# Oscar Madness - The Losers (R1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516 "2008-06-27T23:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/21 "2008-06-29T00:07:15Z")
Again, good luck having to score FOUR of these opening rounds at once! And again, I abstain on matchups where I haven’t seen either movie, or only saw one and want it to burn in hell. 1928-1947 [1] Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [2] It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946) [12] I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (LeRoy, 1932) [10] Notorious (Hitchcock, 1946) [9] The Great Dictator (Chaplin, 1940) 1948-1967 [16] The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1948/Italy) (THIS IS SEEDED AT 16???) [2] The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954/Japan) [14] Cool Hand Luke (Rosenberg, 1967) (tough choice, but a lot more happens in this movie) [4] Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) [12] The Shop on Main Street (Kadar/Klos, 1965/Czechoslovakia) [7] The Third Man (Reed, 1949) [9] The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963) 1968-1987 [1] Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) [2] A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971) [3] Alien (Scott, 1979) (never realized this was nominated for best picture!) [13] The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987) [5] Das Boot (Petersen, 1981/West Germany) [11] Ran (Kurosawa, 1985/Japan) [10] Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985) (again, never knew it got the nomination!) [9] Return of the Jedi (Marquand, 1983) (although why is THIS in here rather than the original?) 1988-2007 [1] The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994) [2] Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) [3] Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) [4] City of God (Meirelles, 2002/Brazil) [5] Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) [6] Memento (Nolan, 2000) [10] Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky, 2000) [9] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004) (FTW!!!) Man, there were so many losers that I enjoyed WAY more than the winners! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/22 "2008-06-29T04:34:12Z")
> [@](#): > > This category is for films that only won one (1) or zero Oscars. Miyazaki’s was a bit of a surprise and probably the most deserved since the creation of the category, so it is probably inaccurate to characterize it as a “Loser”. But given the parameters of the category, it still qualifies for this showdown and not any of the others. Sure, technically that’s true. But it’s an animated feature film. It won the only non-trivial award it even had a remote chance of being nominated in. Heck, it could be argued they created a new Oscar category in order to give it to this movie. Being as it was as successful as any animated feature could hope to be at the Oscars, I think it’s wrong to lump it in as a “loser”. My two cents anyway. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/23 "2008-06-30T01:01:45Z")
1928-1947 [1] Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [2] It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946) pass [4] Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944) pass pass [7] The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) [9] The Great Dictator (Chaplin, 1940) 1948-1967 [1] Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954 [2] The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954/Japan) [3] 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957) [4] Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) pass pass [10] Singin’ in the Rain (Donen/Kelly, 1952) [9] The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963) 1968-1987 [1] Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) [2] A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971) [14] The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969) [13] The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987) pass [11] Ran (Kurosawa, 1985/Japan) [10] Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985) [9] Return of the Jedi (Marquand, 1983) 1988-2007 [1] The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994) [2] Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) [3] Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) [4] City of God (Meirelles, 2002/Brazil) [5] Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) pass [7] American History X (Kaye, 1998) pass ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/24 "2008-06-30T01:49:04Z")
