# Oscar Best Picture elimination thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924 "2010-03-09T23:29:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/101 "2010-03-11T07:39:34Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > In any event, I’m voting off **The Bridge on the River Kwai**. I hate war movies where soldiers behave like gentlemen. Which only proves that you didn’t get the point of the movie one bit. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/102 "2010-03-11T07:46:34Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Which only proves that you didn’t get the point of the movie one bit. Always a possibility. Would you care to enlighten me? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/103 "2010-03-11T13:52:25Z")
I wish _Gandhi_ gone. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/104 "2010-03-11T15:32:52Z")
We’re Left With… All Quiet on the Western Front Mutiny on the Bounty Gone with the Wind Rebecca Casablanca The Lost Weekend The Best Years of Our Lives Hamlet All the King’s Men All about Eve An American in Paris From Here to Eternity On the Waterfront Ben-Hur Lawrence of Arabia A Man for All Seasons Patton The French Connection The Godfather One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest The Silence of the Lambs Schindler’s List No embarrassingly bad movies on that list. Which means, from here on in, we’ll be eliminating good or even VERY good movies. The worst of the remaining movies is definitely _ **The Deer Hunter** _. A lot of great moments, but they don’t add up to a great movie. And there’s a REASON Michael Cimino fell off the face of the Earth. So, \*\*\*The Deer Hunter \*\*\*is off, even thoug Christopher Walken grew up in my neighborhood, and his father made the best cakes anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/105 "2010-03-11T15:57:20Z")
Y’know, at this point in the thread, the remaining movies are a pretty damn fine bunch of pictures! ETA: I posted this just before you reprinted the list, with your comments. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/106 "2010-03-11T15:57:36Z")
I’ll kick _An American in Paris_ because it’s a cheeseball dance movie. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/107 "2010-03-11T16:02:22Z")
Wow, this is tough. Of the movies on that list that I’ve seen are really great. I’m going to go ahead and knock off **Silence of the Lambs**. Great movie. Great performances. But I can’t say it’s in the top ten of what’s left so it may as well go now. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/108 "2010-03-11T19:28:25Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Always a possibility. Would you care to enlighten me? The fact that Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness) behaves like a gentleman is the object of direct criticism by the film itself. His stiff-upper-lip demeanor may ingrain discipline, but it also shows how he’s so focused on appearances and protocols that he loses all perspective in the fact that he’s actually assisting the enemy. It’s like saying you don’t approve of _Trainspotting_ because you don’t like films that glamorize drug abuse. * * * As for what to kick to the curb: Aside from its central performance, _Patton_ is a film with little to really distinguish itself. Adios! ---
**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:** [March 11, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/109 "2010-03-11T19:31:24Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > No embarrassingly bad movies on that list. You and I disagree strongly on _The Lost Weekend_, then. I’ll settle the disagreement by booting it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/110 "2010-03-11T19:39:41Z")
With due respect **ArchiveGuy** , you are posting so many eliminations that this is in danger of becoming an “ArchiveGuy’s favorite movies” thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/111 "2010-03-11T19:50:35Z")
This is going to sound ridiculous considering the source material, but _Hamlet_ is stagy and a little precious. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/112 "2010-03-11T19:53:46Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > With due respect **ArchiveGuy** , you are posting so many eliminations that this is in danger of becoming an “ArchiveGuy’s favorite movies” thread. Apologies–I only post (once) after a new, reduced list is compiled. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/113 "2010-03-11T19:57:19Z")
Almost tempted to throw Ben Hur to the curb (some of these I’ve never seen), but I’ll second DIO’s vote… ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/114 "2010-03-11T19:57:28Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > This is going to sound ridiculous considering the source material, but _Hamlet_ is stagy and a little precious. Bye. It had a crappy script. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/115 "2010-03-11T19:59:14Z")
I’ll kick _A Man for All Seasons_ for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/116 "2010-03-11T20:03:28Z")
I know people are going to call me names, but I gotta get _Schindler’s List_ off there. I thought it was a somewhat simplistic treatment of its subject, and I hate it when filmmakers decide they need to add on emotional manipulation (which is how the ending struck me) when a story is powerful enough to cause an emotional reaction without the purposeful tearjerking. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/117 "2010-03-11T20:54:02Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > …Aside from its central performance, _Patton_ is a film with little to really distinguish itself. Adios! I’d say the same about _All About Eve_. It’s gone. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/118 "2010-03-11T21:13:00Z")
And then there were 15: All Quiet on the Western Front Mutiny on the Bounty Gone with the Wind Rebecca Casablanca The Best Years of Our Lives All the King’s Men From Here to Eternity On the Waterfront Ben-Hur Lawrence of Arabia Patton The French Connection The Godfather One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/119 "2010-03-11T21:20:50Z")
Wasn’t \*\*Patton \*\*already taken off the list? Yep, post 108. I haven’t seen enough of what’s left to kick any to the curb, so I’ll just spectate from here on out. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924/120 "2010-03-11T21:22:49Z")
Originally Posted by ArchiveGuy View Post …Aside from its central performance, Patton is a film with little to really distinguish itself. Adios! Looks like Patton is gone. I have 1 more film I would dearly like to kick to the curb, but probably everyone else considers it a classic, so I’l wait a little longer. 😛 Do we need to check if no one has seen some of the remaining films? I’ve never even heard of **The Best Years of our Lives** & **All the Kings Men.** Snap Ninja! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-best-picture-elimination-thread/531924.md?page=7)