25. Fifty-Nine Years of Rocky History
I did not want to imply that the Academy was all sunshine and roses before 1988; so a brief history of their ineptitude seems in order. In fact, history is a perfect lead in because, even though this is reason number twenty-five, it underlies the basic principle that caused this list to manifest. The Academy never learns from its mistakes. It never changes.
There is plenty of fodder here for several volumes but let me just skim over a few heavy hitter examples. Many of the best films of all time were not even nominated for best picture: King Kong, Rear Window, Psycho, North By Northwest, The Empire Strikes Back, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Manhattan, and Singin’ in the Rain to name a few. All the while Rocky, The Sting, Around the World in 80 Days, Chariots of Fire, and Terms of Endearment were winning over superior competition.
What comes across from these films is the Academy’s eagerness to dismiss innovation and genre films in favor of sentiment and nostalgia. This is only a small sample of cases mind you. I’m not even broaching directors (Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Lumet both never won), acting (Paul Lukas over Humphrey Bogart in 1943 and Charlton Heston over Cary Grant in 1959), or other categories (like the Academy’s long standing belief that landscapes = cinematography). But don’t worry, the ineptitudes of the Oscars are just as systemic today as they were in 1956.
24. Hearts of Darkness Gets Unfairly Disqualified
This sneaks in on the back end of the list because it technically didn’t qualify for the Oscars. While the premiere of Hearts of Darkness was at Cannes Film Festival, the US premiere ended up being via a television broadcast which made it fall under the Emmy’s sphere of influence. Still, it was a documentary originally set for the big screen and its later distribution deal should not have affected its Oscar worthiness.
This rings true more so today than it did in the past considering the ever expanding number of films which debut on TV on demand before a limited theatrical runs. Should those films also not qualify for the Oscars? It is the intent of the filmmakers not the negotiations of the producers which should matter. Hearts of Darkness is one of the finest documentaries in history and is arguably better than the film whose making it chronicles. It deserved recognition.
23. Titanic Spoiled the Best Oscars on the List
The 70th Oscars were unbelievably close to being adequate. Every winner had a reasonable case to make except one. Titanic simply wasn’t the Best Picture. James Cameron even works as Best Director because of the technical achievements he was responsible for, but Titanic as Best Picture simply doesn’t compute. The film is admittedly a technical marvel for its time, and if you buy in it can be a magical romantic tale. There are too many Titanic -sized flaws though to distract people from the good. The obscenely bloated, near 200 minute, run-time makes the payoffs feel redundant and unworthy for many. If editors had left even twenty minutes of cliches on the chopping room floor a worthy film might have emerged, but that’s not the case.
L.A. Confidential was far more deserving of the award. In hindsight it seems like a slam dunk because it was universally acclaimed by both critics and audiences unlike the very mixed reception Titanic received. Confidential engrosses itself in film noir by seamlessly deconstructing the genre and paying homage to it at the same time. Stellar performances across the board only serve to enhance the rock solid style and screenplay.
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72 Comments
YES. To every single comment in the above.
And now this year. The Artist winning anything. With climbing ticket prices and a rough economy, the academy is essentially telling us that we don’t matter.
Glen Close, who in her acceptance speech pretty much said the audience can stuff it, who cares what we think.
The Artist deserved it wins. What show were you watching? Gkenn Close didn’t give an aceeptance speech.
You’ve seem to forget how in hell did Avatar lose to Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is one of the most righteous wins in all of Oscar history BECAUSE it saved Best Picture from that awful, dreadful Avatar. Period.
Nicolas Cage – best actor win.
Need I say more?
Yes you need say more. Nic Cage is actually a great actor. Even in Leaving Las Vegas (a film I don’t like) he does a good job. He should have won for Adaptation though. His biggest problem isn’t bad acting, it’s acting in EVERYTHING he’s offered. For every one great movie he makes 5 horrible ones (sometimes 10 horrible ones). That doesn’t make him a bad actor though.
LOL. Good one. Nic Cage.
Agreed with every single point!! Ive been bleating away about this for years now.
i never leave comments on this website even though i visit it a couple times a day, maybe its the fact im hungover and a little drunk still that i feel especially chatty today but that was definately the most well thought out and well written pieces of commentary on this site or any of the film sites i regularily visit, i agree with almost all of the things you said and couldnt have said it better other than the fact im a huge fan of the departed but i have to agree it was more of a body of work award than scorceses best film
I was with you on everything except the Tarantino love and Pulp Fiction until I read “This one hits home pretty hard because it was Pulp Fiction that created the love for film I have today.” which explains your undeserved attraction to the it. Now that you’ve grown up you should go back and reevaluate the film in light of what you’ve learned about film since because if you do so honestly I think you’ll find it simply isn’t as good as you would like it to be and you might understand why most learned critics of film don’t appreciate it as much as casual film fans.
