You definitely should see Elephant Man--John Hurt is incredible, one of the great roles of his career.
He'd likely have won the Oscar in most other yrs, but had the misfortune to be nominated in 1981, when no one had a chance against DeNiro for
Raging Bull. Likewise two years later no one really had a chance against Ben Kingsley for
Gandhi. Dustin Hoffman's
Tootsie & Paul Newman's
The Verdict performances in 1983 could have been selected in other years. And poor Peter O'Toole, nommed for
The Stuntman in '81 &
My Favorite Year in '83, two performances that I loved, but were barely even mentioned as also-rans. (Jack Lemon also got nommed in both those yrs, but probably shouldn't have, imho)