The 2024 Oscars Continued A Sad Streak That Started In 2013

Martin Scorsese just can't seem to catch a break at the Oscars. Despite being respected by both audiences and his fellow creatives, Scorsese's films continue to be overlooked at the Academy Awards. This year, Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" (which happens to be one of the longest films in modern times) was nominated for a whopping 10 Oscars. Its nods include Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Lily Gladstone, among others.

It won none. 

Scorsese's latest epic taking home zero awards at the Oscars, sadly, isn't surprising; this has been an ongoing trend since 2013. Over the last decade, the legendary director has released four films: "The Wolf of Wall Street," "Silence," "The Irishman," and "Killers of the Flower Moon." Each film has been critically acclaimed, with each one being dubbed the director's best-to-date. Scorsese notably received Best Director nominations for all the films except "Silence." 

When you add all of their Academy Award nominations together, Scorsese's last four films since 2013 have a whopping 26 to their name. The majority of them come from crime films "The Irishman" and "Killers of the Flower Moon," both of which star frequent collaborator Robert De Niro. "Silence" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" only received one and five nominations, respectively. For cinephiles, it's absolutely tragic that no Scorsese film has taken home an Oscar since 2011's "Hugo." 

Those who have been following Martin Scorsese's career for the last few decades should know that this isn't new behavior by the Academy. Scorsese stands out as one of the most Oscar-nominated directors in history, receiving Best Director nods for multiple classic films including "Raging Bull" and "The Last Temptation of Christ." With 16 nods, the Oscars have consistently recognized and celebrated him for directing, producing, and writing, but they've rarely taken the opportunity to award him.

The creative won his first-ever Oscar for directing the 2006 crime thriller "The Departed" — Scorsese's last film with Warner Bros. But since 2006, Scorsese himself hasn't won a single award. While speaking with The New Yorker, Scorsese candidly discussed "The Departed," labeling it as his goodbye to big-budget filmmaking. Feeling rather ambivalent about the Boston-set crime-thriller, Scorsese was surprised when he ended up gracing the stage to accept his Best Director Oscar. "Winning the award was — don't forget, it was thirty-seven years before an Oscar for Best Director, let alone Best Picture, which was a total surprise to me," he said. "But it's a different Academy from when I was starting. But, for me, that award was, it was inadvertent." 

On the r/Oscars subreddit, fans and award junkies have theorized why Scorsese keeps losing despite receiving so many nominations, with one observation getting straight to the point. "He is one of the GOATs but I would argue that while he keeps releasing consistently great movies, they're rarely the best films of the year they come out," wrote u/TheJesseClark, hitting the nail on the head.