This is Scarface and I approve your comment. Pulp Fiction never impressed as much as it impressed those around me back when it was first released. That’s when I was 15 years old.
It was a decent film, nothing more. Nobody talks about it now and Tarantino has faded/wasted his talent/not progressed. I could tell this was going to happen.
He was just a posterboy for western pop culture. After it seeped into every aspect of our lives films such as Pulp Fiction and Scream came along and consolidated it, paving the way for the rest of the world to swallow it from the turn of the millenium onwards.
I absolutely agree. I have seen 4 Tarantino films and each is the same as the last and they’re all terrible. Bad editing, bad pacing and bloody awful dialogue make him a terrible director. I could appreciate the rest of the authors list with a few minor opinion differences but I will not stand beside Tarantino love. I have seen him involved in 2 films I have enjoyed; Desperado and Sukiyaki Western Django.
Sorry, noticed a few edits I missed after I posted.
I get it, the films you really love didn’t get the meaningless praise you think they deserve from people you don’t know. While I do agree that some decisions seem a little odd (from a limited and biased perspective), the awards are given based on a vote by members of the Academy, not you or me. Get off your high horse.
You don’t get it.
No Joe, YOU don’t get it. Boris’ comment is far more of a legitimate assessment than this article.
Actually Julis, Boris’ assessment is glib and irrelevant. I’m pretty sure Aram understands the awards are given based on a vote by members of the Academy, not him or us — so tell me what that has to do with the crap decisions the Academy has made. Maybe the Academy votes with its saccharine soaked hearts and sycophantic, studio-gleamed eyes and you’re just not ready to admit it.
While I agree with some of your points in this article and your comments, you’re letting your own feelings toward films keep you from realizing that your opinion doesn’t represent the feelings of the masses. I have two responses here:
1) If you’re going to act like you know more than the Academy, you should probably invest some time in proofreading. This article has more spelling and grammatical errors than a middle-school book report.
2) Different people think differently. You’ve made your opinions toward certain things more than apparent in this article, and they’re exactly that: your opinions. Just because you don’t like Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t mean nobody likes her (though you didn’t hesitate to assert that concept in the article). Though you seem to think it was some sort of cinematic tragedy, Forrest Gump is a fantastically memorable film that still gets more attention than Pulp Fiction and Shawshank. And finally, while I am a huge LotR fan, I find it laughable that you promote the trilogy as much as you do when earlier in the list you were complaining about Titanic being too long.
And, let’s not forget The Coen Brothers getting a Best Director nomination in 2010 (True Grit) over Christopher Nolan (Inception). How does filming a remake of a cowboy movie beat directing one of the most original, captivating, visually-stunning thrillers of the decade?
And what about David Fincher’s Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac, all great films and all should have been nominated for best picture at least
Crash isn’t a good film but apparently Toy Story three is the best thing since sliced bread? Who allowed you to purchase a TV -_-
I actually love the Oscars.
And yet I do not revere it, I do not even think the affair is necessarily “good”.
I enjoy it as I enjoy a bag of popcorn at the theatre, quite satisfied even if somewhat physically ill.
I agree with this sentiment in so many ways even though I just wrote a feature about reasons to hate the Oscars. It’s probably because my frustrations are more rooted in the Academy’s sway with casual filmgoers. Call me a sucker, but I’ll be watching tonight too… Even if I am crying tears for Drive the whole time.
I’m not sure where it ranks overall on the list of Oscar disappointments but The Dark Knight not getting nominated for Best Picture still rankles me. The outcry over this might have been what led them to #5.
It almost certainly did! In hindsight, I should have brought that film up in my comment on number five.
Yes, Crash was unbelievably overrated. Munich was a way better film.. I think Children of Men not winning for best Cinematography, just wow, beautiful film.
Shakespeare in Love winning Best Picture over Thin Red Line or especially Saving Private Ryan? Ridiculous.
Yes the Academy may chose the winners, but thats the beauty of blogs, it allows us to talk about it and have opinions.
Pan’s Labyrinth was a beautiful film as well. Children of Men lost cinematography to a nicely photographed film.
Social Network over Inception for Best Score was also horrible.
I do think Forest Gump deserved it’s best picture. Amazing storytelling. Same for Titanic.
It is widely believed Crash won because the distributors sent a screener out to EVERY SINGLE AMPAS member a few weeks before nomination deadlines closed, which is virtually unprecedented.
