Worst and undeserving Oscar Winners

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  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,721
    Benny wrote: »
    How Peter O'Toole never won for Lawrence Of Arabia is beyond me.

    Because of Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch. While O'Toole's is an epic tour-de-force, Peck is the embodiment of American idealism - so I can see why he won over the mostly American voters. I prefer the more complex and layered O'Toole performance but both roles are iconic.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,248
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Kevin Costner winning any Oscar is just shameful. Dance with Wolves was so ridiculously overrated.

    Yes, Goodfellas should have mopped the floor with DWW
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    peter wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Kevin Costner winning any Oscar is just shameful. Dance with Wolves was so ridiculously overrated.

    Yes, Goodfellas should have mopped the floor with DWW

    I love Goodfellas but Dances With Wolves is a beautiful film, too.
  • Posts: 1,879
    The Goodfellas snub was a disgrace. Scorsese routinely got screwed for so many years, I also think back to Ordinary People over Raging Bull. Thing is the Academy voting members were a largely older crowd, and they still get it wrong on so many occasions.

    One of the worst is Do the Right Thing getting passed over for Driving Miss Daisy? Who went to see that film? I saw Do the Right Thing on a hot summer day that year and it's never left me and still as relevant today as it was then.

    Another horrid upset was a few years ago seeing Sly Stallone snubbed for Creed for some guy in a little-seen film. If they can award people like Pacino and Newman for roles that weren't their best but as a sort of recognition for their career, then why not Stallone, whose role as Rocky was a fresh take on a familiar character?
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,248
    BT3366 wrote: »
    The Goodfellas snub was a disgrace. Scorsese routinely got screwed for so many years, I also think back to Ordinary People over Raging Bull. Thing is the Academy voting members were a largely older crowd, and they still get it wrong on so many occasions.

    One of the worst is Do the Right Thing getting passed over for Driving Miss Daisy? Who went to see that film? I saw Do the Right Thing on a hot summer day that year and it's never left me and still as relevant today as it was then.

    Another horrid upset was a few years ago seeing Sly Stallone snubbed for Creed for some guy in a little-seen film. If they can award people like Pacino and Newman for roles that weren't their best but as a sort of recognition for their career, then why not Stallone, whose role as Rocky was a fresh take on a familiar character?

    Well said. I remember seeing DO THE RIGHT THING as well. And you’re right about Sly (I don’t remember who won that year?).
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    peter wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    The Goodfellas snub was a disgrace. Scorsese routinely got screwed for so many years, I also think back to Ordinary People over Raging Bull. Thing is the Academy voting members were a largely older crowd, and they still get it wrong on so many occasions.

    One of the worst is Do the Right Thing getting passed over for Driving Miss Daisy? Who went to see that film? I saw Do the Right Thing on a hot summer day that year and it's never left me and still as relevant today as it was then.

    Another horrid upset was a few years ago seeing Sly Stallone snubbed for Creed for some guy in a little-seen film. If they can award people like Pacino and Newman for roles that weren't their best but as a sort of recognition for their career, then why not Stallone, whose role as Rocky was a fresh take on a familiar character?

    Well said. I remember seeing DO THE RIGHT THING as well. And you’re right about Sly (I don’t remember who won that year?).

    Mark Rylance in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,248
    peter wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    The Goodfellas snub was a disgrace. Scorsese routinely got screwed for so many years, I also think back to Ordinary People over Raging Bull. Thing is the Academy voting members were a largely older crowd, and they still get it wrong on so many occasions.

    One of the worst is Do the Right Thing getting passed over for Driving Miss Daisy? Who went to see that film? I saw Do the Right Thing on a hot summer day that year and it's never left me and still as relevant today as it was then.

    Another horrid upset was a few years ago seeing Sly Stallone snubbed for Creed for some guy in a little-seen film. If they can award people like Pacino and Newman for roles that weren't their best but as a sort of recognition for their career, then why not Stallone, whose role as Rocky was a fresh take on a familiar character?

