25 Astonishingly Dumb 21st Century Film Oscar Wins

Beat: The Artist, Bridesmaids, Margin Call and A Separation.

Should've Won: A Separation.

This one was a completely baffling case. The fact that the charming and solidly-written yet largely weightless screenplay for Midnight in Paris beat out Asghar Farhadi's modern masterpiece A Separation, which has one of the greatest screenplays this century, remains an Oscar win that'll have even the calmest observer gnashing their teeth.

This is not to say that Midnight in Paris' screenplay is bad, because it absolutely isn't, but it is ultimately an inconsequential, overly lightweight work and even when you consider that Midnight probably won because of voters' affection for Woody Allen (personal controversies aside), it totally lacks the punch of his classic work.

In contrast, A Separation is a searing, complex and almost unbearably powerful masterwork that makes what looks like a simple, realistic family drama more stressful and suspenseful than the average Hollywood action flick.

This Oscar should've been A Separation's to lose and while some may argue that the nomination was basically a win in this case (a foreign-language film is lucky to get a look in within this field, after all), considering how leagues ahead A Separation was of the other films it really should've won.