Best article I’ve read on this site in ages. I must admit, since the bizarre introduction of sport I just cannot be bothered to visit. I think you guys need to decide just what this site is about.
Can’t agree with Toy Story 3 though. It had a wonderful, powerful ending, but the first two acts were fairly conventional. It’s amazing what a strong third act can do for public perception of a film – it’s what has made Hugo a frontrunner at the Oscar’s rather than an obscure failure.
I agree with nearly everything you’ve written. But hindsight is 20/20 isn’t it? Perhaps the academy does make their mistakes, some seemingly unforgivable, but then again they are human and what can we ask for other than them trying their best.
Perhaps we do have the best of situations now with fans themselves able to voice their concerns on the internet and share opinions.
Although the Oscars have a long history of bad decisions, as you so expertly illustrated, I especially appreciate your recognition of the crimes made against Children of Men, Ellen Burstyn, and Tarantino (and Scorsese and Spike Lee and foreign language films). These awards should raise the bar artistically and instead they commend sentimentality and mediocrity while serving as another marketing tool for studios.
I could not agree more and Julia Roberts getting an Oscar over Burstyn was a complete joke. Roberts begged for that award and she got it because “it was her turn.”
You’re so predictable it hurts,i have heard all those complaints a million times,is so boring and typically have an army of whiners praising your crap article. I disagree with almost everything except number 1, 4 and 21, but everything you wrote is the typical hipster douchebag crap I’ve heard for about 10 years and I’m sick of it, is not original, so STFU and move on with your pathetic life, thanks!!
I gotta put Cuba gooding jr winning best supporting in Jerry Maguire over Daniel day Lewis in gangs of new York on the list too. One of the most intense performances I can remember. And he didn’t do snow dogs shortly after…
What the hell are you talking about? Cuba won in 97 and then Adrien Brody defeated DDL in 2002 for Best Actor. Try educating yourself before you comment…
No nod for The Dark Knight in 08 was just crazy…
Citizen Kane.
I completely agree that both Al Pacino and Scorsese awards were just ‘body of work’ wins. And I also agree that, unfortunately, Tarantino never will get an Oscar, like Hitchcock, or Kubrick, or Malick.
However, I totally disagree that Ellen Burstyn deserved more the Oscar for ‘Requiem for a dream’ than Julia Roberts for ‘Erin Brockovich’. The performance of Burstyn was great (although sometimes overacted in my opinion), but the performance of Roberts was that kind of iconic performances of a true movie star. She carried the whole movie in an emotional way. Maybe Julia Roberts is not as versatile as Burstyn, but Burstyn could never play that role in such inspired and visceral way.
Tarantino might, he has a lot of merit from past endeavours on his side if he again can direct something of greater substance than his recent trio of revenge porn flicks. Like you said, “body of work” seems to count with the Academy.
I’m still mad that Val Kilmer didn’t get a Best Supporting Actor nom for his portrayal of Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
And I probably would have put Denzel not winning for Malcolm X at number 1.
#25. Rocky is a decent Best Picture winner. I see the appeal that allowed it to win over Network.
#23. I prefer LA Confidential as an overall film but Titanic is a worthy film to win the grand prize as well. Let’s not act like Titanic sucked or wasn’t worthy of the win. It would win in most years. Unfortunately, it weighed on the hearts of most Academy members more than LA Confidential.
#22. I love Children of Men. That’s like one of my favorite films of 2006. But in the cinematography category, it lost to a well shot film — Pan’s Labyrinth. The recent cinematography wins, like Avatar and Hugo, are something to complain about, not Pan’s.
#21. I agree on this one. Crash’s win broke my heart and almost put me on the Hate the Oscars bandwagon. I’m surprised it’s not higher on this list.
#20. I actually preferred Braveheart over Apollo 13.
#19. The Brett Ratner decision baffled me as well.
#18. Hoop Dreams not getting more nominations will always be a badge of shame for the Academy, along with Crash’s Best Picture win.
#17. I disagree. The Two towers was my least favorite. Wins over who? The Pianist? Yeah right.
#16. I can’t debate this article here. It was between Toy Story 3 and The Social Network for me. Both were better than The King’s Speech.
#15. You admitting that Al Pacino’s performance was so great that he made the film watchable is enough to justify his win. End of story.
#14. I agree slightly regarding Burstyne. It might’ve been the character and her dilemma that threw voters off.
#13. Can’t call it. I must see it first.
#12. I agree. The Academy was playing games that year. Definitely the worst Best Actor winner of all time.
