Every year without a doubt the Academy Awards throw the film-watching public into disarray by naming one film that the academy has deemed heads and shoulders above the rest. The chosen film is bestowed possibly the greatest honor in filmmaking: the Best Picture statuette. Whether said film deserves such an honor is often a subject of heavy debate following the ceremony and with such a prestigious and highly publicized event, controversy has habitually been attached to occasional best picture winners, met with outrageously loud public disapproval. The below films are examples of such debate, although are in no way bad films at all; just films that, in my opinion, are undeserving of such an accolade as the Best Picture gong:
10. The King’s Speech
The King’s Speech is unquestionably one of the best biopics ever made; but is it Oscar worthy? A resounding yes is the answer to that question in certain categories. For example, the Academy Award for Best Leading Actor being won by anybody other than Colin Firth that year would have been a downright travesty; his impeccably English and bumbling depiction of such a historical figurehead of the British monarchy is a fine example of Oscar worthiness. However, is a film about the journey of a man from stutter to speech really big enough to fit the shoes of previous best picture winners? Winners such as the great Ben-Hur or the nail-biting American masterpiece No Country for Old Men? And more to the point, the question we must all ask ourselves: is The King’s Speech a better film than Inception or The Social Network? Unfortunately, no it is not.
9. The Artist
The Artist is a truly great film; but in 2012? It’s merely a pompous slice of nostalgia wrapped in stylish technicality that, although original and unusual for this modern day and age, is ostensibly below average when compared to film classics of the silent movie era from which it stems. Its creation was certainly a bold move, but it seeped Oscar candidacy: The Help, The Descendants, Hugo and Midnight in Paris were overlooked, despite being arguably superior films than the ultimate victor. The film’s eventual win was a long foreseen event that, although disguised as innovation, is merely a resurrection of a grand age that cannot be and should not be justifiably repeated.
8. Rocky
Make no mistake, Rocky is undoubtedly a gratifyingly satisfying underdog tale that stands among some of America’s greatest films but can it be warranted as Best Picture worthy when stood next to other contenders in its year, notably Taxi Driver and Network? Despite its lack of Best Picture nomination at all, Taxi Driver is without a shadow of a doubt the strongest of the three films, which are all above average in terms of quality. But Rocky and its déjà vu underdog storyline lacked an edge that the academy clearly failed to identify. Either that or the academy has an issue with crowning Martin Scorsese films with the honor they deserve, as seen in 1981 and 1991 with the exception of The Departed’s deserved 2006 triumph.
7. Oliver!
Not only did this soppy, dewy-eyed musical defeat the magnificent Funny Girl to the Best Picture gong but was also deemed superior to Kubrick’s seminal and highest grossing film of the year 2001: A Space Odyssey. A crime by no small measure, this woefully ordinary and unremarkable adaptation has been swamped by the thousands of adaptations released in its wake to result in the film being one of the most unmemorable Best Picture winners in filmic history.
6. Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is as enjoyable as it is hollow. Never has a best picture winner been so devoid of any really substance and we must ask ourselves: what does Forrest Gump really amount to? Does it reveal something significant about the human condition? Are we as an audience lavished with intelligent insight into the psyche of humanity? Do we exit the theatre informed, educated or entertained beyond the norm in any way? Well, no. Of course, the film is a modern feat; it’s entertaining and heart-warming – but since when were those two ingredients the only required aspects of a Best Picture winner? And one more thing: how did this film beat Pulp Fiction? This victory is nothing more than a prime example of the Academy’s tendency to stick with the shallow safety of a family feature instead of opting for a superior and equally controversial undertaking.
5. Dances With Wolves
The only accolade this film truly deserves is its ability to mindlessly thieve deserved awards from stronger contenders; notably, Martin Scorsese’s unequaled Goodfellas. A film that has been expunged from all collective consciousness, this unmemorable and bloated revisionist tale of ‘epic proportions’ embodied probably the desired political ingredient that ensures a Best Picture victory nowadays but failed to even compare to Scorsese’s apotheosis of the gangster genre, a film which is now regarded as one of the best films of all time. Although Goodfellas takes its place in film history, and rightfully so, it has been deprived of an honor it equitably deserved by an ultimately unmemorable piece of cinema.
4. A Beautiful Mind
This Ron Howard-helmed biopic is one of the best of its genre but would seem less out of place as a documentary on HBO than as a best picture winner at the Academy Awards. Chock full with fine performances, A Beautiful Mind is no small feat but its victory for Best Picture over Peter Jackson’s unparalleled masterpiece, The Fellowship of the Ring, is one of the academy’s greatest judgmental errors. Ultimately, this Best Picture winner is one of the most unmemorable of the list and can only logically be explained by a possible 2 year Russell Crowe fetish that the academy was suffering from.
3. The Hurt Locker
Although an undeniable feat in modern filmmaking, this underwhelming war extravaganza is pretty far from the mark as far as Best Pictures go. Its successor, Zero Dark Thirty, is probably more deserving of the golden statuette than The Hurt Locker and even more deserving than that is the films with which The Hurt Locker contended: the likes of Inglourious Basterds, Up, District 9, The Blind Side and Precious are all more Oscar worthy than the forgettable war flick that eventually went on to win. Perhaps the academy thought back on its years of war film abandonment and decided, at an imperfect time, to right this wrong. Sorry academy, but for all the war films you award Best Picture from now on, you will never be redeemed of having let Saving Private Ryan slip through your fingers. Allowing mediocre films of the war genre such a prestigious embellishment isn’t the answer!
2. Shakespeare In Love
This English period drama beat The Truman Show (not nominated), The Thin Red Line, Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful and last but certainly not least, Saving Private Ryan to the highly coveted Best Picture statuette. All we can ask ourselves is ‘why? How? But why? WHY?’ If the academy had had a sudden onset of period drama affection, surely the obvious choice would have been the highly impressive Elizabeth rather than this pile of pretentious tosh? But instead, possibly the least deserving of the pile came out on top. Undeniably, the costume and set design in Shakespeare In Love deserve all of the accolades they received but as a film, as a storyline and as an execution of both, Shakespeare In Love was well below par. More to the point, it beat Saving Private Ryan. Shakespeare In Love beat Saving Private Ryan to the Best Picture award. Just let that sink in.
1. Crash
Crash is a flawed film; in attempting to repeat what Magnolia had done exceedingly well a few years prior, this Best Picture winner endeavored to reproduce the same ‘intertwining lives’ storyline but subsequently ended up as a puddle of soppy sentimentality and clichéd notions of social hierarchy. How this film won the most prestigious award in filmmaking is a modern mystery, but can probably be explained by the conservative members of the academy who condemned the more deserving Brokeback Mountain for ‘promoting homosexuality’ (if so, someone should probably remind them that this is 21st century we live in). Moreover, this film is ideologically offensive! Are we to assume that every member of the white middle class is racist? Or that any person of colour wearing baggy clothes is a car thief? Inherently, of course not! But alas, this film tells its audiences just that. It is safe to say that the total indignation of this film’s best picture triumph can be comfortably summarized by the look of pure incredulity on Jack Nicholson’s face when he opened that fateful golden envelope.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know your thoughts on the worst Best Picture Oscar winners in the comments below!
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