Academy Award Winning Movies You Hated

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

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.

Last 10 years, exactly what I was saying. It's like they suddenly realized what a serious film was. I agree on pretty much everything else too (regarding the films I've seen - I have never seen Chicago or A Beautiful Mind for example, but I know enough to understand they're pretty dumb picks as "best film of the year"). I think I like American Beauty a lot more than most people (7.5/10), same with The Artist (5.5/10)- again, none of them deserved the title, but much better films than some of the other trash. I think The Artist is also part of the shift in mentality for the Academy, so it's at least that.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

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

I loved Gladiator one of my all time favorite.

 

[kihei]

I thought Shakespeare in Love was better than Saving Private Ryan, which should have ended after twenty minutes. The problem, though, was that Shakespeare in Love wasn't better than The Thin Red Line which should have won the Oscar.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Last 10 years, exactly what I was saying. It's like they suddenly realized what a serious film was. I agree on pretty much everything else too (regarding the films I've seen - I have never seen Chicago or A Beautiful Mind for example, but I know enough to understand they're pretty dumb picks as "best film of the year"). I think I like American Beauty a lot more than most people (7.5/10), same with The Artist (5.5/10)- again, none of them deserved the title, but much better films than some of the other trash. I think The Artist is also part of the shift in mentality for the Academy, so it's at least that.

Taking my personal feelings out of it, the entire The Artist roller coaster is fascinating to me. The year it came out it was about as slam dunk sure thing Oscar winner as I can remember. I don't even think there were attempts to even feign that there could be an upset (Moneyball? Tree of Life? I guess.) And then it wins and it's ... nothing. I don't even think it's necessarily been reconsidered and rejected like what happened to Forrest Gump or Crash or even American Beauty. It's just made zero lasting impression. For it to be as dominant as it was, it seems to have just evaporated since.

I don't know whether to compare it to Jim Carey or Jonathan Cheechoo.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Taking my personal feelings out of it, the entire The Artist roller coaster is fascinating to me. The year it came out it was about as slam dunk sure thing Oscar winner as I can remember. I don't even think there were attempts to even feign that there could be an upset (Moneyball? Tree of Life? I guess.) And then it wins and it's ... nothing. I don't even think it's necessarily been reconsidered and rejected like what happened to Forrest Gump or Crash or even American Beauty. It's just made zero lasting impression. For it to be as dominant as it was, it seems to have just evaporated since.

I don't know whether to compare it to Jim Carey or Jonathan Cheechoo.

Yeah, but it was out of character from the Academy to send that much praise to a foreign film - it also had a pretty weird relationship to Life is Beautiful.

 

[Osprey]

My reaction to Gladiator in 2000/2001 was that it paled in comparison to the historical epics of the 50s and 60s and that it was being praised and hyped so much because people either didn't know any better or wanted to believe that it was a triumphal return to the age of epics. I still haven't re-watched it, but I want to, eventually, to see if I was maybe a little hard on it (or not).

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).

I didn't really like No Country for Old Men, either. Then again, that probably doesn't surprise you, considering that you know that I'm not a fan of Cormac McCarthy.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

My reaction to Gladiator in 2000/2001 was that it paled in comparison to the historical epics of the 50s and 60s and that it was being praised and hyped so much because people either didn't know any better or wanted to believe that it was a triumphal return to the age of epics. I still haven't re-watched it, but I want to, eventually, to see if, maybe, I was too hard on it and it's still a good film even if Best Picture wasn't warranted.


I didn't like it, either. Then again, that probably doesn't surprise you, considering that you know that I'm not a fan of Cormac McCarthy.

Apparently Cormac McCarthy got wind of your talk and has planned a surprise for you in his next novel.

 

[Osprey]

Apparently Cormac McCarthy got wind of your talk and has planned a surprise for you in his next novel.

Is he finishing his sentences in his next novel? That would be a surprise.

 

[reckoning]

My friend has a friend who was working through all the Best Pictures and comparing them with the top grossing movies of that year. Not too sure how that went, but he was in the late 90's or early 2000's as of a few months ago so he's probably finished by now. I got the impression that he felt the top grossing movies were generally more entertaining, which really shouldn't be a surprise since those awards are more about marketing and self-promotion and that Academy Award winners were often more about hype and artsy-fartsy than entertainment.

I'm thinking it would be exactly the opposite. We can all find Oscar winners we disagree with, but I can't remember a box-office sensation in recent years that I would want to watch again.

