We were talking about “Bad” Oscar Movies http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2972109#post2972109.
It got me thinking about a book I read years back where a guy gave his alternate ballot to Oscar History.
He used all films released, but I am going to give my ballot based only on nominated films. I may go back further, but for now, I’ll go back to 1980.
You may vote as you choose, but let us know what method you are using. Let’s kind of get an idea over the most snubbed film all-time (although we all know it is Shakespeare over Pvt. Ryan.)
(These dates refer to the date of the ceremony. The films were from the previous year).
2002- Real Winner: Beautiful Mind. MY PICK- LotR. Gets screwed by anti-effects bias. BM was a good movie, but LotR was one of those special films. I AM glad Potsie won for Best Dir. though.
2001- Real Winner: Gladiator. MY PICK- Traffic. I guess… I really wasn’t impressed with this batch of films.
2000- Real Winner: American Beauty MY PICK- American Beauty. Again, a mediocre Oscar Year. Still, the script was good, the dialogue clever, and the acting was exceptional.
1999- Real Winner: Shakespeare in Love MY PICK- Saving Private Ryan. Those fat Weinstein Bros. musta bribed everyone in Hollywood. SiL was cute, but it was more the “fifth” nominee. SPR is in the Hollywood Pantheon of TRULY great films.
1998- Real Winner: Titanic MY PICK- LA Confidential. What are you gonna do? It was a really popular film. Well made, but only decent. LA Confidential on the other hand was a thinking piece (which explains it’s bottom of the barrell box office take).
1997- Real Winner: English Patient MY PICK- I guess I’d go with Fargo. I liked Jerry Maguire best, but a Best Picture it was not. EP was just WAY too boring. I like to use two factors in determing my picks: (1) Production Values and (2) Entertainment/Subject of Interest.
1996- Real Winner: Braveheart MY PICK- Again, another weak year. Much like NFL Instant Replay, I will only overrule the call on the field if there is conclusive evidence. None here so Braveheart stays.
1995- Real Winner: Forrest Gump MY PICK- Shawshank Redemption. An excellent year for nominations. I loved Gump (I am beginning to think I am in a minority), but Shawshank is one of my all-time favorite. Pulp Fiction could easily have been my choice as well. The other two nominees were Quiz Show and 4 Wedding. All decent films.
1994- Real Winner: Schindler’s List MY PICK- The Fugitive…Just Kidding.
1993- Real Winner: Unforgiven MY PICK- A Few Good Men. Sure it is cheesy and preachy, but Unforgiven bored the crap out of me (I don’t really like Westerns, I think). I am ashamed of this pick. AFGM is one of my guilty pleasures.
1992- Real Winner: Silence of the Lambs MY PICK- Silence. A decent year.
1991- Real Winner: Dances With Wolves MY PICK- Goodfellas. Another candidate for the biggest blown call of all time. Dances was a pretty movie, but Goodfellas is a top five caliber film. Scorcese was the one that REALLY got hosed.
1990- Real Winner: Driving Miss Daisy MY PICK- Dead Poets Society. Sniff. Sniff. Oh Captain, My Captain. I am such a wuss.
1989- Real Winner: Rain Man MY PICK- Dangerous Liasons. Just a notch better than Rain Man. Malkovich was exceptional.
1988- Real Winner: The Last Emporer. MY PICK- Whatever…
1987- Real Winner: Platoon. MY PICK- I agree.
1986- Real Winner: Out of Africa. MY PICK- Color Purple. The Oscar voters apparently did not agree that this was an Oscar worthy film.
1985- Real Winner: Amadeus. MY PICK- I agree. I only saw this film in the last year or so and I had misjudged it for many years before.
1984- Real Winner: Terms of Endearment MY PICK- The Right Stuff. Epic Historical film versus fluff piece.
1983- Real Winner: Ghandi. MY PICK- I’ll stick with Ghandi.
1982- Real Winner: Chariots of Fire. MY PICK- Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even though I love them all, this first installment was vastly superior to the other two. It suffers from the same bias that doomed LotR. What an excpetional movie. I probably have a fanboy bias myself. This is my favorite movie.
1981- Real Winner: Ordinary People MY PICK- I know I’m supposed to say Raging Bull here, but it was one of the best made, most boring films I have ever seen. I decline to vote.
1980- Real Winner: Kramer vs. Kramer MY PICK- No irrefutable evidence to overturn. Apoc. Now was slightly overrated in my opinion.
