# What is the worst movie to be nominated for an Oscar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962 "2006-05-01T15:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/1 "2006-05-01T15:31:44Z")
I am stuck in a hotel room in Sofia flipping through TV chanels when the movie [_Dad_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0097142/) goes past. Vaguely remembering this movie, I looked it up. [TV Guide](http://online.tvguide.com/movies/database/showmovie.asp?MI=31882) gives this 1 star (out of 5). They also mention that it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Makeup. Which makes me wonder the subject question. I’m not sure _Dad_ would ‘win’ given that [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dad/) comes out at 60% fresh (with only 8 reviews—although they don’t link to the TV Guide one). The rules: [ul]It can be any Oscar category (although a ‘Best Picture’ (in whatever category) or an acting Oscar would certainly count for more than makeup, costumes or sound/music). [li]Only published reviews, no ‘_I_ really think it sucked so…’ (unless you are a published reviewer)[/li][li]We pay especial note of anything Opal sez[/ul][/li] So what ‘wins’? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/2 "2006-05-01T18:14:23Z")
Leonard Maltion’s guide calls _Thank God It’s Friday_ (1978) the worst movie ever to _win_ an Oscar (for the song “Last Dance”), and gives it a “BOMB” rating. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/3 "2006-05-01T18:25:05Z")
_Marooned_ won best special effects for 1970 and was nominated for best cinematography and best sound. It was a real stinker. I seem to recall it was featured on \*Mystery Science Theater 3000 \* at one time or another. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/4 "2006-05-01T18:27:33Z")
The lowest rated “Best Picture” Oscar winners in Leonard Maltin’s guide all receive \*\*1/2 stars (of four): _Wings_ (1927), _The Broadway Melody_ (1929), and _Cimarron_ (1931). If you’re hunting for bad movies among Oscar nominees, back in the 1930s and 1940s, some categories allowed a nomination from each Hollywood studio, so low-budget pictures like \* King of the Zombies\* competed against _Citizen Kane_ in the Best Score category. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/5 "2006-05-01T18:30:05Z")
I saw _Marooned_ both on its original release in 1970, and not too long ago. I liked it both times, and found it suspensful and very well crafted. I was very surprised that it was picked for MST3000. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/6 "2006-05-01T18:33:31Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I saw _Marooned_ both on its original release in 1970, and not too long ago. I liked it both times, and found it suspensful and very well crafted. I was very surprised that it was picked for MST3000. Matter of taste, I guess. I realize it was supposed to be a realistic drama set in space and not science fiction, but the pace of the story was so glacial I simply couldn’t stay awake both times that I tried to watch.it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/7 "2006-05-01T18:34:48Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I saw _Marooned_ both on its original release in 1970, and not too long ago. I liked it both times, and found it suspensful and very well crafted. I was very surprised that it was picked for MST3000. You and Dennis Miller. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/8 "2006-05-01T18:36:48Z")
**When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth** got a best visual effect nomination. The film has a 4.4 rating on the IMDB. **The Greatest Show on Earth** is usually considered the worst Best Picture winner. While some (e.g., **The English Patient** ) have people who hate them, and others (e.g., **The Broadway Melody** ) have dated badly, Greatest Show was considered no more than mediocre when it came out, and its win is due to respect for its producer/director Cecil B. Demille. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/9 "2006-05-01T18:58:30Z")
I’ll be eternally baffled as to how **Gladiator** won, or was even nominated, for Best Picture. This film blew chunks. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/10 "2006-05-01T20:25:42Z")
_Pearl Harbor_ was nominated for Best Visual Effects, Sound, and Original Song, plus it won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing. It’s hard to think of a bigger stinker than that. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/11 "2006-05-01T22:37:02Z")
The Special Visual Effects aware is a treasure trove of bad films nominated. 1979 nominees included **Moonraker** (IMDB rating 6.1), **The Black Hole** (5.5), and **1941** (5.5). 1976: **King Kong** (5.5) 1986: **Poltergiest II** (5.1) 1998: **Mighty Joe Young** (5.5) 2000: **The Hollow Man** (5.3) Also, here are some Sound/Sound Effects Editing nominees: **The Lively Set** (5.4) **Rambo: First Blood Part II** (5.2) **Daylight** (5.3) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/12 "2006-05-01T23:58:09Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I’ll be eternally baffled as to how **Gladiator** won, or was even nominated, for Best Picture. This film blew chunks. I’m in the ‘it was a decent movie but not Oscar material’ camp–it’s just made worse by the fact that there were better movies (_Traffic_, for example) nominated that year. I do think Joaquin Phoenix got robbed for Best Supporting Actor that year, though. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/13 "2006-05-02T00:31:06Z")
> [@Threadkiller](#): > > I am stuck in a hotel room in Sofia flipping through TV chanels when the movie [_Dad_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0097142/) goes past. Vaguely remembering this movie, I looked it up. [TV Guide](http://online.tvguide.com/movies/database/showmovie.asp?MI=31882) gives this 1 star (out of 5). That was Jack Lemmon? I saw that movie years and years ago, and I always remembered Don Ameche in the role of the senile dad. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/14 "2006-05-02T04:05:47Z")
We recognize, I hope, a certain unfairness implicit (but probably not intended) in the OP, namely that the perceived overall quality of a film is not necessarily commensurate with the quality of select aspects of it that may have received Academy Award nominations. In other words, a poorly written, directed, and/or acted film may have stunning cinematography, brilliant special effects, and/or a magnificent score. The fact that they happened to be stuck working on a crappy film shouldn’t lessen our respect for the skilled crew members who did their best, but didn’t have the power to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. That said, although this isn’t exactly to the point of the OP, my nominee for least deserved Oscar has long been Marisa Tomei’s Supporting Actress award for _My Cousin Vinny_. She was up against four British\* actresses who could (and did) act rings around her: Miranda Richardson (for _Damage_), Joan Plowright (for _Enchanted April_), Vanessa Redgrave (for _Howards End_), and Judy Davis (for _Husbands and Wives_). And although Marisa played a completely unchallenging role, of no particular depth, exactly like dozens she’s played before and since, the Academy gave her the award. Go figure. - Okay, I know that Judy Davis is Australian, not actually British. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/15 "2006-05-02T04:38:47Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > That said, although this isn’t exactly to the point of the OP, my nominee for least deserved Oscar has long been Marisa Tomei’s Supporting Actress award for _My Cousin Vinny_. She was up against four British\* actresses who could (and did) act rings around her: Miranda Richardson (for _Damage_), Joan Plowright (for _Enchanted April_), Vanessa Redgrave (for _Howards End_), and Judy Davis (for _Husbands and Wives_). And although Marisa played a completely unchallenging role, of no particular depth, exactly like dozens she’s played before and since, the Academy gave her the award. Go figure. I can figure how it happened. Tomei was the only American in the bunch and all the foreign nominees canceled each other out. The same thing happened in the 1997 Best Actress race. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/16 "2006-05-02T06:34:15Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That was Jack Lemmon? I saw that movie years and years ago, and I always remembered Don Ameche in the role of the senile dad. You might be thinking of [Folks!](http://imdb.com/title/tt0104283/) from three years later, starring Don Ameche and Tom Selleck. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-movie-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar/354962/17 "2006-05-02T06:47:00Z")
Were Moore’s dreck Fahrenheit 9/11 or his earlier self-righteous guff Columbine nominated. If so, they can fight it out. Unless, the emetic Roger and Me got a nod. In that case you got a three-way tie.