# Past Oscar Snubs, Oversights, and Assorted Outrages **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022 "2011-02-03T14:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/61 "2011-02-04T16:38:19Z")
I am still bitter about \*\*Fargo \*\*losing Best Picture to **The English Patient**. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/62 "2011-02-04T18:26:48Z")
I’ll stick up for Rocky. Sure, the rest of the series were just movies, but Rocky was a near-perfect film. It really resonated with the spirit of the times, and it was the perfect dark horse win. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/63 "2011-02-04T18:40:26Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I’ll stick up for Rocky. Sure, the rest of the series were just movies, but Rocky was a near-perfect film. It really resonated with the spirit of the times, and it was the perfect dark horse win. I agree. Its lustre has been dimmed by its sequels. If it had been left as a stand-alone movie I doubt anyone would begrudge _Rocky_ its Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/64 "2011-02-04T18:46:54Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > No, they most certainly didn’t. And yes, it most certainly was. Nuh-uh! SPR was garbage. As we descend into the Bottomless Pit Of Arguing Over Taste, please keep your hands and arms inside the railing at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/65 "2011-02-04T19:17:53Z")
I saw Out Of Africa the night before the Oscars and was staggered at the gong-tastic success it achieved. Such a syrup drenched, rose tinted, naked attempt to tick all the boxes as I have ever seen. Simply awful. The only thing missing was some form of handicap. While it must be Sidney Pollack’s most successful film, I think it’s his worst. Others may disagree of course. (Shakespeare in Love is an almost perfect film for me btw) MiM ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/66 "2011-02-04T19:33:49Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > Oh please! _ **The Thin Red Line** _ was a boring piece of shite. > [@Snickers](#): > > Agreed. Man, that was dreck. Absolutely awful. I felt we should’ve been paid for sitting through the damn thing. Why are you guys giving The Thin Red Line so much credit? Believe me, saying it was boring and awful is _overpraising_ it. It was either a direct FU to everyone who understands narrative and even cause-and-effect, or it was an educational warning film on how the easy availability of drugs can totally destroy a Hollywood director. . ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/67 "2011-02-04T19:57:21Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Why are you guys giving The Thin Red Line so much credit? Believe me, saying it was boring and awful is _overpraising_ it. I will never understand why Terrence Malick is such a critics’ darling. His films, I will grant, are visually stunning, but he has not a clue about narrative. Maybe he should have been a cinematographer. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/68 "2011-02-04T21:31:27Z")
> [@usar\_jag](#): > > I am still bitter about \*\*Fargo \*\*losing Best Picture to **The English Patient**. That one’s my biggest gripe. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/69 "2011-02-04T22:07:19Z")
To change it up a bit, I’m going to say that a huge oversight was 1997’s Best Original Song for That thing you do. This song had to accomplish three things 1. it had to sound as if it came from the band the Oneders 2. It had to sound authentic to the era 3. It had to not be annoying the seventy billionth time you heard it in the movie. It nailed all three. But they gave it to Andrew Lloyd Webber because he’s Andrew Lloyd Webber. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/70 "2011-02-04T22:28:09Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > To change it up a bit, I’m going to say that a huge oversight was 1997’s Best Original Song for That thing you do. > This song had to accomplish three things > > 1. it had to sound as if it came from the band the Oneders > 2. It had to sound authentic to the era > 3. It had to not be annoying the seventy billionth time you heard it in the movie. 1. It had to sound realistically written at the slow tempo and realistically better at the fast tempo. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/71 "2011-02-05T01:30:03Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Why are you guys giving The Thin Red Line so much credit? Believe me, saying it was boring and awful is _overpraising_ it. It was either a direct FU to everyone who understands narrative and even cause-and-effect, or it was an educational warning film on how the easy availability of drugs can totally destroy a Hollywood director. or a direct FU to anyone who wants to see the same old conventional Hollywood war-film narrative. Since when was Malick considered a Hollywood director anyway? _Badlands_ and _Days of Heaven_ were hardly crowd-pleasers. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/72 "2011-02-05T02:25:13Z")