I must again protest at the silliness of the “cite the director like the author of a book” thing. But great threads,\*\* ArchiveGuy,\*\* and thanks for all the hard work. 1928-1947 [1] Citizen Kane [15] Operator 13 [3] Shoeshine [4] Double Indemnity [5] Sadie Thompson [11] Brief Encounter [7] The Maltese Falcon [9] The Great Dictator Picking “Citizen Kane” is like picking Wayne Gretzky in a “Who was the best hockey player ever?” discussion; it’s so boring, and such a common pick, that you want to pick something else. But the facts are unassaiilable. “Maltese Falcon” over “Notorious” was a tough one. 1948-1967 [1] Rear Window [2] The Seven Samurai [3] 12 Angry Men [4] Dr. Strangelove [12] The Shop on Main Street [6] Placido [10] Singin’ in the Rain [9] The Great Escape I hated “Some Like It Hot.” Dr. Strangelove is the exact opposite of “The Princess Bride” (see comment on that below) in that I can’t believe, watching it today, that it’s as old a movie as it is. It seems far too daring and modern for its time. 1968-1987 [16] The Conformist [15] Sleuth [14] The Wild Bunch [4] Chinatown [5] Das Boot [11] Ran [10] Back to the Future [8] La Traviata Chinatown beats out “The Princess Bride.” As quotable as the movie was, it’s amazingly dated now, and appears as if it was shot for about $185 plus the price of a pizza lunch. It would have lost to any other movie on this list… except perhaps “Return of the Jedi.” “Back to the Future” was, IMHO, one of the four or five best movies of the 1980s, and better than **any** movie in that decade that won Best Picture. 1988-2007 [1] The Shawshank Redemption [2] Pulp Fiction [3] Goodfellas [4] City of God [5] Fight Club [6] Memento [7] American History X [9] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind My choice of “The Shawshank Redemption” should not be taken to mean that I think it was a great movie. In fact, I think it might be the most overrated movie in the history of cinema. I almost picked “Amelie,” would wouyld have made this category a sweep for the favourites. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/25 "2008-06-30T08:56:44Z")
1928-1947 [1] Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [2] It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946) [3] Shoeshine (De Sica, 1946/Italy) [4] Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944) [12] I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (LeRoy, 1932) [6] The Last Command (Sternberg, 1928) [7] The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) [9] The Great Dictator (Chaplin, 1940) [16] The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1948/Italy) [2] The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954/Japan) [14] Cool Hand Luke (Rosenberg, 1967) [4] Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) [5] Sundays and Cybele (Bourguignon, 1962/France) [11] Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964/Japan) [7] The Third Man (Reed, 1949) [9] The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963) 1968-1987 [1] Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) [2] A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971) [3] Alien (Scott, 1979) [13] The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987) [5] Das Boot (Petersen, 1981/West Germany) [11] Ran (Kurosawa, 1985/Japan) [10] Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985) [8] La Traviata (Zeffirelli, 1983) 1988-2007 [1] The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994) [2] Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) [3] Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) [4] City of God (Meirelles, 2002/Brazil) [5] Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) [11] Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001/Japan) [7] American History X (Kaye, 1998) [9] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/26 "2008-07-01T20:24:15Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Sure, technically that’s true. But it’s an animated feature film. It won the only non-trivial award it even had a remote chance of being nominated in. Heck, it could be argued they created a new Oscar category in order to give it to this movie. Being as it was as successful as any animated feature could hope to be at the Oscars, I think it’s wrong to lump it in as a “loser”. [/quote] There have been plenty of animated films that have been nominated in the Music and Sound categories (unless you count them as “trivial”), and as the other thread shows, there have been animated movies that have won more than 1 award, so it hardly was “as successful as any animated feature could hope to be”. Also, _Spirited_ was not the first film to win this category, so it was hardly created for it either. “Loser” was not meant as pejorative; just like the far-from-“Forgotten” films in the other showdown, the title was intended to (in an admittedly imperfect way) distinguish those films who walked away with many awards with those who walked away with few-to-none. Maybe **THE SHAFTED** would’ve been more appropriate, but what’s done is done. But thanks for participating! 🙂 Just 20 hours left! ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/27 "2008-07-01T20:34:46Z")