    Well said. I remember seeing DO THE RIGHT THING as well. And you’re right about Sly (I don’t remember who won that year?).

    Mark Rylance in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies.

    Thank you, @DaltonCraig007 .... I actually quite liked his performance!...
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    Tom Hanks for Philadelphia but to add insult to injury they give it to him the following year for that display of utter buffoonery in Forest Gump.

    I think Hanks was so much better in Big and Denzel gave the best performance in Philadelphia, Hanks was playing a role that Hollywood just felt obliged to award because of the subject.

    If he'd won for Private Ryan that would have been fine, he's done it the opposite of Pacino, got the award for work not really worthy then got better with age. Whereas Al got overlooked for 2 of his very best performances then awarded for some average drama rom com.

    Hanks has actually got better with age.
    peter wrote: »
    Al Pacino: SCENT OF A WOMAN. That year Denzel should have won for Malcolm X (what a great performance).

    Pacino should have one for any of: GF 1&2, SERPICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON.

    Likewise, I don’t think Denzel should have won for TRAINING DAY.

    Pacino's my favourite actor but you are so right, Denzel was incredible here, a tough actor for him to follow.

    Pacino should have got it for at least one of those you mentioned, I think GF 2 is his all time best performance.

    Denzel like Pacino won for the wrong film but they are in good company, Scorsese should never have had to wait till The Departed, think of how many films before he should have won for before that, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas?

    Also Jean Dujardin for The Artist, to think that beat Tinker Tailor, Oldman should have won here, instead he had to put loads of makeup on and appear in a film not worthy of his talents to win.

    Tinker was the full package, extraordinary performance, masterful film, why do the academy give Oscars to performances in OK to sub-standard films?

    Surely a great performance should be in a great film, if not what is the point?
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,248
    @Shardlake-- you're burning up these boards lately with passion, wit and some very nice observations. I'm loving your posts, and I know I should stop gushing about you since my wife is ready to pitch in to get us a room.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    peter wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    The Goodfellas snub was a disgrace. Scorsese routinely got screwed for so many years, I also think back to Ordinary People over Raging Bull. Thing is the Academy voting members were a largely older crowd, and they still get it wrong on so many occasions.

    One of the worst is Do the Right Thing getting passed over for Driving Miss Daisy? Who went to see that film? I saw Do the Right Thing on a hot summer day that year and it's never left me and still as relevant today as it was then.

    Another horrid upset was a few years ago seeing Sly Stallone snubbed for Creed for some guy in a little-seen film. If they can award people like Pacino and Newman for roles that weren't their best but as a sort of recognition for their career, then why not Stallone, whose role as Rocky was a fresh take on a familiar character?

    Well said. I remember seeing DO THE RIGHT THING as well. And you’re right about Sly (I don’t remember who won that year?).

    God DTRT lost to Driving Miss Daisy, just another example.

    Social Network lost to The Kings Speech, granted Firth probably deserved it but Eisenberg was incredible.

    Although for Fincher (should have won for Zodiac really) to be overlooked for this in the director category, some traditional chocolate box film over one of the most contemporary hotbox topic films of recent times, the academy what do they know?

    I think he's possibly going the same way as Hitchcock, not bad company to be in though.
  • Tokoloshe2Tokoloshe2 Northern Ireland
    Posts: 1,172
    Black Swan every time. What utterly pretentious crap.
  • Posts: 14,798
    Gladiator was not a bad movie, but in the end it was just a good action movie set in Ancient Rome. It was a grand spectacle but not a “great” film.
  • Posts: 1,879
    Shardlake wrote: »
    Social Network lost to The Kings Speech, granted Firth probably deserved it but Eisenberg was incredible.
    That's another one I meant to include. It's another example of the Academy rewarding historical films while ignoring something that was actually relevant to recent history and still a good, compelling story and acting.

    I'll be a bit controversial here and say I have always found Million Dollar Baby to be vastly overrated, less than the sum of its parts and therefore undeserving.

