• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What is the worst Oscars Best Picture winner that you have seen?

Status
Not open for further replies.
MisterR

MisterR

Member
My list I've seen

All Quiet on the Western Front
Gone with the Wind
Rebecca
Casablanca
The Best Years of our Lives
Hamlet
All the King’s Men
All About Eve
From Here to Eternity
On the Waterfront
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Ben-Hur
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
The Sound of Music
A Man for All Seasons
Midnight Cowboy
Patton
The Godfather
The Sting
The Godfather Part II
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Rocky
Annie Hall
Kramer vs. Kramer
Gandhi
Terms of Endearment
Amadeus
Platoon
Rain man
Driving Miss Daisy
Dances with Wolves
The Silence of the Lambs
Unforgiven
Schindler’s List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
The English Patient
Titanic
Shakespeare in Love
American Beauty
Gladiator
A Beautiful Mind
Chicago
LOTR: ROTK
Million Dollar Baby
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
The King’s Speech

The worst were Crash, Driving Miss Daisy, Chicago. They aren't awful movies, but they are certainly nothing amazing.
 
C

crazyrabbits

Banned
Warms my heart to see people finally coming around to Crash being a fucking awful film. Not only is it a half-assed ripoff of Do The Right Thing, but it feels like it was written by people who had no understanding of the subject matter and just wanted to make a point, a decade-and-a-half too late.

All the contrived coincidences. Faux-sympathy we're supposed to have for the sexist cop who just conveniently happens to save the same woman a couple days after groping her. Black gangbangers complaining about not being taken seriously before they rob someone. Ryan Phillipe's character getting knocked on by cops because he... farts a lot. The insipid father using the gun loaded with blanks. The fact that the script actually wants the viewer to take the notion of a "magic cape" a little girl is wearing with utmost seriousness.

Toxi said:
The best part of Crash is when two black men complaining about people assuming they're criminals immediately rob a white couple afterwards. Later on, one of those guys has a hardworking white collar black man call him a disgrace to his race.

Meanwhile, the white cop who uses his position to sexually assault black women is really an okay dude because his dad is sick and he rescued a black woman from a car fire.

It's Hollywood's vision of a nuanced discussion of racism, and it is hilarious.
Click to expand...

This, so much. It's basically a comedy in all but name.
 
C

cubicle47b

Member
lobdale said:
Do keep in mind that virtually every other BP nominee that year, with the possible exception of The Tree of Life, was pretty unremarkable:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
War Horse
Click to expand...
Moneyball should have won.
 
P

Phased

Member
Crash the thread basically.

I tried twice to watch that movie and both times failed about halfway through. It's so stupid.

People saying Gump are crazy. One of the few movies I will stop what I'm doing to watch if it's on TV.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Eidan said:
Demand slavery films with more subtlety and nuance. Nothing worse than when a director beats you over the head with messages of how awful slavery was.
Click to expand...
It's funny too because the entire point Crash was trying to make was that racism is nuanced and not a black-and-white issue.

It's just Crash's idea of "nuance" is fucking ridiculous.
 
E

Extra Sauce

Member
Crash is painfully heavy-handed.

Birdman is incredibly entertaining but I'm still not sure whether it has anything to say.

Argo's revisionism is at best unworthy of a Best Picture nod, at worst dangerous.
 
B

BaronLundi

Member
Transistor said:
Or you just have bad taste. A Beautiful Mind? Argo? The King's Speech? Really???
Click to expand...

Yes really. Somewhat entertaining but pretty average. Beautiful mind erred quite a bit on the boring side and Argo was nonsensical.

And those weren't flat out terrible like Forrest Gump or Chicago, there just were a shitload of better movies that year (like every year basically). I mean A Beautiful Mind came out the same year as Mulholland Drive.
 
A

Apathy

Member
Chicago, stopped caring or watching the Oscars after that movie won. By far the worst best picture winner, even that year there were better films.
 
G

gutshot

Member
crazyrabbits said:
Warms my heart to see people finally coming around to Crash being a fucking awful film. Not only is it a half-assed ripoff of Do The Right Thing, but it feels like it was written by people who had no understanding of the subject matter and just wanted to make a point, a decade-and-a-half too late.

All the contrived coincidences. Faux-sympathy we're supposed to have for the sexist cop who just conveniently happens to save the same woman a couple days after groping her. Black gangbangers complaining about not being taken seriously before they rob someone. Ryan Phillipe's character getting knocked on by cops because he... farts a lot. The insipid father using the gun loaded with blanks. The fact that the script actually wants the viewer to take the notion of a "magic cape" a little girl is wearing with utmost seriousness.



