Worst Oscar Winners

[gunnar]

My bottom ten:

. . .
88. All Quiet on the Western Front
89. Midnight Cowboy
90. Annie Hall
. . .

Really??!

Yes, though my rankings are based on my enjoyment of the film and not comparing the winner to the other nominees or all Best Picture winners ever. I finished watching all of the Best Picture winners back in 2010, having watched all the previous unseen films on that list between 2007-2010. My opinion on some of them might be different if I watched them today.

As an example, I didn't really care for Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon when I watched them during the same time period and was lukewarm toward Casablanca. I rewatched The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca last year and liked them quite a bit more. I'll give Citizen Kane another go at some point. I've never been much of a Woody Allen fan though there are some of his films that I do like a lot more than others. I watched Annie Hall when I was in my 20s and then again at 37 and didn't care much for it either time. All Quiet on the Western Front and Midnight Cowboy were okay, but definitely not among my favorites. I'll probably give All Quiet on the Western Front another watch eventually. I don't have any real desire to revisit Midnight Cowboy.

[Sabin]

Sonic Youth wrote
This was the one Oscar ceremony I intentionally skipped. There are a few others. Missed the year Braveheart won because I had a really bad cold and slept through it; and missed the year of Argo because my wife was busy giving birth. But 2002 was a boycott. The thought of Beautiful Mind winning was so revolting to me, that I treated myself to a night at the movies instead. Yes, people do go to the movies on Oscar night! The theaters were decently attended, probably because I went to the arthouse venue and saw two foreign language films. I was surrounded by people who probably skip the Oscars all their lives. They must be so relaxed, not having to think about these things!

1995 was the first Oscar ceremony I ever watched. It's how I got hooked. It's the reason I'm here on this board today. I haven't missed a single one, although you certainly had a good reason for the third Oscars you missed, and you weren't wrong about the second. That was a dreary night. Although it was pretty cool that Woody Allen showed up... at the time.

jack wrote
For me nothing can beat Shakespeare in Love. The 1998 year was my first Oscar show, and it still to this day leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that it beat Saving Private Ryan. It’s also a terrible film.

I'm not sure if Shakespeare in Love would make my ten best winners list but it would come close.

[Sonic Youth]

1. [b[A Beautiful Mind[/b]: no other Best Picture winner offends me so much.

This was the one Oscar ceremony I intentionally skipped. There are a few others. Missed the year Braveheart won because I had a really bad cold and slept through it; and missed the year of Argo because my wife was busy giving birth. But 2002 was a boycott. The thought of Beautiful Mind winning was so revolting to me, that I treated myself to a night at the movies instead. Yes, people do go to the movies on Oscar night! The theaters were decently attended, probably because I went to the arthouse venue and saw two foreign language films. I was surrounded by people who probably skip the Oscars all their lives. They must be so relaxed, not having to think about these things!

[Greg]

For me nothing can beat Shakespeare in Love. The 1998 year was my first Oscar show, and it still to this day leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that it beat Saving Private Ryan. It’s also a terrible film.

For me, Shakespeare In Love is a nice little film, but, nothing particularly noteworthy.

[jack]

For me nothing can beat Shakespeare in Love. The 1998 year was my first Oscar show, and it still to this day leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that it beat Saving Private Ryan. It’s also a terrible film.

I had no idea who Harvey Weinstein was back then, but can remember hating him after that show. He stood on stage as this smug, fat, ugly arshole (who knew?).

I was living in the UK at the time and I’m sure the show was broadcast on the BBC with the Film Program host Barry Norman talking with, I think, David Ansen. Both in agreement that Saving Private Ryan was about to win. Then it didn’t.

[Greg]

My bottom ten:

. . .
88. All Quiet on the Western Front
89. Midnight Cowboy
90. Annie Hall
. . .

Really??!

[Sabin]

I'm going to do something a little different. I just haven't seen enough Best Picture winners in my life. I haven't quite worked up the courage to put myself through The Greatest Show on Earth, The Broadway Melody, or Cimarron. I'm sure I will at some point. Generally speaking, movies of old never quite earn my ire like a travesty in real-time. So, I'm just going to focus on a top five from my moviegoing life.

