5. Avatar (2009)
Heres looking at you, Jimmy, for providing us with one more over bloated film spectacle. Perhaps the strangest inclusion on the list especially considering how the Academy seems to cater towards a distinctly bourgeoisie taste and salivate over historical dramas that are upbeat stories, life-affirming stories in the mold of Chariots of Fire. Ever since the film industry started out there has been an emphasis on relying on tasteful source material so the big question is: why was Avatar nominated? The plot is painfully simplistic, in fact at best it could have been a two-parter in most '80s animated series. Instead, the audience is treated to faux mysticism, hypocritical holism and utter disregard for acting. I imagine George Lucas bambling somewhere in his flannel shirt to himself about this being the film he wanted Phantom Menace to be and how much more money he could have earned. Avatar is the paragon of the Academys schizophrenic nature and wildly inconsistent nominations. Avatar might even be the candidate for strangest and worse nomination since the end of the classical era of the studio system.