1928-1947 [1] Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [15] Operator 13 (Boleslawski, 1934) [3] Shoeshine (De Sica, 1946/Italy) [4] Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944) [12] I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (LeRoy, 1932) [6] The Last Command (Sternberg, 1928) [7] The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) [9] The Great Dictator (Chaplin, 1940) 1948-1967 [16] The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1948/Italy) [2] The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954/Japan) [3] 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957) [4] Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) [5] Sundays and Cybele (Bourguignon, 1962/France) [6] Placido (Berlanga, 1961/Spain) [7] The Third Man (Reed, 1949) [9] The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963) 1968-1987 [1] Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) [2] A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971) [14] The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969) [4] Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) - this one hurt [5] Das Boot (Petersen, 1981/West Germany) [11] Ran (Kurosawa, 1985/Japan) [10] Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985) [8] La Traviata (Zeffirelli, 1983) 1988-2007 [1] The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994) [2] Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) [14] Downfall (Hirschbiegel, 2004/Germany) [4] City of God (Meirelles, 2002/Brazil) [12] The Lives of Others (Donnersmarck, 2006) [6] Memento (Nolan, 2000) [10] Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky, 2000) [9] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/28 "2008-07-02T01:04:01Z")
[QUOTE=fusoya] [3] Alien (Scott, 1979) (never realized this was nominated for best picture!) [/QUOTE] It wasn’t. This category is for any Oscar nominee, not just Best Pictures. (_Alien_ won Visual Effects and lost Art Direction) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/29 "2008-07-02T17:20:56Z")
1928-1947 [1] **Citizen Kane** (Welles, 1941) vs. [16] The Ox-Bow Incident (Wellman, 1943) (22-1) [2] **It’s a Wonderful Life** (Capra, 1946) vs. [15] Operator 13 (Boleslawski, 1934) (17-5) [3] **Shoeshine** (De Sica, 1946/Italy) vs. [14] The Smiling Lieutenant (Lubitsch, 1931) (13-3) [4] **Double Indemnity** (Wilder, 1944) vs. [13] Dodsworth (Wyler, 1936) (21-0) [5] Sadie Thompson (Walsh, 1928) vs. [12] **I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang** (LeRoy, 1932) (6-13) [6] The Last Command (Sternberg, 1928) vs. [11] **Brief Encounter** (Lean, 1945) (4-13) [7] **The Maltese Falcon** (Huston, 1941) vs. [10] Notorious (Hitchcock, 1946) (20-3) [8] One Way Passage (Garnett, 1932) vs. [9] **The Great Dictator** (Chaplin, 1940) (3-20) I didn’t expect it to win, but if you get a chance, check out _One Way Passage_, one of the best romance films of the 30s. 1948-1967 [1] **Rear Window** (Hitchcock, 1954) vs. [16] The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1948/Italy) (18-5) [2] **The Seven Samurai** (Kurosawa, 1954/Japan) vs. [15] The Manchurian Candidate (Frankenheimer, 1962) (14-8) [3] 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957) vs. [14] **Cool Hand Luke** (Rosenberg, 1967) (11-12) [4] **Dr. Strangelove** (Kubrick, 1964) vs. [13] Séance on a Wet Afternoon (Forbes, 1964) (22-0) [5] Sundays and Cybele (Bourguignon, 1962/France) vs. [12] **The Shop on Main Street** (Kadar/Klos, 1965/Czechoslovakia) (4-14) [6] Placido (Berlanga, 1961/Spain) vs. [11] **Woman in the Dunes** (Teshigahara, 1964/Japan) (8-9) [7] The Third Man (Reed, 1949) vs. [10] **Singin’ in the Rain** (Donen/Kelly, 1952) (10-13) [8] Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959) vs. [9] **The Great Escape** (Sturges, 1963) (11-12) Billy Wilder goes 4-5, but his one loss is his best film. Personally speaking, I can think of 50 better war movies than _Escape_ (IMHO). And if 1/4 of the people who voted for _Placido_ have actually seen it, I’ll eat my hat. 1968-1987 [1] **Taxi Driver** (Scorsese, 1976) vs. [16] The Conformist (Bertolucci, 1970/Italy) (21-1) [2] **A Clockwork Orange** (Kubrick, 1971) vs. [15] Sleuth (Mankiewicz, 1972) (15-7) [3] Alien (Scott, 1979) vs. [14] **The