#11. Deakins is great but in most cases, he rightfully lost to the better cinematographer.
#10. So, when people say this, are they saying Scorsese should NOT have won for The Departed? Can he live? I think him winning for this film was just fine, considering his competition.
#09. Pulp Fiction — great film, took me a few viewings and some maturity to love it and I think I only LOVE two stories in it (Travolta and Thurman, Jackson/Travolta/Keitel/Roth). Forrest Gump — Loved it so much at first sight, I watched it twice that day. And I still watch it every time it comes on. So, it’s evident which one I favored and the Academy felt the same way as I did.
#08. They favored the nuance of his role and I bet they loved the character. He was the bad guy turned good.
#07. When you say 1989 was a strange year in cinema, I could only imagine this in regard to films released in 1989. The films mentioned like Die Hard and Big were all 1988 releases.
#06. I thought Driving Miss Daisy was a high quality film that was right up the alley of Oscar voters. Do the Right Thing to some degree wasn’t BP material to me. Before there was Crash, I couldn’t see a film like DTRT winning the Oscar for Best Picture. Now, I could see it but solely depending on the level of competition the film would face that year.
#05. I agree. Five and done.
#04. Dances with Wolves was an amazing film. I used to be on the Hate-DWW-bandwagon-for-beating-Goodfellas, then I saw Dances With Wolves. I was blown away. Now I watch it whenever it’s on TV. Loved it.
#03. I agree about the Foreign Language films. Each year, I see at least one that could easily compete for Best picture. I think we will see progress when a Foreign language film Best Picture. They get a few nominations, like Crouching and Fanny & Alexander, but that’s it. I hope this changes some time soon.
#02. I understand your reason for mentioning Shawshank Redemption, another film I fell in love with at first sight, like Forrest Gump. But, for me, Gump edges it out in scope.
#01. I agree with all your points regarding Shakespeare in love. Few films could beat Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture and SIL certainly isn’t one of them. I remember being sick to my stomach when Harrison Ford called the winner. I also agree with the nominees you thought were more deserving than SIL in the individual categories. But I prefer seeing SIL win Best Picture than Crash.
Thanks for the feedback! About the 1988/1989 thing, I’ll admit a mistake on my part. Through 6k words of linking things like the 1988 films going with the 1989 Oscars I lost my focus on that date. I have corrected it now. Thank you again for the find.
WTF?! The Departed DESERVED EVERY single WIN… Tht film and Scorsese owned the Oscars, RIGHTFULLY SO!!! It surpassed the lame HK original in EVERY WAY!
How about TRON: Legacy not even getting *NOMINATED* for either Best Special Effects or Best Original Soundtrack? That blows my mind.
FU, Titanic deserves oscars
L.A. Confidential can sucks my dick
I’ll start by mentioning that I do agree with a good number of your opinions. But to say that your argument is in any way persuasive on assessing the validity of the Oscars would be wrong. You spend the entire article listing off opinions about which movie you think is better than others. In fact your very first list item is that you don’t agree with their votes. Then number 24 is about how you don’t like how they stuck to their rule about qualifications. And the rest is just specific examples of your first point of “this should have won. this shouldn’t have won. etc. etc.” In fact your only really valid argument is that the academy was actually going to go with Brett Ratner to produce. Other than that, you act as if your opinion is more deserving than that of the academy’s. I don’t agree with them like 90% of the time, but that doesn’t mean they’re not entitled to their opinions. You don’t even mention the excellently written argument/research conducted by the LA Times on the Academy voter demographic.
Yes to all 25! Especially those top 3 problems are why I think the Oscars are a joke. To me they are just another example of the bad taste of America’s film audience, along with box office results.
Someone should make an awards show where the “foreign” films are on equal footing and people like Andy Serkis get nominated for best actor and films like Drive get nominated for best picture and the show only lasts like 2 hours etc…
What about NONE of the last FIVE Harry Potter movies getting anything above Best Makeup or Best Cinematography noms? I mean, I know people think these are kids’ films, but if Hugo got a nod, why not Harry? If Toy Story 3 got TWO best picture nods (regular and animated), why not Harry? It seems to me that if you are a kids’ film and, quoting what Radcliffe supposedly said here, “you aren’t directed by Martin Scorcese” you don’t get a best pic or best director nod. David Yates turned what could’ve been a terrible ending to a wonderful series into something that honors both the books and the movies. I loved Hugo and TS3, I just think HP never got a fair shake.
Correction: last four HP films–Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Deathly Hallows Part 2.
I can’t really see how any of the Potter films beside perhaps the third merits one of the more prestigious Oscars.