This, so much. It's basically a comedy in all but name.
Click to expand...

That was the one part of the movie that struck a cord with me. Do you have kids? I feel like that part probably plays a lot differently for people with or without kids.
 
J

Josh5890

Member
These are the ones that I've seen.

2014- "Birdman"
2013- "12 Years a Slave"
2012 - "Argo"
2011 - "The Artist"
2010 - "The King's Speech"
2009 - "The Hurt Locker"
2008 - "Slumdog Millionaire"
2007 - "No Country for Old Men"
2006 - "The Departed"
2005 - "Crash"
2004 - "Million Dollar Baby"
2003 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
2001 - "A Beautiful Mind"
2000 - "Gladiator"
1999 - "American Beauty"
1997 - "Titanic"
1996 - "The English Patient"
1995 - "Braveheart"
1994 - "Forrest Gump"
1993 - "Schindler’s List"
1992 - "Unforgiven"
1991 - "The Silence of the Lambs"
1990 - "Dances With Wolves"
1989 - "Driving Miss Daisy"
1988 - "Rain Man"
1987 - "The Last Emperor"
1986 - "Platoon"
1984 - "Amadeus"
1982 - "Gandhi"
1980 - "Ordinary People"
1979 - "Kramer vs. Kramer"
1978 - "The Deer Hunter"
1977 - "Annie Hall"
1976 - "Rocky"
1975 - "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"
1974 - "The Godfather Part II"
1973 - "The Sting"
1972 - "The Godfather"
1971 - "The French Connection"
1970 - "Patton"
1969 - "Midnight Cowboy"
1965 - "The Sound of Music"
1964 - "My Fair Lady"
1962 - "Lawrence of Arabia"
1961 - "West Side Story"
1960 - "The Apartment"
1959- "Ben-Hur"
1957 - "The Bridge on the River Kwai"
1954 - "On the Waterfront"
1953 - "From Here to Eternity"
1951 - "An American in Paris"
1950 - "All About Eve"
1946 - "The Best Years of Our Lives"
1943 - "Casablanca"
1939 - "Gone with the Wind"
1935 - "Mutiny on the Bounty"
1934 - "It Happened One Night"
1929/1930 - "All Quiet on the Western Front"

For me it would be Hurt Locker and Crash to say the least. I can understand Crash winning that year though since it was a down year for Hollywood.
 
S

stupei

Member
I've seen:

All Quiet on the Western Front
Grand Hotel
It Happened One Night
Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
Casablanca
All About Eve
An American in Paris
The Greatest Show on Earth
On the Waterfront
Gigi
Ben-Hur
The Apartment
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
My Fair Lady
The Sound of Music
Oliver!
Midnight Cowboy
The Godfather
The Sting
The Godfather Part II
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Kramer vs Kramer
Amadeus
Platoon
Rain Man
The Silence of the Lambs
Unforgiven
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
Titanic
Shakespeare in Love
American Beauty
Gladiator
A Beautiful Mind
Chicago
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Million Dollar Baby
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
The Hurt Locker
The King's Speech
12 Years a Slave
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
 
C

crazyrabbits

Banned
gutshot said:
That was the one part of the movie that struck a cord with me. Do you have kids? I feel like that part probably plays a lot differently for people with or without kids.
Click to expand...

It's irrelevant. The notion that a man would think a "magic cape" stopped bullets from hitting his daughter is ridiculous, regardless of whether any of the parties involved knew there were blanks in the weapon or not. Especially given how serious the filmmakers intended the subject matter to be.
 
V

Violence Jack

Member
A tie between Chicago and Birdman.

I didn't like Crash all that much either, but at least I found it somewhat entertaining. Definitely didn't deserve an Oscar though.
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I would have to say Argo.
It's interesting that looking through the list, a lot of the more recent movies seem already out of contention for being remembered as classics, whereas before the 90's or so the majority are classic worthy.
I wonder if that is how this works and we will all be revisiting Argo and Crash in 20 years or if the Oscars are getting worse at picking true classic films.
 
G

gutshot

Member
crazyrabbits said:
It's irrelevant. The notion that a man would think a "magic cape" stopped bullets from hitting his daughter is ridiculous, regardless of whether any of the parties involved knew there were blanks in the weapon or not. Especially given how serious the filmmakers intended the subject matter to be.
Click to expand...

