Why Quentin Tarantino Will Never Win an Oscar

The Academy Awards are what filmmakers strive for. It's the equivalent to winning the Super Bowl or the World Series. But like other major awards the Oscars are not with out corruption and hypocrisy. Last years snub of The Dark Knight brought the historically controversial award back into the forefront. The evidence is easily attainable. Look back to 2005 when Brokeback Mountain, which did everything a film needs to do to win Best Picture, lost out to the cram it down your throat Crash. But no director has been disrespected like Quentin Tarantino. The closest example before him was Martin Scorsese but the Academy finally buckled and gave him the long over due Best Director and Best Picture Oscar he should have won in 1980 for Raging Bull.


Tarantino blasted onto the awards scene in 1994 with his ultra cool, genre bending mega hit Pulp Fiction. It was a smash hit nabbing nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director not to mention three of the four major acting categories. Come Oscar night Tarantino walked away with one award to show for his masterpiece, Best Original Screenplay. His next film Jackie Brown which many regard as his strongest film with his strongest characters garnered only one Oscar nomination: Best Supporting Actor for Robert Forster. Both Kill Bill movies were shut out and Tarantino seemed to have out lived his moment. But like the classic director he his, Tarantino gave us his new masterpiece, Inglourious Basterds. Again, much like Pulp before, Tarantino grabbed eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and his covenant Best Original Screenplay(For which if this of all films doesn't win for originality, I'm giving up on films).

But unfortunately he will never win the big prize. The reason is Tarantino's style is his curse. Every movie he makes has his signature all over it. Mind bending plots, staccato dialogue, and his signature blood and violence. Tarantino's films are simply too hip for the Academy. Although he deserves it more than ever for Inglourious Basterds, come award night Tarantino will walk away with only two major awards to show for it. This isn't a bad thing. In fact its a step in the right direction. Pulp won only one major award, Basterds will give Tarantino his first acting award for Christoph Waltz's performance as a chillingly charming Nazi dubbed the Jew Hunter(Again only something Tarantino can do). Perhaps this will open the door which will one day give Tarantino the big prize, but for now he'll have to settle for being too hip, which isn't a bad thing at all.