I agree with you on about 90%of what you say here but nothing more than how i agree about pacino. His performance was superb and no one could have done better but it was as you said a cumalative award. One thing i would add to your list is either of hilary swanks wins.her acting was horrible than and its still horrible. I think the academy has a rule about awarding people playing handicaps: they must always win! Think about it many deserving actors only won when they played handicaps. Pacino is anothet good example. The oscars are just stupid and yes king’s speech sucked toy story was the best picture not only of that year but in a very long time.
The Thin Red Line was so much better than Saving Private Ryan.
Anybody who thinks Toy Story 3 should win best film of the year has got to be 16 yrs old. Wow, no children’s film should ever win best movie of the year unless it’s truly mind blowing, and for anybody who is saying Toy Story 3 or any Pixar movie is full of sh!t. Go see a Miyazaki film!
I don’t know if I love this article because it was so well written or because I completely agree with everything stated in it.
Drech.
I always felt the biggest failure of the Academy was when it did’nt give an Oscar to Coral Browne for her performance in Dreamchild……….
Very disappointing article. The author has simply named films he rates which weren’t Oscar acclaimed, and films he doesn’t rate which were. This makes it far too subjective. It would’ve been far more interesting and relevant to criticise the awards format, the commercialism, the publicity and advertising issues, and the deliberate release of films in a certain time window. Instead, this reads as sour grapes, whining about critics who you don’t agree with.
I agree with Caleb — this article is annoying because it’s ridiculously subjective. There are some points I agree with, most of them I don’t, but above all, it’s all just personal preference. There are few actual arguments why *everyone* should hate the Oscars, not just people who don’t have the exact same taste as the author here.
Quality list but MY personal reasons for LOATHING the Oscars is due to Richard Burton NEVER winning one! Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf! Need I say more??
Agree with everything except with dances with wolves, one of the top movies ever made.nit had everything plus some. I think it was one of the first movies to move away from the politically incorrect view of natives and told their disastriuos story. Kevin kossner nailed it.
I think Seth Macfarlane said it right tonight; The Avengers was the most popular movie of the year yet it’s nominated for one technical award. I don’t like The Avengers but it’s clearer now more than ever that the Oscars is, at best, an elaborate advertising campaign for ‘serious’ movies that people usually wouldn’t go watch unless they had the ‘Oscar’ tag.
Many valid points – body of work oscars being particularly prevalent at the Oscars – but unfortunately i’ve been reduced to trolling you due to your negative comments about Bill Paxton…nobody slags off Bill on my watch douchbag…
yes to every comment, TOY STORY 3 WAS THE BEST FILM OF 2010.
The Oscars’s constant huge mistake is to award Best Picture to the wrong film (which, fortunately, they didn’t do this year). The Sting should have been no match for American Graffiti or The Exorcist; The Shawshank Redemption or Pulp Fiction should have beaten the pants off of Forrest Gump; Goodfellas should have left Dances With Wolves in the dust, etc. The only common gripe that I have to disagree with is the one regarding Rocky. While All the President’s Men (the film people tout as the real winner) is brilliant, and I own both films; I prefer Rocky.
I agree whole-heartedly on so many of these I cannot mention them all. I mean, I like the oscars and the academy, but its all so heavy handed and political some times.
The one that I hate the most is Titanic (sorry fans).
I don’t know if its been mentioned yet, but how about the academy disqualifying The Empire Strikes Back because all the credits were placed at the end, which they found “disrespectful”??? I’m dead serious on this. The whole thing is really bizarre and pretty freaking stupid, but it did happen. I think I saw this on the special features to Star Wars.
On the James Bond part, you can put the massive snub Casino Royale recieved for being a Bond movie, and the fact that Craig’s portrayl of Bond wasn’t even considered.
You bring up some good points, but you should lay off Forrest Gump. 1994 was an amazing year for movies with Shawshank, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, & Lion King.
The decision for best picture is impossible to make & could have gone any direction. They were all strong.
If any of those movies had been released an other year, they definitely would have won.
What about a certain Tom Cruise who get snobbed such as Depp,Dicaprio ?? And what about the rob that happened : Sean Penn’s “Milk” instead of Mickey Rourke’s “Wrestler” ??
The Best Picture Oscar in 2005 came down to a simple question: Is America homophobic or racist? The answer: homophobic. I say this because it came down to Brokeback Mountain and Crash, the others didn’t have a chance.
OMG this made me think of this EPIC Oscars fail post: http://www.digititles.com/content/most-notorious-goofs-in-2013-best-picture-oscar-nominees