What should have won the Oscar?
What should have won the Oscar?
#1What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 4:55pm
Besty's Oscar thread got me thinking about how I rarely agree with the Academy on their best picture choice. I thought it might be fun to see what people thought should have won in a particular year.
It's too much to post at one time, so I'll start with the last 10 years.
2012
The Artist - WON
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life - MY CHOICE
War Horse
2011
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech - WON
The Social Network - MY CHOICE
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
2010
Avatar - MY CHOICE
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker - WON
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
The Blind Side
Up
2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader - MY CHOICE
Slumdog Millionaire - WON
2008
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men - WON
There Will Be Blood - MY CHOICE
2007
The Departed - WON & MY CHOICE
Babel
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
2006
Brokeback Mountain - MY CHOICE
Capote Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers
Crash - WON
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
2005
The Aviator - MY CHOICE
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby - WON
Ray
Sideways
2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - WON & MY CHOICE
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
2003
Chicago - WON & MY CHOICE (sorry Roscoe)
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
Wildcard
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/21/06
#2What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:03pm
2013 - Argo
2012 - The Artist
2011 - The King's Speech
2010 - Avatar
2009 - Milk
2008 - There Will Be Blood
2007 - The Departed
2006 - Brokeback Mountain
2005 - The Aviator
2004 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003 - Chicago
#2What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:03pm
LIVING! So excited. OK...below are just my choices based on your comprehensive list:
2012
The Artist
2011
The Social Network (I mean...)
2010
Up in the Air (I'm 'eh' about all the nominees)
2009
Milk (I still mourn it)
2008
Michael Clayton (But I would have preferred Zodiac be nommed and won)
2007
Babel (But I'm fine that The Departed won)
2006
Munich (Bad gay...I know)
2005
Sideways
2004
LOTR: Return of the King
2003
Chicago
#3What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:15pm
My choices are:
2012 The Help
2011 Black Swan
2010 The Hurt Locker
2009 None of them
2008 No Country for Old Men
2007 Little Miss Sunshine
2006 Crash
2005 None of them
2004 Lost in Translation
2003 None of them
#4What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:23pm
2012
The Artist - WON & MY CHOICE
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
2011
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech - WON & MY CHOICE
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
2010
Avatar
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker - WON
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
The Blind Side
Up - MY CHOICE (although I don't think ANY of these deserve a Best Picture Oscar.)
2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - MY CHOICE
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire - WON
2008
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men - WON
There Will Be Blood - MY CHOICE
2007
The Departed - WON
Babel - MY CHOICE
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen - ALSO MY CHOICE
2006
Brokeback Mountain - MY CHOICE
Capote
Crash - WON
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
2005
The Aviator - MY CHOICE
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby - WON
Ray
Sideways
2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - WON & MY CHOICE
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
2003
Chicago - WON & MY CHOICE (sorry Roscoe)
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#5What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:38pmI still cringe when I remember The Social Network did not win Best Picture and David Fincher lost for Best Director.
#6What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:42pm
And I'm one of those people who can't stand The Social Network. It's way too slick and self-aware for its own good, and so is everyone in it. But mostly, I'm just turned off by all of the "characters" in the story.
strummergirl- I agree with you about Rocky. It's a shame all those sequels have tainted such a really great (first) picture.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#7What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:49pmI agree, the characters are unlikable, But I think its a masterpiece. The King's Speech is the only movie I have fallen asleep watching in the theater.
