Beginning this semester, Madison College Libraries has changed the policy on DVD checkouts, now allowing five checkouts at a time instead of just two. This is good news, since the 85 Academy Awards are coming up Feb. 24 and you probably want to catch up on some films.

Making as much news this year as the films and people nominated are those that weren’t. Every year there are issues concerning snubs with the Academy Award nominations, but it seems like this year the outcry has been even greater.

Many people are wondering how Ben Affleck, who won the Golden Globe and several film critic awards for directing Argo, wasn’t even nominated for the Best Director Oscar. Some other curious omissions in the Best Director field were Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) and Quentin Tarentino (Django Unchained). Despite being at the top of many film critic lists, “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Master,” “Skyfall” or “The Dark Knight Rises” did not receive best film nominations. Missing out on acting nominations were Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone), Jack Black (Bernie), John Hawkes (The Sessions), and Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained).

Of course, not everyone can get nominated, and whether it’s the Academy Awards or any other type of award, some good films or people will be left out.

In Academy Award history, “Singing in the Rain” was not nominated in 1952 despite its stature as an American musical classic now. “Vertigo,” considered by many to be Alfred Hitchcock’s best film, was not nominated in 1958, and Jimmy Stewart failed to receive an actor nomination for it, in spite of it now being a highlight of his famous career.

John Ford’s “The Searchers,” considered by the American Film Institute and other critics to be the best Western ever made, was not nominated in 1956. Director Stanley Kubrick was snubbed on multiple occasions.

There are several lists of famous movies that were snubbed by the Academy Awards. Some good sample lists are from Paste Magazine and Entertainment Weekly Magazine.

So what’s the point? While our inclination is to always go with a winner, history shows that it’s also worth checking out a loser once in a while, be it in film, literature or whatever the medium. Try to go beyond what people define as the best to discover the best for yourself.

Many of the Oscar-nominated and Oscar-snubbed titles are owned by the Madison College Libraries, and are free to check out with your One Card. Remember, you can now check out five at a time instead of just two.