Best Picture: What Should've Won...

[Markgway]

Here's some examples of mistakes I think the Academy made over the years... feel free to disagree and/or add yours... I'm only picking from films that were actually nominated.

1973
Won: The Sting
What Should've Won: The Exorcist

1975
Won: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
What Should've Won: Jaws

1981
Won: Chariots of Fire
What Should've Won: Raiders of the Lost Ark

1988
Won: Rain Man
What Should've Won: Mississippi Burning

1991
Won: The Silence of the Lambs
What Should've Won: J.F.K.

1994
Won: Forrest Gump
What Should've Won: The Shawshank Redemption

1997
Won: Titanic
What Should've Won: L.A. Confidential

1998
Won: Shakespeare in Love
What Should've Won: The Thin Red Line

1999
Won: American Beauty
What Should've Won: The Insider

2005
Won: Crash
What Should've Won: Munich

2006
Won: The Departed
What Should've Won: Letters from Iwo Jima

[zorbonaut]

Only going with nominated films as well.

87th (2014)

Won: Birdman
What Should've Won: Whiplash or Boyhood

84th (2011)

Won: The Artist
What Should've Won: The Descendants

83rd (2010)

Won: The Kings Speech
What Should've Won: Inception

82nd (2009) Terrible year for nominations

Won: The Hurt Locker
What Should've Won: Up

80th (2007)

Won: No Country for Old Men (Great film- should have won most other years)
What Should've Won: There Will Be Blood (masterpiece)

79th (2006)

Won: The Departed
What Should've Won: Babel

71st (1998) Worst winner ever

Won: Shakespeare in Love
What Should've Won: Life is Beautiful

69th (1996) Second worst winner ever

Won: The English Patient
What Should've Won: Fargo

63rd (1990)

Won: Dances with Wolves
What Should've Won: Goodfellas

62nd (1989)

Won: Driving Miss Daisy
What Should've Won: Field of Dreams

56th (1983)

Won: Terms of Endearment (really??)
What Should've Won: The Big Chill

50th (1977)

Won: Annie Hall
What Should've Won: Star Wars

30th (1957)

Won: The Bridge on the River Kwai (Great Film)
What Should've Won: 12 Angry Men (top 10 of all time)

19th (1946)

Won: The Best Years of Our Lives
What Should've Won: It's a Wonderful Life

14th (1941)

Won: How Green Was My Valley (c'mon now)
What Should've Won: Citizen Kane

12th (1939)

Won: Gone With the Wind
What Should've Won: The Wizard of Oz

[AaronJ]

I'll come up with a longer list at a later date, but the most obvious, most infuriating one is:

83rd Academy Awards (2011)

What won: The King's Speech (a mediocre film if ever there was one)

What should have won: Black Swan (one of my all-time favorite films, full of artistry, surrealism, and with an absolutely stunning performance by Portman)

I still get angry whenever I think of that night. Total BS.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I'll come up with a longer list at a later date, but the most obvious, most infuriating one is:

83rd Academy Awards (2011)

What won: The King's Speech (a mediocre film if ever there was one)

What should have won: Black Swan (one of my all-time favorite films, full of artistry, surrealism, and with an absolutely stunning performance by Portman)

I still get angry whenever I think of that night. Total BS.

My God we agree on something!

Black Swan is a masterpiece and Natalie Portman gives the single best performance male or female in the history of cinema!

[Michael24]

1998: Shakespeare in Love winning over Saving Private Ryan is still one of the biggest crimes in cinema.

[Member-244966]

I agree that The King's Speech was the wrong choice for that year, but it should've been The Social Network taking it home

[Talleyrand]

No time to do a full report now, but certainly 1994 is the most laguhable. Forrest Gump, one of the worst films ever made, winning at all is preposterous, let alone in the year of Pulp Fiction and Quiz Show

[DanTheMan]

2002:
What Won: Chicago
What Should've Won: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2004:
What Won: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
What Should've Won: Mystic River/Lost in Translation

2007:
What Won: The Departed
What Should've Won: Babel

2008:
What Won: No Country For Old Men
What Should've Won: There Will Be Blood (either one would've sufficed)

2010:
What Won: The Hurt Locker
What Should've Won: Inglourious Basterds

2011:
What Won: The King's Speech
What Should've Won: Toy Story 3/Black Swan

2013:
What Won: Argo
What Should've Won: Zero Dark Thirty

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by Impossible

My God we agree on something!

Black Swan is a masterpiece and Natalie Portman gives the single best performance male or female in the history of cinema!

It is a definite masterpiece. No question. And I love films about art, obsession, the pursuit of perfection. These are always dark and interesting.

Originally Posted by Michael24

1998: Shakespeare in Love winning over Saving Private Ryan is still one of the biggest crimes in cinema.

I actually like Shakespeare in Love more, and was happy to see it win.

*slinks away quietly*

[Will.]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I actually like Shakespeare in Love more, and was happy to see it win.

*slinks away quietly*

I'm with you 100%

[imsounoriginal]

Oh imma run a train on this when I'm on a computer... (on my phone for the weekend)

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

2013:
What Won: Argo
What Should've Won: Silver Linings Playbook.

That is all for now.

[Will.]

I'm still recovering from Zero Dark Thirty losing to Argo. What is the world coming to??

[blufellas]

Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
Goodfellas

And to the OP, 1975: Jaws is a great movie, but One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a masterpiece!

[Will.]

Originally Posted by Markgway

1991
Won: The Silence of the Lambs
What Should've Won: J.F.K.

I pretty much agree with all of yours except this one. SotL is maybe the most inspired BP choice ever.

[DanTheMan]

Originally Posted by Will.

I'm still recovering from Zero Dark Thirty losing to Argo. What is the world coming to??

While it wasn't a complete travesty, ZDT stood heads and shoulders above Argo IMO.

Originally Posted by Will.

I pretty much agree with all of yours except this one. SotL is maybe the most inspired BP choice ever.

Yup. Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite films of all-time.

[Will.]

Originally Posted by DanTheMan

Yup. Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite films of all-time.

Plus it just seems like such an off-the-wall, crazy choice. Maybe in context it wasn't a big deal, but for a movie to win those top awards with the subject matter/adult content is pretty awesome.

[blufellas]

I think I've seen every Oscar winner, with the exception of Shakespeare in Love.

[DanTheMan]

Originally Posted by Will.

Plus it just seems like such an off-the-wall, crazy choice. Maybe in context it wasn't a big deal, but for a movie to win those top awards with the subject matter/adult content is pretty awesome.

My thinking exactly. It's one of the prouder moments I respect the Academy for due to the subject matter.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Will.

I pretty much agree with all of yours except this one. SotL is maybe the most inspired BP choice ever.

I rate LAMBS highly, it's an accomplished chiller, but JFK is a masterpiece of cinema. I can only imagine the controversy put voters off.