# Least-deserved Best Picture Oscar, 2000-2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390 "2010-05-22T18:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/1 "2010-05-22T18:48:21Z")
Vote for the 2000-2009 film you feel _least deserved_ to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Below I’ve listed all the nominees for each year, so you can see what the competition was. Please note: I’ve listed these films by the year they were released; Oscars would be from the following year. Other nominees 2000 _Chocolat Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Erin Brockovich Traffic_ 2001 Gosford Park In the Bedroom Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Moulin Rouge! 2002 _Gangs of New York The Hours Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Pianist_ 2003 _Lost in Translation Master and Commander Mystic River Seabiscuit_ 2004 _The Aviator Finding Neverland Ray Sideways_ 2005 _Brokeback Mountain Capote Good Night, and Good Luck Munich_ 2006 _Babel Letters from Iwo Jima Little Miss Sunshine The Queen_ 2007 _Atonement Juno Michael Clayton There Will Be Blood_ 2008 _The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frost/Nixon Milk The Reader_ 2009 _Avatar The Blind Side District 9 An Education Inglorious Basterds Precious A Serious Man Up Up in the Air_ ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/2 "2010-05-22T18:51:08Z")
Mine is _Crash_. There were winners I hated more (not many, true), but I cannot rationalize in any way _Crash_ winning in a year with _Brokeback Mountain_. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/3 "2010-05-22T20:56:37Z")
Too bad **Master and Commander** was up against the last **Lord of the Rings** movie in 2003, bad timing for them. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/4 "2010-05-22T21:05:53Z")
As much as I hate _ **Crash, A Beautiful Mind** _ is one of the most dishonest movies ever made. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/5 "2010-05-22T21:35:01Z")
I picked **Crash**. It’s actually a pretty bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/6 "2010-05-22T22:09:45Z")
Hey, I liked Crash, and I correctly predicted it winning Best Picture that year. Chicago, on the other hand. WTF? All 4 other nominees deserved best picture more than that piece of crap did. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/7 "2010-05-22T22:12:38Z")
> [@HelloKitty](#): > > Too bad **Master and Commander** was up against the last **Lord of the Rings** movie in 2003, bad timing for them. That year, _M&C_ won every Oscar it was nominated for…that wasn’t up against _LotR_. While the latter’s win was worthwhile, if I had to pick one of them to watch again and again, it would be the Weir. > [@lissener](#): > > As much as I hate Crash, A Beautiful Mind is one of the most dishonest movies ever made. Ditto. That got my vote, too. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/8 "2010-05-22T22:13:13Z")
There are several years in which the best movie wasn’t even nominated: 2000: **O Brother Where Art Thou?** 2003: **The Station Agent** 2008: **In Bruges** ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/9 "2010-05-23T00:12:59Z")
I never understood what was so great about the LotR movies, so that got my vote. Lost in Translation was better, and Master and Commander sounds better as well. A Beautiful Mind may have been nothing like the real life story, but it was still a rather good movie. Crash definitely has its detractors; I think hyperlink cinema was so in vogue then, and no one really wanted to give the gay cowboy movie top honors. That said, I liked Capote and GN&GL far more than Crash once I got around to seeing them. It definitely gets second place by far. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/10 "2010-05-23T01:01:36Z")
LoTR was just an Oscar given because it was the final chapter in the trilogy. By itself it didn’t have a chance to win (like the others) but it was one of the BS “deserved” Oscars that the Acadamy loves. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/11 "2010-05-23T01:59:47Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Mine is _Crash_. There were winners I hated more (not many, true), but I cannot rationalize in any way _Crash_ winning in a year with _Brokeback Mountain_. This, for precisely this reason. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/12 "2010-05-23T02:47:31Z")
I turned Crash off after about 15 minutes. It was disingenuous garbage. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/13 "2010-05-23T04:13:52Z")
Crash was, at least, a well paced story. As much as I loved the first “Lord of the Rings” movie, and very much liked “The Two Towers,” “The Return of the King” is a pretty bad movie. It lacks almost everything that made the first two movies good; it’s badly paced, badly written, too long, and it’s not really a complete story. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/14 "2010-05-23T05:04:44Z")