#8What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:52pm
2012 The Artist
2011 Toy Story 3
2010 Avatar
2009 Milk
2008 There Will Be Blood
2007 The Departed
2006 Brokeback Mountain
2005 The Aviator
2004 Lost in Translation
2003 Gangs of New York
#9What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 5:52pm
... and The King's Speech is one of my favorite Best Pictures of the past 20 years. The audience cheered at the end when I saw it. Maybe you should have napped first. LOL
Different strokes.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#10What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 6:13pm
2013
Argo
2012
The Artist
2011
Black Swan
2010
Up in the Air
2009
Slumdog Millionaire
2008
No Country for Old Men
2007
Little Miss Sunshine
2006
Brokeback Mountain
2005
Ray
2004
Lost in Translation
2003
The Hours
#11What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 6:24pm
I liked THE KING'S SPEECH when I saw it at the theatre (yes, with a very into-the-movie audience), then I watched it on Netflix over the Christmas break and was utterly bored any time Geoffrey Rush wasn't on screen. At the same time, I hated THE SOCIAL NETWORK exactly for the same reasons Besty mentioned. It was a film that only someone as full of himself as David Fincher is could have made. I was at the time and will always be team BLACK SWAN, easily one of my favorite films of all times.
2013
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
2012
THE HELP or THE ARTIST (love THE ARTIST as a film more, but liked that THE HELP featured so many great roles for all kinds of women more, and boy did it improve on the awful novel)
2011
BLACK SWAN
2010
UP IN THE AIR
2009
MILK but really, what a terrible year for movies
2008
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
2007
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
2006
Abstain, hated CRASH with a passion, while BROKEBACK proved that the most fascinating, complex people can make for the dullest of films
2005
FINDING NEVERLAND
2004
LOST IN TRANSLATION
2003
CHICAGO all the way (sorry, Roscoe)
#12What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 6:31pm
Some of those years I wouldn't give it to any of them.
2012
Zero Dark Thirty or Amour
2011
The Tree of Life- What a hot mess in representation that year. One of the strongest years in cinema and, like in 1999, the Oscars acted like it never happened
2010
The Social Network or Toy Story 3
2009
A Serious Man/The Hurt Locker/Inglourious Basterds
2008
Skip- I would've picked The Wrestler, which I am sure would've gotten in the expanded field. Maybe.
2007
No Country for Old Men but I do think There Will Be Blood is excellent cinema. Rewatch had me favor NCFOM.
2006
The Departed but this year was skippable
2005
Munich or Brokeback Mountain
2004
Sideways
2003
Lost in Translation
2002
The Pianist
Updated On: 2/10/14 at 06:31 PM
#13What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 6:38pmI'm on my phone so I don't have the patience to fill this whole things out (oops), but I am glad many of you like Up in The Air. It is probably my favorite movie of the past 10 years
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#14What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 6:40pm
2013
AMOUR
2012
MONEYBALL
2011
WINTER'S BONE
2010
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
2009
THE READER
2008
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
2007
no nominees deserved it; the only two movies that year worthy of a best pic oscar were the egregiously unnominated:
PAN'S LABYRINTH
UNITED 93
2006
CAPOTE
2005
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
2004
LOST IN TRANSLATION
2003
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS/CHICAGO (TIE)
Updated On: 2/10/14 at 06:40 PM
#15What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 7:04pm
2012
The Artist
2011
The Social Network
2010
Inglourious Basterds
2009
Milk
2008
No Country for Old Men
2007
The Departed
2006
Brokeback Mountain
2005
Sideways
2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003
Chicago
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#16What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 8:15pm
2012
The Artist - WON
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Should have won, not even nominated, typical.
2011
The King's Speech - WON for some bizarre reason.
Winter's Bone - Should have won
2010
Whatever.
2009
Milk -- should have won, no contest.
Slumdog Millionaire - WON in an even more offensive bit of homophobia than Crash beating Brokeback.
2008
No Country for Old Men - WON
There Will Be Blood - Should have won, I mean really.
2007
Whatever.
2006
Brokeback Mountain - should have won, shouldn't have been a contest.
Crash - WON, one of the major embarassments in Oscar history.
2005
Whatever.
2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - WON & MY CHOICE
2003
Chicago - WON
Should have won: a three way tie of the below---
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
#17What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 9:20pm
Oooh, I'll play.
