Oscars: 6 Movies That Were Harmed By Winning Best Picture

5. The Artist (2011)

Do you even remember The Artist? When thinking back on past Academy Award winners, did this film even come to mind? If the answer is no, you're probably not alone, despite the fact that the movie won the top award in 2012 and was heralded as "a love letter to the movies." The movie was like catnip for Oscar voters: it was black-and-white, silent, and focused on the relationship of an older silent film star and a rising young actress, against the backdrop of the crumble of silent cinema and the emergence of the age of the talkies. The movie garnered a lot of critical attention and won a ton of awards, picking up ten Academy nominations, and winning five Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Original Score, and Costume Design. Like Crash, The Artist is definitely a good movie, but it is short of being truly great. Despite winning over critics, it failed to truly resonate with audiences. It's well acted, well directed, and shot in beautiful black and white, but, to be perfectly frank, it's kind of boring. Let's just say that there's a reason "talkies" replaced silent films, and its charms begin to wane over the course of its 100 minute runtime, and even more so on subsequent viewings. The film faced tough competition at the 84th Academy Awards, including The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, and War Horse. There wasn't any real controversy when The Artist won, because we all knew that it was the typical, safe, and obvious choice. As I said, it had all of the film elements the Academy loves, and that's part of what makes it stand out. Do people hate the film or think it stole the award away from a better movie? No. But do they ever look back at it happily or with warm feelings? Again, probably not. In the end, the very fact that it was so predictable was enough to make the 2012 Academy Awards as forgettable as the movie itself.