# Which Academy Awards should be revoked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726 "2004-12-27T01:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/61 "2004-12-28T05:20:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > You’re right. Star Wars is a joke. The acting is bad. But… it’s also the most influential movie of the last quarter century, whereas Annie Hall is just a nice Woody Allen movie. INFLUENTIAL, **John** , influential?! In that case **Jaws** should have beaten **One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest** in 76. BEST Picture is what the award is called ;). **Annie Hall** is very good movie, superbly acted and directed. It deserved that award, even though I’d prefer watching **Star Wars** (but then again, I’d prefer watching **The Mummy** over **The Shawshank Redemption** , but I know that **The Mummy** isn’t the better made film). > [@Harborwolf](#): > > I have not seen Shakespeare in Love, but I highly doubt that it even comes close to Saving Private Ryan. That decision pissed me off to no end. I believed the same as you, until I actually SAW **Shakespeare in Love**. Sorry movie Gods, I was wrong. Totally wrong. SIL deserved the Oscar over SPR in every way. It was just brilliant, especially all the ‘in jokes’ within the movie. > [@nonsuch](#): > > Remember Chariots of Fire beating Raiders of the Lost Ark for Best Picture? Shit, has anyone even seen Chariots? It’s like it was scrubbed out of human consciousness. **Chariots of Fire** is a great film. Now I’m not a coach, but it was such a great film. I can’t saw whether it is better than **Lost Ark** , but both movies deserved the award that year. It was just a strong year and one had to lose out. – Now that I’ve bashed everyone else’s picks ;), let me agree with the poster that said **The English Patient** didn’t deserve its award. **Fargo** deserved it that year. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/62 "2004-12-28T05:44:27Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > No one would doubt this pick if it weren’t for the bizarre casting of Ben Affleck. Seriously, what the hell was he doing in that movie? Well it was one of the ‘in jokes’. A leading actor (and Affleck was definetly one of the BIG names at the time) playing a bit part in the movie; the bit part being a leading actor who was a bit part in the play. I believe that he only got the role for his ‘name’, although saying that, he was pretty good in the role. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/63 "2004-12-28T06:09:23Z")
I was one of the few left **utterly** cold by the latter two LOTR movies. However, even afficionados of the movies have to agree on one thing if they’re not into tunnel vision. ROTK winning best song with ‘Into the West’ over the theme from The Triplets of Belleville was simply a travesty. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/64 "2004-12-28T10:44:27Z")
Angeline Jolie for Best Supporting Actress for **Girl Interrupted** over the sublime Catherine Keener for **Being John Malkovich**. Robert Zemeckis for Best Director for **Forest Gump** over Krzysztof Kieslowski for **Three Colors: Red** (I wouldn’t have minded Quentin Tarantino winning for **Pulp Fiction** , though Kieslowski’s achievement was far greater). Julia Roberts for Best Actress for **Erin Brockovich** over Ellen Burstyn for **Requiem for a Dream** (and Bjork wasn’t even _nominated_ for **Dancer in the Dark**!) Ron Howard for Best Director for **A Beautiful Mind** over Peter Jackson for **The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring** and David Lynch for **Mulholland Drive**. Oh, hell, there are too many travesties to count. Never mind movies, actors and directors that won over more deserving nominees, the best movies, performances and directors are usually not even nominated. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/65 "2004-12-28T11:38:10Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Well, having had the advantage of actually seeing both movies, I disagree. Saving Private Ryan was a fairly predictable and ordinary, if unusually gory, war movie. Shakespeare in Love was a very clever, unusual, and well acted movie. I agree, and I think _Private Ryan_’s subject matter played a big part in the award. SPR is part of a long line of war movies. It’s about as good as that type can be done, but I still don’t think it’s better than _Shakespeare in Love_, which is really clever and has terrific writing. I agree with most of the posts here, actually! A few objections: _Star Wars_ doesn’t beat _Annie Hall_. Just no. I don’t like _Forrest Gump_, but I dislike _Shawshank_ just as much. It bugs me that people have started to insist it’s a great movie. If you ask me, they are absolutely equal, and they are incredibly predictable tripe. Jeez, at least _Pulp Fiction_ was interesting. I agree with **rjung** about _Shrek_. The first time I saw _Monsters, Inc._, I was surprised by how good it was. The second time, kinda changed my mind (it’s not original and it IS very sappy, plus it has Billy Crystal), but in a lesser of two evils contest I’d take it over _Shrek_, which was snide, overhyped, and made Smashmouth rich, which I think is unforgiveable. 