2012
The Artist - WON & MY CHOICE
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
2011
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech - WON
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3 - MY CHOICE
True Grit
Winter's Bone
2010
Avatar
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker - WON
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up in the Air - MY CHOICE
The Blind Side
Up
2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire - WON & MY CHOICE
2008 (Juno was my favorite but I didn't really love any of them)
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men - WON
There Will Be Blood
2007
The Departed - WON
Babel
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine - MY CHOICE
The Queen
2006
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash - WON
Good Night, and Good Luck. - MY CHOICE
Munich
2005
The Aviator
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby - WON & MY CHOICE
Ray
Sideways
2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - WON & MY CHOICE
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
2003 (HAVEN'T SEEN ENOUGH OF THEM TO BE PICKY)
Chicago - WON
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
Also, some off the top of my head that I hold grudges about:
1998: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN losing to SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
1995: APOLLO 13 losing to BRAVEHEART
#18What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 10:35pm
2013 - Argo
2012 - The Artist
2011 - The Social Network
2010 - The Hurt Locker
2009 - Slumdog Millionaire (I would have been happy with Slumdog, Milk, or The Reader winning that year)
2008 - There Will Be Blood
2007 - The Departed
2006 - Brokeback Mountain
2005 - The Aviator
2004 - Lost in Translation
2003 - Chicago (Gangs of New York is a close second, that film should not have gone home empty handed)
bwaylyric
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/22/03
#19What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 10:57pmJust imagine what the Best Pic nominees could've been had there been more than 5 titles allowed before 2010
#20What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 11:06pmI'm glad there weren't more than five previously (except for that early period when the studios were each cranking out close to 50 movies per year), and I wish they would go back to five. It should be a tighter race, and the nomination should be harder to get. There are several films (quite a lot) that have no business being up for Best Picture (since 2010). I think it was a bad decision to expand it.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#21What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 11:14pm^ Yeah, me too. I always try to work out which five are the "true" Best Picture nominees, based on other nominations like Director.
#22What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 11:18pm
There's also an interesting essay going around that argues that expanding the field has meant that fewer films have gotten nominations in other categories. If I recall, the basic thrust of the argument was movies that we could reward in "lesser" categories (Supporting Actor/Actress, Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography) now get shuffled over in place of sorting out which categories the top dozen or so contenders all compete for. So this year, you get BLUE JASMINE and BEFORE MIDNIGHT as the only two non-Best Picture nominees to show up in Director or any Acting or Screenplay category. The "big eight" categories feature 11 films nominated -- that's it. The last year before the expanded Best Picture field, 2008, those eight categories had 17 films between them.
I think it's been an interesting unintended consequence. Still doesn't mean I forgive THE READER for taking THE DARK KNIGHT's nomination, the snub that created this shake-up.
#23What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/10/14 at 11:28pm
I believe that was by Mark Harris on Grantland.
Maybe I haven't noticed the difference but it feels like this is the first year where there is an actual question mark of who is the front-runner. Maybe it is the conscious knowledge of the guilds, but nothing since the expanded field has surprised me.
What annoys me is that it feels more transparently like a political campaign since the 90s. I know, I know, in many respects it has always been that way but coverage and the fact people can make an annual living as an Oscar blogger, covering just a very small amount of the year in film. Harvey Weinstein is this Karl Rove/Kingmaker figure. What he backs most of the time somehow makes it in, even when it is stuff like Chocolat and The Reader. These films get forgotten almost immediately. It feels more about yearly bragging rights than pride in what was actually the great film you made that deserves recognition. It becomes so by design that terms like 'Oscar bait' don't get so easily dismissed because there are these films that just cynically feel like their only existence is for ego than art.
#24What should have won the Oscar?
Posted: 2/11/14 at 6:54am
^ I agree.
I think they expanded the number of nominees to expand the bragging rights (as you say) and also the ad revenue. It has nothing to do with "worthy films" or being "more inclusive." (Awards shouldn't be "more inclusive," they should recognize outstanding work, or at least try to. Not everyone deserves a gold star in the classroom.)
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Videos