Early-year movies get no Oscar love

Why is it so hard for films released before June to get nominations? Is it really that no Oscar-worthy films come out in the year’s first half? Or is it as simple as voters having short memories and studios end-loading the hype?

Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (March 28, 2014) is one of the few exceptions that proves the rule. It was the first pre-May release to get a best picture nomination since 2001. More often, critically adored JanuaryMay releases are ignored, come Oscar time.

Among those to reap ripping reviews but come up empty with the academy: “Inside Man” (March 24, 2006; 86 on Rotten Tomatoes), “Zodiac” (March 2, 2007; 89; a host of 10-best lists), and “Four Lions” (May 7, 2010; 82).

Two snubbed films from the mid-’90s now considered classics are “Groundhog Day” (Feb. 12, 1993) and “Before Sunrise” (Jan. 27, 1995).

The latter began Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke’s “Before” trilogy. Its final two entries earned Oscar nominations for their screenplays. But the original holds a 100 score on Rotten Tomatoes; it catches that one-time magic of two people falling for each other in one night.

“Groundhog Day” holds a 96 score because some critics are apparently horrible people. It’s one of the best films of the ’90s, one of the best romantic comedies ever and certainly one of Bill Murray’s best movies. Its “eternal do-over” plot device has been used again (notably in “50 First Dates” and the current “Before I Fall”), but not to its comic and touching effect that it is here.

Here are a handful of films from recent years with early release dates that may have cost them Oscar gold.