I’m sorry but “A beautiful mind” was a truly idiotic bad movie-of-the-week crap. To add insult to injury, the dreadful Akiva Goldman even got a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for a completely made-up story with imbecilic lines like: _Alicia: How big is the universe? Nash: Infinite. Alicia: How do you know? Nash: I know because all the data indicates it’s infinite. Alicia: But it hasn’t been proven yet. Nash: No. Alicia: You haven’t seen it. Nash: No. Alicia: How do you know for sure? Nash: I don’t, I just believe it. Alicia: It’s the same with love I guess._ Um. Big bang theory making the universe clearly\*\* finite\*\* anyone? Something a twelve year old should know about? And let’s not forget hallmark’s rejected cards like: _Nash: I’ve made the most important discovery of my life. It’s only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found. I’m only here tonight because of you. You are the only reason I am… you are all my reasons._ There’s not even a contest here. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/15 "2010-05-23T05:21:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Too bad Master and Commander was up against the last Lord of the Rings movie in 2003, bad timing for them. The director for the Best Foreign Film award started his speech with “I’m thankful that Lord of the Rings wasn’t eligible in my category”. Myself, I haven’t seen any of the 2005 movies, so I can’t judge there, but I have seen _Chocolat_, _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_, and _Gladiator_, and the former two were definitely better than the latter. > [@](#): > > Um. Big bang theory making the universe clearly finite anyone? Something a twelve year old should know about? Only in the same sense that anyone with the education doled out in our high schools should know that a rocket would not work in vacuum. The current best evidence does, in fact, suggest that the Universe is infinite, and it’s certainly consistent with the Big Bang theory for it to be so. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/16 "2010-05-23T05:40:37Z")
Man! That was a very tough choice. It had to be **Million Dollar Baby** , **Crash** , or **Slumdog Millionaire**. I figured that **Crash** would be in the lead, so I had to ultimately throw the weight of my hate over to (the _very_ deserving) **Slumdog Millionaire**. Overall, the aughts wasn’t the best decade, Best Picture Oscar™-wise. ETA: Reading through the alternate nominees for each year, I just got goddamn angry all over again that fucking **Million Dollar Baby** beat out **Sideways**! Fuck Paul Haggis! I don’t care that he had a hand in writing the screenplay for the excellent **Casino Royale** , he’ll _never_ be able to atone for the twin atrocities of **Million Dollar Baby** and **Crash**! ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/17 "2010-05-23T05:46:20Z")
And **Up** should’ve taken this year’s prize, most definitely. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/18 "2010-05-23T05:47:23Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Mine is _Crash_. There were winners I hated more (not many, true), but I cannot rationalize in any way _Crash_ winning in a year with _Brokeback Mountain_. Everything you said, except replace **Brokeback** with **Munich**. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/19 "2010-05-23T20:23:58Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Mine is _Crash_. There were winners I hated more (not many, true), but I cannot rationalize in any way _Crash_ winning in a year with _Brokeback Mountain_. I’ll go with **Crash** too. There are other movies I could have picked, such as **Chicago** , which I absolutely love and adore, winning over **The Pianist** , or **A Beautiful Mind** , which I didn’t love but thought was decent, winning over **Moulin Rouge!** \* or **Gosford Park** (I’d say **Fellowship Of The Ring** too, but I consider that part of the **Return of the King** win, so it’s ok). I did like **Crash** , the acting was amazing, but, it never should have won over **Brokeback Mountain** , and if **Brokeback Mountain** wasn’t going to win, **Munich** should have won. IMO, but I’m not an Academy voter and had no say. I don’t condemn “The Academy” though. It’s not a monolithic entity where everyone votes the same. The Academy voters are individuals, voting individually, in kitchens and dens and offices and at dining room tables all over the world. Majority rules, so some of these movies could have won by one vote. We’ll never know. They never release voting totals and never will. Some cinematographer in England you never heard of or a retired character actor living in the Bahamas could have cast the deciding vote for one of these oh-so-hated movies. - Not that I really think, deep down inside, that **Moulin Rouge!** is Best Picture material, though it would have been fun to see. It’s one of my All-Time Favorite films, I adore it more than words can say, so I’m just thrilled that it was nominated. I still grin with delight at the thought, that something so bizarre and non-mainstream got nominated. I feel the same way about **A Serious Man** , but it’s not the same since there were 10 spots for nominees. **Moulin Rouge!** got in with 5. It’s rare that my Top Favorite films get nominated. That year, 2 did ( **Fellowship of the Ring** was the other). **A Beautiful Mind** winning can not diminish the joy I feel when I think of the 2001/2002 Oscars. It’s not just a cliche. It truly IS an honor just to be nominated, when so many great movies don’t. Well, didn’t, but can have a better chance now, with 10 nominees. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390/20 "2010-05-23T20:43:17Z")
**Chicago** , with **Crash** hard on its heels. They not only beat out better movies, as did most of the winners, but you couldn’t pay me to watch them, whereas most of the others I merely wouldn’t watch for free. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-deserved-best-picture-oscar-2000-2009/540390.md?page=2)