Huh? It's been a while since I've seen the film but my understanding was the daughter thought it was the "magic cape" that stopped the bullet, not the father. That was what was touching about it.
 
A

ApharmdX

Banned
PsychoWARD23 said:
I can understand why people dislike it but it's still an absolutely great movie filled with a ton of good scenes.
Click to expand...

I agree that it had a lot of good scenes but man, the protagonist was pretty terrible, and I ended up disliking the movie because of that. I was surprised that more people weren't as disgusted as I was with him. He puts his fellow soldiers in terrible danger because it's a rush for him. What scum.
 
E

Eidan

Member
Toxi said:
It's funny too because the entire point Crash was trying to make was that racism is nuanced and not a black-and-white issue.

It's just Crash's idea of "nuance" is fucking ridiculous.
Click to expand...

We need slavery films from the slave owners' point of view. Something to show more nuance, like how slavery really was in the negro's best interest.
 
C

crazyrabbits

Banned
gutshot said:
Huh? It's been a while since I've seen the film but my understanding was the daughter thought it was the "magic cape" that stopped the bullet, not the father. That was what was touching about it.
Click to expand...

I am aware of what the intended meaning was. My point is that the scene was illogical and stupid on multiple levels.

It's just symptomatic of the failings of the film in general.
 
R

rashbeep

Banned
Markitron said:
I'm not trying to be mad controversial here, but I genuinely HATE Forrest Gump.

I'm not a cynical person in general, I like most things. I find it shocking that it beat Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption.
Click to expand...

This 1000x

Seriously hated that movie
 
Grinchy

Grinchy

Banned
The worst for me in recent memory is Argo. I don't know what spell everyone was under when they were brainwashed into believing that that was a good movie. Just fucking horrible.

Gravity is another one. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as Argo, at least.
 
D

digitalrelic

Banned
I've actually really disagreed with the Oscars most recent picks.

There's several films from 2014 that are better than Birdman. I think Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and Whiplash were all superior films.

I think that The Social Network was completely robbed when The King's Speech won in 2010.

I think Inglourious Basterds is about a million times better than The Hurt Locker from 2009.

I think Milk was the clear choice over Slumdog Millionaire in 2008.

Of course, everyone agrees that Brokeback Mountain should've won over Crash in 2005.
 
R

Red UFO

Member
I really didn't like Birdman, it's literally a film saying "everybody goes and sees transformers and stuff like that and they don't appreciate art! Grrrrrr!"

Like, it literally says that.
 
F

Flavius

Member
In what context are we declaring a best picture winner worst? Compared to the other nominees? All around dog shit?

There is nothing redeeming about Crash. It's horrid rubbish.

Forrest Gump slots in with Avatar, except it has an endearing protagonist. Cool technical wizardry (for the time), combined with a spastic, serendipitous brush with iconic moments from the 20th century. Doesn't hold up.

The Departed was so fucking tiring to watch...even the actors seemed to sleepwalk through it all.
 
J

Josh5890

Member
poppabk said:
I would have to say Argo.
It's interesting that looking through the list, a lot of the more recent movies seem already out of contention for being remembered as classics, whereas before the 90's or so the majority are classic worthy.
I wonder if that is how this works and we will all be revisiting Argo and Crash in 20 years or if the Oscars are getting worse at picking true classic films.
Click to expand...

Well if really look back at it the 90's was a really great era for Hollywood. Tarentino was coming out. Big time movie stars like Tom Cruise and Will Smith were hitting their stride. Disney was having a renaissance. There was a rebirth of epics in Titanic and Braveheart. I think Hollywood has been in a weird funk since the turn of the century, mainly after the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Have there been great hits, absolutely. But there isn't that same special something like before.
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
My list:
The Sound of Music
Oliver
Patton
The Godfather
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Amadeus
Rain Man
Driving Miss Daisy
Silence of the Lambs
Unforgiven
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
Titanic
American Beauty
Gladiator
A Beautiful Mind
LotR: RotK
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
The Hurt Locker
The King's Speech
The Artist
Argo
Birdman


I hated The Hurt Locker pretty intensely, but it's nowhere near as bad as Crash. Fucking piece of irredeemable shit.
 
H

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
crazyrabbits said:
It's irrelevant. The notion that a man would think a "magic cape" stopped bullets from hitting his daughter is ridiculous, regardless of whether any of the parties involved knew there were blanks in the weapon or not. Especially given how serious the filmmakers intended the subject matter to be.
Click to expand...
What on earth are you talking about? I understand the vitriol the movie receives but did you really misunderstand the sequence of events you're referring to as severely as it seems?
 
