Most Oscar nominations without a win

Image of La couleur pourpre These all movies were nominated for many Oscars but not a single one of them won any, though many of these titles were very good indeed and popular too but they were not just able to get and Oscar.

La couleur pourpre (1985)

A black Southern woman (Whoopi Goldberg) struggles to find her identity after suffering years of abuse from her father and others over 40 years. (154 mins.)

“ "The Color Purple, " released in 1985, was Steven Spielberg's eighth film as director. It received nominations for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Whoopi Goldberg), and Best Cinematography. Along with 1977's "The Turning Point, " it received the most Oscar nominations without a single win. ” - mrjydii

Le tournant de la vie (1977)

When her daughter joins a ballet company, a former dancer is forced to confront her long-ago decision to give up the stage to have a family. (119 mins.)

“ When it comes to Oscar shutouts, two films are tied for the record: 11 nominations without a single win. The first of these is Turning Point, which received its litany of inglorious snubbings at the 50th Academy Awards.
There are plenty of movies from the 1970s that are still popular today and have cemented their place in pop culture history. However, this 1977 ballet drama is not one of them and few would consider it a classic. However, what really took it down was the competition. The 1978 Oscars belonged to Annie Hall (4 wins) and Star Wars (6 wins), two films that remain beloved by most film fans to this day, leaving little left for other popular films like Julia (3 wins) and The Goodbye Girl and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1 win each). With competition like that, a two hour ballet drama didn’t stand a chance even if it did star Shirley MacLaine, Anne Bancroft, and ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov. ” - mrjydii

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Gangs of New York (2002)

In 1863, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer. (167 mins.)

“ Despite the fact that Martin Scorsese had been planning to make Gangs of New York since 1978, when it was finally released in 2002 it wasn’t exactly the movie he wanted to make. His choice for the female lead, Sarah Polley, was reportedly rejected by Miramax for not being a big enough star (Cameron Diaz was cast instead). There were numerous on-set fights over budget issues, resulting in both Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio giving up much of their salary. Finally, because Scorsese’s original cut ran over three and a half hours the release was delayed from December 2001 to December 2002 because producers wanted it shortened (the final release runs just over two hours).
While even a truncated Scorsese movie might be awards-worthy in the eyes of Hollywood, Gangs of New York was shutout at the 2003 Oscars despite ten nominations. Another Miramax production, Chicago, beat Gangs of New York in six of those categories, including Best Picture. On top of that, Scorsese lost Best Director to The Pianist director Roman Polanski, a controversial pick to say the least because Polanski has been a fugitive from the U.S. ever since his 1978 conviction for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13 year-old girl.
Though Gangs of New York isn’t considered one of Scorsese’s best films, Chicago isn’t really regarded as a classic either. Nonetheless, one wonders if Scorsese would have needed to wait until 2007 to finally win a Best Director Oscar had Gangs of New York been made to his original plans ” - mrjydii

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True Grit (2010)

A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn teenager track down her father's murderer. (110 mins.)

“ True Grit is a remake of a John Wayne classic that reunited writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen with The Big Lebowski star Jeff Bridges. It became one of the highest-grossing Westerns of all-time, and after scoring ten Oscar nominations it seemed like the Coens would add a few more Oscars to their collection.
However, two factors led to True Grit being shutout. First, the 2011 Oscars is regarded as one of the stiffest competitions ever, with True Grit against The King’s Speech, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, and The Social Network in a number of categories, and two of the technical awards that True Grit was nominated for (Art Direction and Costume Design) went to Alice in Wonderland.
The second issue was the timing. Jeff Bridges had just won a Best Actor Oscar the year before for Crazy Heart, and Academy voters usually don’t like to award actors back-to-back Oscars. Similarly, only three years earlier another Coen Brothers movie, No Country for Old Men, won four Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director(s), and Best Picture. With that recent success and such tough competition True Grit was overlooked.
By the way, cinematographer Roger Deakins was nominated for both No Country for Old Men and True Grit, but they just added to his losing streak. ” - mrjydii

American Bluff (2013)

A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia. (138 mins.)

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