10 Most Outrageous Oscar Snubs

Danny Boyle's comedy-fantasy-romance-musical-thing about an impoverished Indian boy whose life experiences lead him to game show glory was a much vaunted film of the late 2000s. Critics gushed over the Trainspotting director's ability to fuse magic, laughter, love, and the human condition over a bumping Bollywood beat, and it was inevitably swept to the Best Picture prize. But really: can you imagine having to sit through it again?

Granted, 2008 wasn't up there with the finest 12 months for cinema, and Slumdog's competition in the best picture category range from gripping if unexceptional true stories (Milk, Frost/Nixon) to misfiring F Scott Fitzgerald adaptations (The Tedious Case Of Benjamin Button). That notwithstanding, it still surely should not have taken anything close to its eight Oscars (The Wrestler and Rachel Getting Married weren't nominated that year, for example).

What passed at the time for bombast and insight into the plight of the Indian underclass quickly became annoying, and downright patronising at points. While Boyle remains a talented director (despite followup 127 Hours' shared problem with complete unrewatchability), Slumdog is nothing short of a dud, with the additional crime of bringing Anwar from Skins to a wider audience.