M

Moppeh

Banned
I find both Forrest Gump and Titanic to be equally underwhelming. I don't think they are bad films, but at their worst there are major issues and at their best they are bland as fuck.

Also, hating on The French Connection? I didn't even know that shit was possible. I saw it for the first time a couple months ago and was amazed by how well it stood up as a thriller.

EDIT: I guess this needs what I've seen to make sense. Gimme a sec to make dat list.

Casablanca
On The Waterfront
The Apartment
Lawrence of Arabia
The Sound of Music
The French Connection
The Godfather
The Godfather Part 2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Platoon
Rain Man
The Silence of the Lambs
Forrest Gump
Titanic
American Beauty
LoTR
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
12 Years a Slave
Birdman

EDIT 2: Actually, fuck Platoon. That movie has some cringey-ass dialogue. "Cheese dick" is a stupid phrase. Voice over letter to grandma is absolutely terrible as well. Fuck that movie.
 
W

wachie

Member
Toxi said:
The best part of Crash is when two black men complaining about people assuming they're criminals immediately rob a white couple afterwards. Later on, one of those guys has a hardworking white collar black man call him a disgrace to his race.

Meanwhile, the white cop who uses his position to sexually assault black women is really an okay dude because his dad is sick and he rescued a black woman from a car fire.

It's Hollywood's vision of a nuanced discussion of racism, and it is hilarious.
Click to expand...
The movie went over your head then.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Eidan said:
We need slavery films from the slave owners' point of view. Something to show more nuance, like how slavery really was in the negro's best interest.
Click to expand...
The Academy will really love that, especially since they can give best actor and actress nods to the people playing the slave owners.
 
A

aygomyownroad

Member
American Beauty was grade A trash.

It took 2 attempts to get through and only managed the last time because my friend said Mena Suvari (spelling is way off) got her breasts out. I was young so unsure if I'd enjoy it more now I'm more mature.



On the flip side No Country for old men has been my favourite.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
I have seen:

The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Deer Hunter
Amadeus
Rain Man
The Silence of the Lambs
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
Titanic
American Beauty
Gladiator
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
The King's Speech
The Artist
Argo
12 Years a Slave
Birdman
(And so far 6 out of 8 of this year's nominees)

The King's Speech is exceptional in just how generic and underwhelming it is

I also really hated The Artist, and found 12 Years a Slave and NCFOM pretty boring
 
C

crazyrabbits

Banned
Hawkian said:
What on earth are you talking about? I understand the vitriol the movie receives but did you really misunderstand the sequence of events you're referring to as severely as it seems?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you didn't understand. He's the one who sets up the whole magic cape thing, and is appropriately surprised when the daughter isn't shot. She tells him that the cape protected her, and he accepts this at face value. Nobody seems to understand that there are blanks in the gun.

Again, pretty sure you missed the idiocy of it.
 
G

gutshot

Member
crazyrabbits said:
I am aware of what the intended meaning was. My point is that the scene was illogical and stupid on multiple levels.

It's just symptomatic of the failings of the film in general.
Click to expand...

What was illogical or stupid about it? The father makes up a story about a "magic cape" to give his young daughter a feeling of safety. Something almost every parent has done. Then later that daughter "saves" her dad with her "magic cape". Of course, we as an audience know the truth, there is no cape and the gun had blanks, but to the daughter, the truth is she saved her dad. And that is touching.

crazyrabbits said:
I'm pretty sure you didn't understand. He's the one who sets up the whole magic cape thing, and is appropriately surprised when the daughter isn't shot. She tells him that the cape protected her, and he accepts this at face value. Nobody seems to understand that there are blanks in the gun.

Again, pretty sure you missed the idiocy of it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, no. The dad doesn't think there is a real "magic cape". C'mon, bro.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Tekken 8 | Review Thread
News Analysis Review 2 3 4 5 6
263
21K
Klosshufvud replied
From mother! to Breathe, these fall festival films could shift the Oscar race
11
3K
Blader replied
  • Locked
Anthony Mackie: Civil War best yet - Best Picture Oscar Aspiration
2 3 4
198
22K
Rhaknar replied
15 Films to See in October (what are you watching?)
45
6K
SOME-MIST replied
  • Locked
Whats your preferred Oscar Best Movie ?
2 3 4 5
234
16K
FTF replied
Top Bottom