The Seven Biggest Best Picture Oscar Screwjobs In History

So Oscar night is only a few days away and we see the great possibility of two absolutely mind-blowing films (The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds) getting served the all-mighty crapburger in favor of overblown bluster and spectacle. Whether you agree with that opinion or not, it wouldn't be the first time such a travesty has happened. So now lets take a look at other occurrences of this unfortunate outcome. (Winners in all caps)


7. 2008
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Last year makes the list not for the movies that were nominated but more for the one that wasn't. Last years final five were certainly no real prize (hence the move to 10 nominees this year), but none of them were as powerful as Darren Aronofsky's dark tale of a desperation. Furthermore, of the films that were up for the prize, either Milk or The Reader were certainly more deserving than Slumdog. Cute and Uplifting does not always a Best Picture make.



6. 1976
ROCKY
All The President's Men
Bound For Glory
Taxi Driver
Network


I know this may be a quite unpopular addition to the list, and to be fair this year will also be included on my Greatest Best Picture Races list later, but think about it for a second.

Rocky is an absolute classic, and quite possibly the greatest sports movie ever made, but is it better than All The President's... AND Taxi Driver? THAT I cannot wrap my head around.










5. 1990
DANCES WITH WOLVES
Awakenings
Ghost
The Godfather III
Goodfellas

Ultimately this year was a two horse race (and the fact that The Godfather III was nominated at all could secure this ceremony a spot on the list), however, Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas? Seriously?

It is a shame that Martin Scorsese had to wait until 2006 to finally see one of his films receive the highest honor, even as deserved as The Departed was. It would have been considerably more fitting to see Marty snag the trophy for his masterpiece 16 years earlier.




4. 2005
CRASH
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Good Night and Good Luck
Munich


2oo5 was a strong year for film. Munich was an intense look at the aftermath of the '72 Olympics killings, Capote was a fantastic telling of non-fiction as was Good Night and Good Luck. And of course there was Brokeback Mountain the heart wrenching tale of forbidden love between gay cowboys that was brilliantly acted, directed and shot.

The only problem is that none of those films won. Instead, your winner was Crash, a pompous procedural that came to its' grand conclusion (spoiler: Racism is BAD!) in the special, ham-handed way that makes mindless Oscar voters pee their pants, all the way to the podium!



3. 1994
FORREST GUMP
Pulp Fiction
The Shawshank Redemption
Quiz Show
Four Weddings and a Funeral


This was another very strong year for film but the reason this is a snub has changed over the years. At the time of this particular race the big battle was between Gump and Pulp Fiction. In fact one of the great statements heading into that ceremony was made by Roger Ebert. (Paraphrasing) "Most Oscar voters are as old as your Grandpa. Now who would your Grandpa vote for? A movie about heroin addicted hitmen Or a film about how God loves really stupid people?"

The reason this argument has changed is the way the popularity of Shawshank rose over the last 15 years. At the time the film was not super well-known, but now if you ask 10 people, I would say at least half of them would consider Shawshank among their favorites. Makes you think the outcome could have been considerably different if the film had more buzz around it in '94.

2. 1997
TITANIC
Good Will Hunting
LA Confidential
As Good As It Gets
The Full Monty


It was all I could do to not put this year at number one because I am still angry some 13 years later.

I will say this, no matter how "touching" or "beautiful" you think the story is, or how great you think the effects are or how much money they spent on it (sounding familiar yet?...cough...Avatar...cough), there is NO FREAKING WAY Titanic should ever be considered the superior film to it's competition from that year.

Now Full Monty was most likely a consolation addition. But LA Confidential?...As Good As It Gets?...Good Will Hunting? better than "King of the Freaking World"? That is something NO ONE could ever convince me of.


1. 1941
HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

I am not writing out all of the nominees for our number 1 (there were 10 that year). Let's look at our winner. How Green Was My Valley was Produced by Darryl Zanuck and Directed by John Ford (two of the greatest of all time) and it is hailed as a brilliant story of a disintegrating Welsh family and their struggles. It was good enough to beat out Sergeant York and The Maltese Falcon on Oscar night.

However, there is one major reason that this year is our number one choice as Greatest Oscar Screwjob.

And that reason is.....

It also beat this film......



That's right! Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE! The film that just about...well...everyone who knows about film calls the greatest of all time.

Now, this inclusion is no way to say that Valley, Maltese Falcon, or Sgt. York were bad or undeserving films, but it's the way that Kane lost the wins the prize.

You see, the film was kind of an "unauthorized" biography of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Welles denied to his dying day that the film had anything to do with Hearst but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. From some of Hearst's speeches being used verbatim to the fact that the infamous "Rosebud" was also Hearst's pet-name for his girlfriend's honeypot.

Understandably Hearst was unhappy about all of this and used all of his connections in Hollywood, and numerous threats, to try and make sure the film wasn't released. The film was released and was nominated for 9 Oscars (Including Best Picture as well as Best Actor and Director for Welles). Witnesses at the ceremony say the film was booed every time it was announced as a nominee and the film ended up winning only one award. Many say the reason for the shutdown was that many Oscar voters were afraid of Hearst and therefore voted against the film. The award the film did win (Best Screenplay) was shared between Welles and Herman Mankiewicz (seen as a final F-U to Welles that he had to share an award).

So the high powered friends of a Hollywood bigwig cowered to him and allowed him to get his way on Oscar night...couldn't ever happen again could it?

Whats That DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD?:

So let me get this straight; Nicolas Chartier who financed The Hurt Locker and is one of the 4 officially credited producers can’t attend the Academy Awards because he sent a mass email that never even mentioned Avatar by name? And the Oscars governing body thinks his badmouthing is so much worse than what nearly everyone in the Best Picture category has done year after year?So I must ask: is it mere coincidence that Academy president Tom Sherak (at one time a bigtime Fox movie exec), Oscars producers Bill Mechanic (at one time a bigtime Fox movie exec) and Adam Shankman (currently a bigtime Fox Broadcast talent), and Academy Board Of Governors member Jim Gianopulos (currently a bigtime Fox movie exec) all have strong ties to the Avatar studio?

OH.....MY....GOD....





NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!