25 Astonishingly Dumb 21st Century Film Oscar Wins

25. 2012: Hugo Wins Best Cinematography

Beat: The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Tree of Life and War Horse.

Should've Won: The Tree of Life.

This is a strange case. Hugo is a very good movie and it's absolutely gorgeous on a visual level, so normally it winning Best Cinematography wouldn't have been a problem at all. Normally.

But, in this case it was up against one of the most visually stunning movies of all time: The Tree of Life, shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, who's a contender for the best cinematographer working today.

The Tree of Life might be an insufferable exercise in self-indulgence, but that cinematography is among the best of all time and deserved the Oscar regardless of the quality of the rest of the movie.

It's odd really; The Tree of Life really over-performed at the Oscars but didn't get the only award it actually deserved.