Oscars 2014: 5 Things In Defense Of The Academy Awards

2. People Always Root For the Underdog

Another of those faults in human nature is our tendency to root for the underdog. It's difficult to trust any survey or poll, because our habit is to see the obvious choice first, but then sub-consciously decide "Eh, it'll have enough support. Let me toss a vote to ____", as though that item on a poll list had feelings. So once more, it's only natural to expect the Oscar voters to feel similar emotions. How else do you explain what happened in 1999? There were five nominees. Let's review each... 1. Saving Private Ryan. Another Spielberg flick, this time a hard-hitting, painfully honest look at the Normandy Invasion during World War II. It had the most gut-wrenching battle scene ever put to film, and the performances from the entire cast was top notch. 2. Life Is Beautiful, among the greatest foreign language films ever made, and one of the few to be nominated for Best Picture. It was another World War II film, only instead of dwelling on the battles, it took on a more personal tone of a father trying to keep his son alive in a Nazi concentration camp. 3. Elizabeth, a biopic about Queen Elizabeth I, and the struggles she dealt with as queen. The film also featured a powerful performance by Cate Blanchett in the role that made her famous. 4. The Thin Red Line. The first film in 20 years by Terrence Malick, whose previous films were all critically acclaimed. This film was set during (say it with me!) World War II, and it featured a huge cast which included Sean Penn, John Cusack, Jared Leto, George Clooney, and John Travolta among others. 5. Some little romantic comedy called Shakespeare In Love that starred Gwyneth Paltrow as a young lover. Awww, how cute. And then Shakespeare In Love walked away with seven Oscars, including Best Picture.