I'd gladly take Parasite over whatever superhero/Star Wars movie happened to be the top-grossing film that year.

 

[Shareefruck]

Crash and Forrest Gump for sure, for me. And hate isn't too strong of a word for those ones-- they're some of my least favorite movies of all time.

Most BP winners I'm pretty lukewarm about-- They're rarely actually incredible or anything, and it never feels like it's totally based on merit. That said, I'm on the side that thinks Oscar winners are still generally better than box office sensations. To be reductive, I'd say that try-hard pretention generally has a higher chance of having some value than hollow vapidness, IMO. It's kind of like aggressively hit or miss vs. completely neutral and inoffensive. And yeah, I'd say that No Country For Old Men is lightyears better than anything that was the highest grossing anything, for me.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I'm thinking it would be exactly the opposite. We can all find Oscar winners we disagree with, but I can't remember a box-office sensation in recent years that I would want to watch again.

I'd gladly take Parasite over whatever superhero/Star Wars movie happened to be the top-grossing film that year.

Out of sheer curiosity I did a quick personal comparison -- best pic winner v. top grossing. Went back to 1977 just because that's where the easy to find wikipedia list of highest grossing movies started.

Five years were eliminated (79, 88, 94, 97, 03) because the top grossing movie of those years also was the best picture winner (and folks say the Academy doesn't recognize popular movies ...)

Of the remaining years, the best picture winner eeked out a 21 to 18 win. It was a come from behind win as I tended to prefer the box office champs in the 70s/80s with that pretty much flipping in the 2000s were I more often liked the best picture winner. Whether my age is a factor of correlation or causation I cannot say but box office champs often are more likely to be big, fun, kid-centric blockbusters and series so it stands to reason I'd favor more of those from my young years and less as I've gotten older.

Another interesting thing, there weren't that many tough calls. Clear answers in many cases. The toughest was 1991 which pits Silence of the Lambs vs. T2. Both great movies. I pick Lambs.

There were four other years that were "tough" only in that I didn't really care for either of the choices. Wound up reluctantly going with box office in all four cases. (Not out of plan, just happen to notice just this moment).

Given that and putting maybe an advanced analytics spin on this quick survey, the 21 best picture winners are probably also a STRONGER like for me than the box office group since it's a little padded with four movies I reluctantly prefer to the best picture winner. The box office group also includes four Star Wars movies.

 

[Shareefruck]

Yeah, I think a lot of people have a huge misconception about Best Picture winners. The problem isn't that they're some artsy fartsy anti-populist thing-- I kind of WISH they were more daring and bold in that way. The problem is that they always just go the absolute safest route and pick the intersection between both criticky-viewer and entertainment-viewer sensibilities that offends neither, and it usually ends up some limp and inconsequential movie that nobody from either leaning remotely cares about like The King's Speech.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Out of sheer curiosity I did a quick personal comparison -- best pic winner v. top grossing. Went back to 1977 just because that's where the easy to find wikipedia list of highest grossing movies started.

Five years were eliminated (79, 88, 94, 97, 03) because the top grossing movie of those years also was the best picture winner (and folks say the Academy doesn't recognize popular movies ...)

Of the remaining years, the best picture winner eeked out a 21 to 18 win. It was a come from behind win as I tended to prefer the box office champs in the 70s/80s with that pretty much flipping in the 2000s were I more often liked the best picture winner. Whether my age is a factor of correlation or causation I cannot say but box office champs often are more likely to be big, fun, kid-centric blockbusters and series so it stands to reason I'd favor more of those from my young years and less as I've gotten older.

Another interesting thing, there weren't that many tough calls. Clear answers in many cases. The toughest was 1991 which pits Silence of the Lambs vs. T2. Both great movies. I pick Lambs.

There were four other years that were "tough" only in that I didn't really care for either of the choices. Wound up reluctantly going with box office in all four cases. (Not out of plan, just happen to notice just this moment).

Given that and putting maybe an advanced analytics spin on this quick survey, the 21 best picture winners are probably also a STRONGER like for me than the box office group since it's a little padded with four movies I reluctantly prefer to the best picture winner. The box office group also includes four Star Wars movies.

Oh this should be turned into polls!

 

[Ceremony]

Oh this should be turned into polls!