> [@jordanr2](#): > > or a direct FU to anyone who wants to see the same old conventional Hollywood war-film narrative. Or a direct FU to anyone who wants to see, you know, a MOVIE, with a coherent STORY. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/73 "2011-02-05T02:28:28Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Or a direct FU to anyone who wants to see, you know, a MOVIE, with a coherent STORY. there’s certainly a coherent story there. I’m just not willing to limit “movie” to a linear plot with wearyingly familiar characters and ideas. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/74 "2011-02-05T04:18:41Z")
One good book to check is _Alternate Oscars_ by Danny Peary. While he also agrees with the 1977 Oscar going to _Annie Hall_ over _Star Wars_ :dubious:, he does mention that the worst thing that year was the snub of _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ by not being nominated for BP. My Favorite Snub from the book was from the 1932-1933 Oscars. The best picture was won then by _Cavalcade_… you do remember that one huh? It won over: _A farewell to arms, 42nd Street, I’m a fugitive from a Chain Gang, The Private life of Henry VII_ (But Charles Laughton’s definitive portrayal of Henry the VII won him the Oscar) and a few others. Ten movies were nominated then, still (!) there was no room to include: _Duck Soup, Dinner at Eight, Queen Christina, Trouble in Paradise, The Mummy, The Invisible Man_ and.. [QUOTE=Danny Peary] .. the greatest, most popular, most entertaining, most influential, most fascinating horror-fantasy film ever made. (The original) [_King Kong_]. Because of its genre it was snubbed by the elitist Academy – a Kong size blunder. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/75 "2011-02-05T04:19:43Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > It nailed all three. But they gave it to Andrew Lloyd Webber because he’s Andrew Lloyd Webber. Speaking of, Madonna not getting a nomination for her portrayal of Eva Peron was a snub. Normally I think Madonna is about the worst actress out there, but I found her to be amazing in _Evita_. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/76 "2011-02-05T05:00:06Z")
And looking at the book I mentioned, I noticed this outrage from 1968: BP Winner then: _Oliver!_ The other nominations: _Funny Girl; The Lion in Winter; Rachel, Rachel; Romeo and Juliet._ The one that was **not even nominated** : _2001: A Space Odyssey_. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/77 "2011-02-05T11:57:52Z")
> [@jordanr2](#): > > there’s certainly a coherent story there. Many disagree. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/78 "2011-02-05T15:08:47Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Why are you guys giving The Thin Red Line so much credit? Believe me, saying it was boring and awful is _overpraising_ it. It was either a direct FU to everyone who understands narrative and even cause-and-effect, or it was an educational warning film on how the easy availability of drugs can totally destroy a Hollywood director. I think the point that Malick was making was that a real war (and real life in general) doesn’t have a narrative storyline. The narrative is just something we impose on a bunch of random events after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/79 "2011-02-05T18:30:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think the point that Malick was making was that a real war (and real life in general) doesn’t have a narrative storyline. The narrative is just something we impose on a bunch of random events after the fact. If that was his point, he seems to be making it in all of his movies. 😛 Maybe he’s just not a good storyteller. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022/80 "2011-02-05T18:59:01Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > And looking at the book I mentioned, I noticed this outrage from 1968: > > BP Winner then: > > _Oliver!_ > > The other nominations: _Funny Girl; The Lion in Winter; Rachel, Rachel; Romeo and Juliet._ > The one that was **not even nominated** : > > _2001: A Space Odyssey_. I’m hoping _Oliver!_ in 1968 is one miss most people can agree on. If you don’t like _2001_ there’s _The Producers_,_Night of the Living Dead_,_Rosemary’s Baby_,_If…_ And I say _The Thin Red Line_ is a poor (very poor) imitation of 1945’s _A Walk In The Sun_, so it’s not challenging anything “old”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-oscar-snubs-oversights-and-assorted-outrages/570022.md?page=5)