Cydne Washington, Contributing writer

If your favorite fell flat at the Oscars last night, take heart. At least it's in good company.

Over the 82 years that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has been handing out statuettes, many overlooked films have joined the ranks that will forever be known as "Oscar snubs."

Last year was a particularly bad year for snubs, with many people feeling movies like "The Dark Knight," "Wall-E" and "Gran Torino" not only deserved nominations, but possibly even the Best Picture. Alas, none of them were nominated for the big prize.

They were snubs so egregious, especially "Dark Knight," that the Academy decided to up the Best Picture nominations to 10 this year, hoping to give big-budget, audience-pleasing blockbusters more of a chance.

So with that in mind, and as you continue to stew over Sunday's injustices, here are some other infamous Oscar snubs that will have your blood boiling.

'Apocalypse Now' Beaten By A Sissy Flick

Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" skillfully exposes the seedy underbelly of the human psyche in the face of war's ugliness. Coppola's use of music and quotable script choices are still seen as some of the most masterful directorial choices to date.

So how is it that a seemingly made-for-TV-style-movie such as "Kramer vs. Kramer" walked away with the 1980 Best Picture award instead? Perhaps "Kramer vs. Kramer" dealt with a more titillating topic of the day -- the shifting roles of men and women in the "modern" American family.

The Academy is notorious for choosing mass appeal movies over grit and substance films and this Oscar snub is no exception.

Will It Play In Peoria?

Stanley Kubrick's distinct and copious film-directing efforts surprisingly never earned him an Oscar for Best Picture or Best Director. Of "2001: A Space Odyssey," "A Clockwork Orange," "Full Metal Jacket" and "The Shining," only "2001" earned itself an Oscar, but only for its visual effects.

Perhaps it's because the Academy favors the popular and the uplifting over the dark and realistic.

After all, even low-brow "Rocky" beat out Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" at the 1977 awards. "Taxi Driver" paints a stygian glimpse into the lonely world of a cab driver trying to save the City, one low-life at a time. However, it was "Rocky" with all its mainstream "likeability," which managed to win with the knock out punch from the Academy.

Paltrow Takes Queen

Perhaps the Academy was asleep the year it voted Gwyneth Paltrow to win Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Shakespeare in Love" over Cate Blanchett as the title queen in "Elizabeth."

While Gwynnie was charming as Shakespeare's fictitious muse, her performance cannot hold a candle to the critically hailed master work of Blanchett's bravura portrayal of the virile "virgin" queen. Blanchett's delivery of this demanding role was met with rave reviews for its combination of originality and apparent authenticity.

What's Eating The Academy?

One cannot completely begrudge the Academy for choosing Tommy Lee Jones over Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 1993 awards, because let's face it, Jones gave a stellar performance as he "supported" Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive."

Nevertheless, upon viewing "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," many actually believed DiCaprio to be a mentally-challenged young actor –- that is how convincing his performance was. Since then he has effortlessly delivered many Oscar-worthy performances but has yet to win.

He did not receive even a nomination for his role in "Titanic." He lost in 2005 for "The Aviator" and again in 2007 for "Blood Diamond." More recently, he was once again overlooked for a nomination in his role in "Revolutionary Road," which many believe to be one of the most heinous Oscar snubs to date.

'Goodfellas' Goes Down To 'Dances'

In Kevin Costner's first directorial attempt, "Dances With Wolves," he received the Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture over Scorsese's "Goodfellas."

Sure, "Dances" has some epic scenery, but it could have been just as beautiful with the director asleep at the wheel, simply rolling the cameras and shouting cut a few lucky times.

"Goodfellas," however, with its iconic gangster anti-heroes and its brilliant camera work, could have only been spear-headed by someone as dedicated to his craft as the legendary American film legend, Scorcese -- who has been around the directorial block more than a few times.

He is no stranger to knowing the feeling of losing to a mass-appeal movie though. Scorsese's "Last Temptation of Christ" lost to "Rain Man" after all. I dare you to watch both films and see which one has worn better over the years.