Wild Bunch** (Peckinpah, 1969) (8-14) [4] Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) vs. [13] **The Princess Bride** (Reiner, 1987) (11-12) [5] **Das Boot** (Petersen, 1981/West Germany) vs. [12] The Promised Land (Wajda, 1975/Poland) (21-1) [6] The Elephant Man (Lynch, 1980) vs. [11] **Ran** (Kurosawa, 1985/Japan) (2-18) [7] Mohammed, Messenger of God (Akkad, 1976) vs. [10] **Back to the Future** (Zemeckis, 1985) (7-16) [8] **La Traviata** (Zeffirelli, 1983) vs. [9] Return of the Jedi (Marquand, 1983) (13-10) Just a hunch but I’m betting there are more anti-Ewok voters than pro-opera ones (though _Star Wars_ still fares better than the _Alien_ franchise overall). And the biggest Round 1 disappointment: a Hostess (butter)cupcake beats out a filet mignon. 1988-2007 [1] **The Shawshank Redemption** (Darabont, 1994) vs. [16] Into the Wild (Penn, 2007) (21-2) [2] **Pulp Fiction** (Tarantino, 1994) vs. [15] Cinema Paradiso (Tornatore, 1988/Italy) (16-5) [3] **Goodfellas** (Scorsese, 1990) vs. [14] Downfall (Hirschbiegel, 2004/Germany) (21-2) [4] **City of God** (Meirelles, 2002/Brazil) vs. [13] Hotel Rwanda (George, 2004) (15-5) [5] **Fight Club** (Fincher, 1999) vs. [12] The Lives of Others (Donnersmarck, 2006) (15-7) [6] **Memento** (Nolan, 2000) vs. [11] Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001/Japan) (11-10) [7] **American History X** (Kaye, 1998) vs. [10] Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky, 2000) (12-9) [8] Amelie (Jeunet, 2001/France) vs. [9] **Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind** (Gondry, 2004) (9-12) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/30 "2008-07-02T19:06:49Z")
“And the biggest Round 1 disappointment: a Hostess (butter)cupcake beats out a filet mignon.” If you mean the Chinatown loss, no doubt about it. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/31 "2008-07-02T20:04:15Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] “And the biggest Round 1 disappointment: a Hostess (butter)cupcake beats out a filet mignon.” If you mean the Chinatown loss, no doubt about it. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. 😛 [/QUOTE] Agreed, but it’s not like we couldn’t have seen that one coming. ---
**Author:** ![8675309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ea5d25/32.png) [@8675309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8675309)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/32 "2008-07-02T20:14:13Z")
1928-1947 [1] Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [2] It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946) [3] The Smiling Lieutenant (Lubitsch, 1931) [4] Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944) [5] I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (LeRoy, 1932) [6] Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945) [7] The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) [8] The Great Dictator (Chaplin, 1940) 1948-1967 [1] Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954) [2] The Manchurian Candidate (Frankenheimer, 1962) [3] 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957) [4] Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) [5] The Shop on Main Street (Kadar/Klos, 1965/Czechoslovakia) [6] Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964/Japan) [7] Singin’ in the Rain (Donen/Kelly, 1952) [8] Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959) 1968-1987 [1] Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) [2] A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971) [3] The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969) [4] Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) [5] Das Boot (Petersen, 1981/West Germany) [6] The Elephant Man (Lynch, 1980) [7] Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985) [8] La Traviata (Zeffirelli, 1983) 1988-2007 [1] The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994) [2] Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) [3] Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) [4] Hotel Rwanda (George, 2004) [5] Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) [6] Memento (Nolan, 2000) [7] Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky, 2000) - **this was my hardest choice** [8] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004) ---
**Author:** ![8675309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ea5d25/32.png) [@8675309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8675309)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516/33 "2008-07-02T20:19:04Z")
Oops. sorry - didn’t see the poll had ended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-madness-the-losers-r1/454516.md?page=1)