😛 What comes to mind for me… _The Pianist_ was the best movie of 2002. I liked _Chicago_; even Squinty Zellwegger was okay, but it was not even close. Russell Crowe and Julia Roberts did not deserve Oscars. In fact, I don’t like Russell Crowe at all. But it figures that he gets recognized for _Gladitor_ and _A Beautiful Mind_, and _The Insider_ (good) went 0-for-7 in 2000 and _L.A. Confidential_ (terrific) was basically overlooked. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/66 "2004-12-28T13:24:41Z")
I think we can all agree that there’s no damn way that in 1988 Roy W. Edwards and The Engineering Staff of Photo-Sonics, Inc. Should have won the Scientific and Engineering Award Oscar, in the camera catagory for the design and development of the Photo-Sonics 35mm-4ER High-Speed Motion Picture Camera with Reflex Viewing and Video Assist. Jerks. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/67 "2004-12-28T13:51:14Z")
> [@Gadfly](#): > > ROTK winning best song with ‘Into the West’ over the theme from The Triplets of Belleville was simply a travesty. Totally agree. They made RotK sweep the Oscars this past year after ignoring the previous two LotR films for Best Picture, but that Annie Lennox song was horribly undeserving. The Belleville theme was a terrific, fun, Django Reinhardt-inspired piece of hot jazz, and it was really refreshing to hear. Hell, I even like the Cold Mountain songs better than “Into the West”! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/68 "2004-12-28T14:11:07Z")
Halle Berry can keep hers but Denzel has to give his back the same year for the most cartoonish Oscar winning role I can remember, and I mean that in the most derogatory manner. Michael Caine should have just said “What a load of bollocks,” and given his to Haley Joel Osment. _The English Patient_ is the least watchable Best Picture of all time. I have tried to watch it and feel like I am in a Twilight Zone episode, because I can’t comprehend that anyone thinks it is worth the time it takes to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/69 "2004-12-28T14:22:04Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Halle Berry can keep hers but Denzel has to give his back the same year for the most cartoonish Oscar winning role I can remember, and I mean that in the most derogatory manner. These sort of Oscars deserve their own category. Denzel should have won one for _Malcolm X_, and like a bad referee, the Academy made a make-up call later in the game. (I couldn’t fathom why Ethan Hawke got a nomination for _Training Day_. Snoop Dogg was better.) It’s like Judi Dench winning Best Supporting Actress for 15 seconds of screen time in _Shakespeare in Love_. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/70 "2004-12-28T15:22:02Z")
The one that still frosts me is that utter piece of dreck, **Gosford Park** , winning for _Original_ Writing for a Screenplay over **Memento**. GP was standard, boilerplate, British who-dunnit (and a boring snoozefest, to boot). Memento was without a doubt one of the _most_ original movies ever made. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan were robbed. ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/71 "2004-12-28T15:52:40Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Gotta disagree with you. While I prefer _Pulp Fiction,_ have seen it many times and have only seen the treacly _Forrest Gump_ once, the fact is _Pulp Fiction,_ like all Tarantino films, is athematic. Stylistic, great-looking and full of nice performances, but it is devoid of theme. The Best Director needs to have at least a theme to win. > > Really, I’m hard-pressed to think of a single Tarantino movie with a message weightier than “violence looks cool.” What exactly was the deep message of Forrest Gump, then? It was a lousy movie, IMO. The only real flaw in ‘Pulp Fiction’ was Tarantino’s lousy acting. I didn’t think Star Wars was much of a movie either - I have never been able to watch it straight through, even in the cinema, without falling asleep. Also Titanic would get my vote - I took my friend’s teenagers to it - and had to go out and wait outside about half way through - I just couldn’t take it! ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/72 "2004-12-28T17:20:54Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Gotta disagree with you. While I prefer _Pulp Fiction,_ have seen it many times and have only seen the treacly _Forrest Gump_ once, the fact is _Pulp Fiction,_ like all Tarantino films, is athematic. Stylistic, great-looking and full of nice performances, but it is devoid of theme. The Best Director needs to have at least a theme to win. > > Really, I’m hard-pressed to think of a single Tarantino movie with a message weightier than “violence looks cool.” This has been discussed to death in other threads, recent and ancient, so I won’t debate your assertion on its merits, but I couldn’t possibly disagree with you more. _Pulp Fiction_ is about redemption v. damnation. How about that for a theme? Whereas the theme of _Forrest Gump_ amounts to the biggest movie cliche of all time-- child-like person with disability overcomes obstacles. Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/73 "2004-12-28T17:53:32Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > This has been discussed to death in other threads, recent and ancient, so I won’t debate your assertion on its merits, but I couldn’t possibly disagree with you more. _Pulp Fiction_ is about redemption v. damnation. How about that for a theme? Whereas the theme of _Forrest Gump_ amounts to the biggest movie cliche of all time-- child-like person with disability overcomes obstacles. Bleah. Sorry, but I’m going to have to step in to defend the snubbing of Tarantino for _Pulp Fiction_. PF is a good movie (I admit that it took more than one viewing for me to “get” it) but PF has one notable flaw: it’s very unevenly paced, and it really drags in places. I’ve never seen _Forrest Gump_, so I can’t say whether it’s better or not, but I can see why _Pulp Fiction_ didn’t get the nod. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/74 "2004-12-28T23:46:10Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Well it was one of the ‘in jokes’. A leading actor (and Affleck was definetly one of the BIG names at the time) playing a bit part in the movie; the bit part being a leading actor who was a bit part in the play. I believe that he only got the role for his ‘name’, although saying that, he was pretty good in the role. Ah, I never got that. How clever! Just more evidence that Shakespeare in Love was a brilliant movie. There’s even a logical reason behind casting Ben Affleck in an Elizabethan drama! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/75 "2004-12-28T23:59:24Z")
Two writing awards off the top of my head–Oliver Stone for _Midnight Express_ and Akiva Goldsman for\* A Beautiful Mind\*. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/76 "2004-12-29T00:03:10Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I’ll not mention Renee Zellweger or Catherine Zeta-Jones in **Chicago** (or the movie itself, for that matter). I tried to watch it, and thought it sucked. I couldn’t buy either one of them as realistic. Dude, you were looking for _realism_? In _ **Chicago** _?! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/77 "2004-12-29T00:10:46Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I think we can all agree that there’s no damn way that in 1988 Roy W. Edwards and The Engineering Staff of Photo-Sonics, Inc. Should have won the Scientific and Engineering Award Oscar, in the camera catagory for the design and development of the Photo-Sonics 35mm-4ER High-Speed Motion Picture Camera with Reflex Viewing and Video Assist. > > Jerks. Damn it–you beat me to it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/78 "2004-12-29T00:26:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > These sort of Oscars deserve their own category. Denzel should have won one for _Malcolm X_, If you’re going to give Denzel Washington an Oscar for Best Actor (in addition to the supporting Oscar he already has) then I think it has to be for The Hurricane. It’s not a fantastic movie, but Washington’s performance in it might have been the best I’ve ever seen, by any actor, ever. It was mesmerizing, and if you haven’t seen it, rent it just to see him. A master at the height of his powers. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/79 "2004-12-29T00:30:52Z")
> [@Gadfly](#): > > I was one of the few left **utterly** cold by the latter two LOTR movies. However, even afficionados of the movies have to agree on one thing if they’re not into tunnel vision. > > ROTK winning best song with ‘Into the West’ over the theme from The Triplets of Belleville was simply a travesty. People associated “Into the West” with relief because it meant that the film was over and they could relieve their bladders. That’s powerful motivation. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/80 "2004-12-29T13:07:08Z")
**Nicole Kidman** has to be one of the worst actresses ever. Yes, she is gorgeous to look at, but her inability to show any range of emotion other than constipated/intellectual/frosty girl is the same in every movie. ( Except that POC witches film, which was a turd to begin with.) Whatever she won her oscar for should be handed over. I cannot stand her at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726.md?page=5)