking up nominations and awards for her new middle east war film, Zero Dark Thirty. She accepted the New York Film Critics Circle award Monday night and is up for a Globe on Sunday. Her film is nominated for best picture at next month's Oscars, as well as best original screenplay (Mark Boal) and actress (Jessica Chastain).
Just as in their film, Django Unchained, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz squared off in the best supporting actor category. Waltz won this duel, leaving DiCaprio short of his fourth Oscar nom.
A beloved scifi film about time travel and subtle makeup, Rian Johnson's Looper — which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt — missed out despite a Globe nod.
There was only room for one French-speaking actress this year, and that went to Emanuelle Riva of Amour. Cotillard, a former winner, played a whale trainer who loses her legs in a bad orca accident, and lost out on her second stab at Oscar.
He's garnered several critics awards for his body (no pun intended) of work this year, including Bernie and Magic Mike. But the Academy only looks at one role at a time, meaning his cocky stripper stuff in Steven Soderbergh's hit fell short of rising to the top.
It became Wes Anderson's highest earning film to date, and earned a best picture (comedy or musical) Golden Globe nomination. It also nabbed a best original screenplay Oscar bid.
One of the most mysterious, buzzed about films of the year, The Master was (or, wasn't?) loosely based on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. The film garnered acting nominations for Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, but despite the intense interest, Anderson's wide-ranging, impressionistic script did not make the cut.
Chbosky wrote and directed the adaptation of his cult hit book about the dueling miseries and wonders of high school, and earned Globe and Writers' Guild nominations.
A smash hit financially, Django Unchained was packed with controversy, violence and film homage, three staples of Tarantino's work. And though it earned best picture, best original screenplay and supporting actor nominations, the esteemed filmmaker was left off the director's cut.
Tipped to be the first James Bond film to get a best picture nomination, Skyfall has made over $1 billion at the box office and earned Globe, BAFTA and DGA nominations along the way. Not too shabby.
A French film promoted by Harvey Weinstein, this tale of an unlikely friendship fell short of the cut, a major surprise given its reviews and backer.
The reviews for Les Mis were mixed, but Hooper's film has been a box office smash and he earned a DGA nomination on Tuesday, as well as a Globe nom. Those three factors make it a shock that he didn't get a nod.
Somehow making a mini-Bernie Madoff likable is a major feat, and this role was considered Gere's best shot at an Oscar in years. It was a little-seen film (not that that's a kiss of death — see: Amour), and went right to VOD. Gere's best actor chance went with it.