I ran such a series of polls in 2013. I have no idea what scoring/weighting I used, but the winners for each decade and subsequent head to heads are here:

(that's not true, I think the scoring was the top 3 from each decade plus the most popular runners-up - total votes multiplied by percentage of votes - to get an even amount for the head to heads)

1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front – 1428.6
1935 - Mutiny on the Bounty – 357.1
1939 - Gone With the Wind – 1289.34
1942 – Casablanca – 2503.8
1948 – Hamlet - 370.4
1949 - All the King's Men – 299.97
1954 - On the Waterfront -1094.02
1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai – 1212.2
1959 – Ben-Hur – 875.84
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia – 2343.91
1967 - In the Heat of the Night – 624.32
1972 - The Godfather - 3521
1974 - The Godfather Part II – 1928.07
1975 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – 1725.5
1984 – Amadeus – 1136.13
1986 – Platoon – 3163.95
1988 - Rain Man – 1504.64
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs – 3529.2
1993 - Schindler's List – 3529.2
1999 - American Beauty – 1648.2
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – 2557.98
2006 - The Departed – 3937.59
2007 - No Country For Old Men – 2106.02

2000 – Gladiator – 1547.28
1994 - Forrest Gump – 1491.36
1995 – Braveheart – 882.3
1978 - The Deer Hunter – 880.25
1992 – Unforgiven – 661.96
1976 – Rocky – 456.3
1961 - West Side Story – 351.24
1969 - Midnight Cowboy – 351.24
1934 - It Happened One Night – 289.26

1. The Departed vs. It Happened One Night – 2234.79 vs. 334.92
2. The Silence of the Lambs vs. All the King's Men – 2083.25 vs. 83.35
3. Schindler's List vs. Midnight Cowboy – 1376.15 vs. 76.5
4. The Godfather vs. West Side Story – 3894.43 vs. 94.22
5. Platoon vs. Mutiny on the Bounty - 1444 vs. 144
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King vs. Hamlet 1404.96 vs. 699.72
7. Casablanca vs. Rocky 2497.6 vs. 197.55
8. Lawrence of Arabia vs. In the Heat of the Night 1219.04 vs. 119.05
9. No Country For Old Men vs. Unforgiven 2089.92 vs. 589.73
10. The Godfather Part II vs. Ben-Hur 3236.22 vs. 136.16
11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. The Deer Hunter 2178 vs. 578
12. American Beauty vs. Braveheart 2352 vs. 1452
13. Gladiator vs. On the Waterfront 1185.86 vs. 1686.09
14. Rain Man vs. Amadeus 478.1 vs. 1777.95
15. Forrest Gump vs. The Bridge on the River Kwai 689.6 vs. 2489.76
16. All Quiet on the Western Front vs. Gone With the Wind 1382.92 vs. 482.82

1. The Godfather vs. Lawrence of Arabia 1836.6 vs. 736.82
2. The Godfather Part II vs. Schindler's List 1884.18 vs. 784.4
3. Casablanca vs. All Quiet on the Western Front 1555.95 vs. 355.85
4. The Bridge on the River Kwai vs. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 1765.44 vs. 1165.58
5. American Beauty vs. Platoon 952.4 vs. 1152.36
6. The Departed vs. On the Waterfront 736 vs. 1861.76
7. No Country For Old Men vs. Amadeus 1735.83 vs. 535.65
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. The Silence of the Lambs 2401.67 vs. 701.8

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. Platoon 2273.02 vs. 172.96
2. The Godfather Part II vs. Casablanca 672.01 vs. 1572.22
3. On the Waterfront vs. No Country For Old Men 771.48 vs. 1371.36
4. The Godfather vs. The Bridge on the River Kwai 2663.15 vs. 263.01

1. The Godfather vs. No Country For Old Men 4260.3 vs. 360.64
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. Casablanca 351.24 vs. 2051.17

1. The Godfather vs. Casablanca 1675.52 vs. 1775.2

 

[Ceremony]