    Not that the competition was that much more deserving, just that this movie was mostly predictable and the characters clichéd. It seems to get by on its last act, admittedly an interesting twist but not enough to save it from the predictability, right down to the final scene.


  • Posts: 7,653
    I am always amazed how often people use the word snubbed when it comes to their personal taste and opinion.

    I generally do not care but are more often pleasantly surprised when I watch movies that get an Oscar label and help me choosing in watching them, I have seen movies I otherwise would not have seen.

    I am generally glad for the folks who win and the people nominated they tend to be a list of movies I like to watch.

    There are however so many movies I have not watched and would love to see that any Oscar list on any given year does not matter to me. Like on occasion to watch the show mostly because it somehow can entertain. The BAFTA's presentation is no longer interesting without Stephen Fry presenting this, I loved his quirky word choice it did lift the show.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    peter wrote: »
    @Shardlake-- you're burning up these boards lately with passion, wit and some very nice observations. I'm loving your posts, and I know I should stop gushing about you since my wife is ready to pitch in to get us a room.


    You know me @peter
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    Well, half of the time the best film of the year isn’t even in the English language so by default the Oscars are hardly representative anyway.
  • Posts: 7,653
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Well, half of the time the best film of the year isn’t even in the English language so by default the Oscars are hardly representative anyway.

    Well most of the world is not English speaking anyhow, and most successful movies are more dependent on Worldwide Box-office instead of the UD box-office solely.
  • Posts: 2,887
    Sometimes the Academy gets things right. Here's a list of Best-Picture winners that actually deserved the award. Perhaps they weren't the absolute best pictures of the year, but they were strong enough to qualify:

    Wings (1928/1929)
    All Quiet on the Western Front (1930/1931)
    It Happened One Night (1935)
    Rebecca (1941)
    Casablanca (1944)
    The Lost Weekend (1946)
    The Best Years of Our Lives (1947)
    Hamlet (1949)
    All About Eve (1951)
    An American in Paris (1952)
    From Here to Eternity (1954)
    On the Waterfront (1955)
    The Bridge on the River Kwai (1958)
    The Apartment (1961)
    Lawrence of Arabia (1963)
    Midnight Cowboy (1970)
    The Godfather (1973)
    The Godfather Part II (1975)
    One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
    Unforgiven (1993)
    No Country for Old Men (2008)
    Spotlight (2016)
    Moonlight (2017)
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 7,965
    One best picture winner that everyone forgets about.

    The Artist (2011)
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.
    Posts: 8,655
    One best picture winner that everyone forgets about.

    The Artist (2011)
    Wait! How do you mean this? As an example of the thread title "Worst and Undeserving Oscar Winners" or as a response to the preceding post listing winners that actually deserved the award?

    Without even knowing which others lost out, I'd say The Artist belongs in the latter category.
  • Posts: 14,798
    Revelator wrote: »
    Sometimes the Academy gets things right. Here's a list of Best-Picture winners that actually deserved the award. Perhaps they weren't the absolute best pictures of the year, but they were strong enough to qualify:

    Wings (1928/1929)
    All Quiet on the Western Front (1930/1931)
    It Happened One Night (1935)
    Rebecca (1941)
    Casablanca (1944)
    The Lost Weekend (1946)
    The Best Years of Our Lives (1947)
    Hamlet (1949)
    All About Eve (1951)
    An American in Paris (1952)
    From Here to Eternity (1954)
    On the Waterfront (1955)
    The Bridge on the River Kwai (1958)
    The Apartment (1961)
    Lawrence of Arabia (1963)
    Midnight Cowboy (1970)
    The Godfather (1973)
    The Godfather Part II (1975)
    One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
    Unforgiven (1993)
    No Country for Old Men (2008)
    Spotlight (2016)
    Moonlight (2017)

    For a moment I thought it was a list of movies that you think did not deserve an Oscar.

    I'd add to it The French Connection and Amadeus.
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