Academy Award Winning Movies You Hated

[Eisen]

Ben Hur
Braveheart
Titanic
Gladiator

 

[NyQuil]

Shakespeare in Love

 

[SepticFish]

About 15 years ago I made an attempt to watch them all and came up about a dozen short. A few months back I decided I should finish the list and watched a few that I missed and recorded a couple more on the DVR, but then lost interest again. Someday I'll eventually see them all.

While there were certainly more than a few I disliked, the one I remember having the hardest time getting through was the 1931 winner, Cimarron.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Forrest Gump
Shakespeare in Love
Chicago, actually any musical can go in this slot

I don't really hate any of the other Best Picture winners, though there's a ton to choose from in which I didn't get the hype either. Everything from Kramer vs. Kramer, Titanic (of course) to the King's Speech and Moonlight, not bad films by any means and some of them are quite well made but not exactly the kind of stuff that ever gave me the itch to re-watch.

 

[Hockeyholic]

There's alot of years that were bad for movies. But there has to be an Academy award winner. 2009 for instance.

The English Patient didn't interest me as a viewer. Had nothing to do with the Seinfeld reference. The fact it won more awards than Fargo is ludicrous.

 

[Roo Returns]

Gladiator. At the time the most overhyped movie on the planet. Stunningly mediocre.

 

[Roo Returns]

Shakespeare in Love

Haven't seen it since the theatrical run but from what I remember, it gives me the "this will not age well" vibe.

 

[member 51464]

Exactly. I haven't seen most of them (and I have very little interest), and those I've seen were mostly underwhelming and not deserving of a best movie prize, but I don't hate any of them. I think the last 10 years had more interesting winners and surprises than the previous 50.

I've considered the Oscars as a joke for the longest time. I mean, Titanic as the best film of the year? and the contenders from 1997, As Good as It Gets? The Full Monty? Good Will Hunting? LA Confidential? Crap all around.... that year Egoyan did The Sweet Hereafter, Resnais did On connaît la chanson, Tsai-Ming Liang did The River, Korine did Gummo, and Haneke did Funny Games. At least the last few years had interesting films that could be considered on the international stage.

Strong disagree that LA Confidential was crap.

 

[NyQuil]

Strong disagree that LA Confidential was crap.

I enjoyed it but it did owe a lot to Chinatown.

 

[reckoning]

There's lots of Oscar winners that I thought didn't deserve the award, several others that didn't deserve to be nominated, but the only two that I would call bad movies by any standard are Forrest Gump and Gladiator.

Titanic was a mixed bag for me: I'd give the parts dealing with the ship sinking 8/10, and the parts dealing with the love story a 2/10. The Billy Zane character is the most ridiculous one-dimensional villain I've ever seen in a film.

 

[frisco]

Million Dollar Baby
Dances With Wolves
Unforgiven

I had the sense to avoid some of the ones I knew I'd hate (Titanic, Slumdog, Driving Miss Daisy, etc.,)

My Best-Carey

 

[beowulf]

Just Best picture or any category? I am not a fan of singing in movies so ya Chicago was not for me.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

"Hate" is a strong word that I would apply to only one film: American Beauty. I hated that enough that I haven't watched the Academy Awards since. Some others that I wouldn't say that I hated but that I really didn't like are Midnight Cowboy, The Deer Hunter, Gladiator, The Hurt Locker, Birdman and Moonlight.

Deer Hunter ran way too long. That has always been my issue with the film.

I think they should have chopped it up a little differently, but taking out about an hour or two of the wedding scene would have been a good place to start.

I get that the scene was important for character development, but too much is too much.

 

[deadinthewater]

Titanic was a mixed bag for me: I'd give the parts dealing with the ship sinking 8/10, and the parts dealing with the love story a 2/10. The Billy Zane character is the most ridiculous one-dimensional villain I've ever seen in a film.

I agree. The unraveling of the ship sinking, the warnings that were ignored, and the chaos that followed was very well done and the best part of the movie. The Jack and Rose love story wasn't very interesting to me.

 

[deadinthewater]

I don't really hate any of the other Best Picture winners, though there's a ton to choose from in which I didn't get the hype either. Everything from Kramer vs. Kramer, Titanic (of course) to the King's Speech and Moonlight, not bad films by any means and some of them are quite well made but not exactly the kind of stuff that ever gave me the itch to re-watch.

I wasn't a fan of this one. I was actually pretty disappointed that the Social Network didn't win. I've probably seen it 3 or 4 times and I haven't really changed my mind. Great movie.

 

[Megahab]

Nomadland was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

I honestly haven't seen most of them. I tend to dislike movies about Hollywood/the entertainment business. Didnt like Birdman or The Artist.

There are some that get a lot of hate like Crash and The Kings Speech that I really enjoyed.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Nomadland was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

I wouldn't go that far, but the love for it absolutely befuddles me.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I usually like Coen Brothers movies quite a lot, so I went into No Country for Old Men ready to be blown away. Instead it left me sitting there thinking, "that's it?". It just felt very contrived and a bit art-house... not a movie I would want to re-watch to try and learn to love it. I've hated other movies a lot more than that one, but the letdown was rough.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I usually like Coen Brothers movies quite a lot, so I went into No Country for Old Men ready to be blown away. Instead it left me sitting there thinking, "that's it?". It just felt very contrived and a bit art-house... not a movie I would want to re-watch to try and learn to love it. I've hated other movies a lot more than that one, but the letdown was rough.

Whaaaaaaaaaat

 

[tarheelhockey]

Whaaaaaaaaaat

I didn't care for it.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I didn't care for it.

I'm just being cheeky. I love both the book and the film and I've rarely heard of anyone who didn't like it. It really seemed to have hit that sweet spot between accessibility and genuine sensibilities (as the Coen brothers often do).

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I went back and looked and I have to say I actually don't hate as many past winners as I thought I did. There's a fair amount that I'm pretty indifferent to. The King's Speech is a prime example of a certain sort of Oscar movie that I wouldn't call bad, but definitely is sorta staid and forgettable. There's a fair amount of those types. Inoffensive and unmemorable. I'd lump Gladiator here as well. I know I'm in the minority on this. I like it fine but still remain a little perplexed by its overall reputation.

The winners are often a compromise of my tastes. Almost never my pick from among the nominees (it's rare MY overall favorite is among those choices) but also not often the nominees I hate with white hot passion (A Star is Born and The Revenant are two recent examples).

The handful that really draw my ire are the ones that just feel really phony. Forrest Gump and Crash are the easy examples, but I hold similar disdain for The Artist, Million Dollar Baby and A Beautiful Mind.

Conversely, American Beauty is a popular "sheeesh what were we thinking" choice, but I still kinda like it. Messy and problematic and melodramatic and really truly full of shit, but I still find it entertaining. Might veer a little into camp for me though so I'm not really liking it on its terms.

Chicago and Shakespeare in Love are fun movies that'll never be properly respected in discussion forums dominated by dudes. I like them though and would happily rewatch them over much more respected winners.

Have to give the Academy some credit over the last decade though. Despite their reputation, they've managed to single out some very good to great movies -- Spotlight, Moonlight, Parasite, Nomadland.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Gladiator. At the time the most overhyped movie on the planet. Stunningly mediocre.

I found Gladiator so overwhelmingly average, that a few months later I watched it again just to see if I was wrong and everyone else was right.

It was still, as you say, "stunningly mediocre"

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Lot of Gladiator bashing going on in here, and I don't like it (the bashing, not the film ).