1. A Beautiful Mind: no other Best Picture winner offends me so much. I don't care that it's a crock of shit. I even like the twist. My problem is that this film about mental illness celebrates his decision to refuse medication even after he almost kills his child and strikes his (one-dimensional) wife. Contrast to the perennially underrated Silver Linings Playbook where he takes his fucking meds and grows to find love. Credit deserved for Roger Deakins' excellent cinematography and James Horner's excellent score (R.I.P.) but as depressing a choice ever for such a great year.

2. Braveheart: my first favorite movie of all time. Fitting as it's more or less a film geared towards the maturity of a 14 year old male. It's homophobic, it's muddled, and it's boring. Credit deserved for James Horner's great score (R.I.P.x2)

3. Crash: I don't think it's quite as bad as some make it out to be, but there's nothing special about it. It's just derivative and un-special.

4. Green Book: It wishes it was Driving Miss Daisy. There are things I like about the film. Mortensen and Ali are quite good. Farrelly knows how to execute the flow of a road movie. I just hate how the script abandons Tony's outward racism to position them on equal ground needing to learn from each other.

5. The Shape of Water: were I to post my top ten list of Best Picture winners, you'll see a fight between The Apartment and Annie Hall for top spot. I love good love stories. I am here for a love story between a woman and a fish. It's a shame that GDT doesn't know how to tell a love story. The infatuation occurs over a montage. The Fish Man is completely devoid of personality. And they can't even decide what the Fish Man is. He's an animal, then he's a God. Lovely intentions get watered down by a lack of focus.

[gunnar]

My bottom ten:

85. Mutiny on the Bounty
86. The Broadway Melody
87. Cimarron
88. All Quiet on the Western Front
89. Midnight Cowboy
90. Annie Hall
91. Gigi
92. Tom Jones
93. The French Connection
94. Cavalcade


The French Connection is due for a rewatch and reevaluation since it's been 15 years since I saw it. Maybe I'll like it more the next time around.

[anonymous1980]

My bottom 10 Best Picture winners (and I've seen everything):

85. The Great Ziegfeld
86. Rocky
87. Gigi
88. Tom Jones
89. A Beautiful Mind
90. The Greatest Show on Earth
91. The Broadway Melody
92. Around the World in Eighty Days
93. Crash
94. Cavalcade

[OscarGuy]

Starting at the bottom. Ranked to 92 because I never got a chance to see Nomadland because my screener wouldn't work. I'll catch it sometime on Hulu, but I doubt it will crack the bottom 10...it would be hard to do that.

92. Braveheart
91. Cavalcade
90. A Beautiful Mind
89. The Greatest Show on Earth
88. The Broadway Melody
87. Tom Jones
86. Cimarron
85. Crash
84. Green Book
83. Gladiator

[Big Magilla]

Everybody has lists. This isn't one I particularly like doing, but here it is for what it is.

When we say worst Oscar winners, do we mean the Oscar winners that were not good films to begin with, or films that haven't aged well? Or do we just don't like them because they beat a film that we considered more deserving?

It may be a combination of this. In any event, there have only been 11 best picture winners that I failed to consider among the ten best films of their year, only 8 of which I really don't like, but for the sake of completion, here are all 11 that failed to make the grade with me:

From worst to not too bad:

1. Braveheart (1995) - hated it from the get-go. Dull, boring, and historically inaccurate. The year's best film IMO was the non-nominated Dead Man Walking.
2, A Beautiful Mind (2001) - historically inaccurate with a confusing narrative. Russell Crowe was good, everyone else was poorly used.
3. The Broadway Melody (1929) - can't blame them for giving it the award in a year with slim pickings but what did they really like about it? The story was hackneyed even then.
4. Cavalcade (1933) - stage-bound adaptation of the Noel Coward play.
5. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) - too much mugging by Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde ruined whatever possibilities it had to begin with.
6. Around the World in 80 days (1956) - the first narrative film in Cinerama with cameos by stars everyone knew then, few do now. Has aged badly.
7. Gladiator (2000) - 1950s sword and sandal gussied up to look like something new. It wasn't.
8. Crash (2005) - not a bad film, but not a particularly good one either. Did people really like it or did it win out of spite against the "gay cowboy movie", Brokeback Mountain?
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - interminable saga.
10. Out of Africa (1985) - nice to look at, with a great supporting performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer, but that was about it.
11. Cimarron (1931) - great opening sequence but doesn't sustain its momentum.