It seems I had a spreadsheet too

Year	Film	Votes	Percentage	Vote multiplier
1929	Wings	3	10.71	32.13
1930	The Broadway Melody	1	3.57	3.57
1930	All Quiet on the Western Front	20	71.43	1428.6
1931	Cimarron	1	3.57	3.57
1932	Grand Hotel	1	3.57	3.57
1934	Cavalcade	1	3.57	3.57
1935	It Happened One Night	9	32.14	289.26
1936	Mutiny on the Bounty	10	35.71	357.1
1937	The Great Ziegfeld	1	3.57	3.57
1938	The Life of Emile Zola	3	10.71	32.13
1939	You Can't Take it With You	2	7.14	14.28
1940	Gone With the Wind	19	67.86	1289.34
1941	Rebecca	5	18.52	92.6
1942	How Green Was My Valley	1	3.7	3.7
1943	Mrs. Miniver	0	0	0
1944	Casablanca	26	96.3	2503.8
1945	Going My Way	1	3.7	3.7
1946	The Lost Weekend	1	3.7	3.7
1947	The Best Years of Our Lives	2	7.41	14.82
1948	Gentleman's Agreement	2	7.41	14.82
1949	Hamlet	10	37.04	370.4
1950	All the King's Men	9	33.33	299.97
1951	All About Eve	7	21.21	148.47
1952	An American in Paris	3	9.09	27.27
1953	The Greatest Show on Earth	0	0	0
1954	From Here to Eternity	9	27.27	245.43
1955	On the Waterfront	19	57.58	1094.02
1956	Marty	2	6.06	12.12
1957	Around the World in 80 Days	0	0	0
1958	The Bridge on the River Kwai	20	60.61	1212.2
1959	Gigi	0	0	0
1960	Ben-Hur	17	51.52	875.84
1961	The Apartment	10	24.39	243.9
1962	West Side Story	12	29.27	351.24
1963	Lawrence of Arabia	31	75.61	2343.91
1964	Tom Jones	4	9.76	39.04
1965	My Fair Lady	2	4.88	9.76
1966	The Sound of Music	7	17.07	119.49
1967	A Man For All Seasons	3	7.32	21.96
1968	In the Heat of the Night	16	39.02	624.32
1969	Oliver!	4	9.76	39.04
1970	Midnight Cowboy	12	29.27	351.24
1971	Patton	4	5.63	22.52
1972	The French Connection	9	12.68	114.12
1973	The Godfather	50	70.42	3521
1974	The Sting	8	11.27	90.16
1975	The Godfather Part II	37	52.11	1928.07
1976	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	35	49.3	1725.5
1977	Rocky	18	25.35	456.3
1978	Annie Hall	9	12.68	114.12
1979	The Deer Hunter	25	35.21	880.25
1980	Kramer vs. Kramer	4	5.63	22.52
1981	Ordinary People	7	10.94	76.58
1982	Chariots of Fire	13	20.31	264.03
1983	Gandhi	13	20.31	264.03
1984	Terms of Endearment	4	6.25	25
1985	Amadeus	27	42.19	1136.13
1986	Out of Africa	3	4.69	14.07
1987	Platoon	45	70.31	3163.95
1988	The Last Emperor	12	18.75	225
1989	Rain Man	31	48.44	1504.64
1990	Driving Miss Daisy	8	12.5	100
1991	Dances With Wolves	5	4.9	24.5
1992	The Silence of the Lambs	60	58.82	3529.2
1993	Unforgiven	26	25.49	661.96
1994	Schindler's List	60	58.82	3529.2
1995	Forrest Gump	39	38.24	1491.36
1996	Braveheart	30	29.41	882.3
1997	The English Patient	3	2.94	8.82
1998	Titanic	13	12.75	165.72
1999	Shakespeare in Love	1	0.98	0.98
2000	American Beauty	41	40.2	1648.2
2001	Gladiator	42	36.84	1547.28
2002	A Beautiful Mind	17	14.91	253.47
2003	Chicago	2	1.75	3.5
2004	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	54	47.37	2557.98
2005	Million Dollar Baby	11	9.65	106.15
2006	Crash	6	5.26	31.56
2007	The Departed	67	58.77	3937.59
2008	No Country For Old Men	49	42.98	2106.02
2009	Slumdog Millionaire	14	12.28	171.92
2010	The Hurt Locker	13	11.4	148.2
2011	The King's Speech	18	15.79	284.22
2012	The Artist	8	7.02	56.16
2013	Argo	6	5.26	31.56

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[hoglund]

English Patient was long, confusing (went back and forth from past to present too often) and boring. There were many in the theaters that got up and walked out on it.

 

[Petrouth]

Just want to throw out there that I loved The Kings Speech...

 

[sdf]

Lord of rings ofcourse. That fat moron has extremly bad taste at cinematography, there are several idiotic moments and things on his manner whish annoying me in that shitty trilogy and ruined it for me. What is very bad because i want to enjoy some good story, the visual part and music are awesome, but not that cretin

In the new films he went into absolutely moronic crazy cgi action unrealistic crap

 

[sdf]

What wrong with english patient, not enough english? Or patient?

 

[Pink Mist]

What wrong with english patient, not enough english? Or patient?

Probably too patient for most people