DISQUS

Robert Fure · 1 year ago

With you on the Departed. Totally overrated and actually inferior to Infernal Affairs. Haven't seen a lot of the others ,but I'm sure this list could have been 20 movies longer

Maggie Van Ostrand · 1 year ago

Ditto on most of your choices. I really regret inadvertently omitting Raging Bull from my list of Best Films That Never Won A Best Picture Oscar. (Hangs head in embarrassment)

You are so very right with your #1 choice.

Tara · 1 year ago

I agree with all of these. The acting deserved an award in Driving Miss Daisy but not necessarily the movie itself.

Lorelei · 1 year ago

Sorry, I must disagree with you on A Beautiful Mind and Ordinary People, two films that dealt with the taboo, and often ignored, subject of mental illness. I was actually moved and frightened by the unstable characters in both films. Plus, the incredible transformation of Mary Tyler Moore from TV's lightweight That Girl to Hutton's frigid mom in Ordinary was absolutely jawdropping.

The film has several unforgettable scenes which do an incredible job of showing the effect mental illness can have on an entire family; like the one of Sutherland at the dining table deciding his next difficult move, or the one where Moore can't even stand next to her son long enough to pose for a picture. Powerful.

Agree with you on the other 8, and really wished Morgan Freeman had won for Street Smart instead of the goofy Daisy.

Also, could you detail the "terrible elements like the dialogue and characters in Titanic"? I'm just one of the millions who LOVED lines like, "I'd rather be his whore than your wife!" OOOwww, could someone pull that knife outta my back before giving it a good twist, salt shaker in hand? Rich man 0, Poor Boy 1. The ship will sink, it is a "mathematical certainty". Whoa, gotta love it.

Guest · 2 months ago

Marlo Thomas was "That Girl" - MTM was Laura Petre and Mary Richards.

Oh, never mind - i see that correction was already issued - a year ago. I'd delete this comment, but don't see that option, so I'll just add this comment instead

Mitchell · 1 year ago

I didn't think 'Driving Miss Daisy' was that bad, but no, it definitely wouldn't be my pick for the top prize. That said, 'Dead Poets Society' and 'Field of Dreams' are even worse ('My Left Foot' was CLEARLY the best of those nominees). Several fine un-nominated films from that year: 'Crimes and Misdemeanors', 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover', 'sex, lies, and videotape', 'Drugstore Cowboy', 'Henry V'.

Why no mention of 'Gladiator'? It's simply more unhistorical claptrap stapled to a run-of-the-mill revenge story. The problem with spectacles like this is that the big production values exclude literacy ('Lawrence of Arabia' being the only exception). At least 'Braveheart' (another questionable BP choice) was pretty to look at; 'Gladiator' is one of the unsightliest movies a person will ever see.

Can't agree with you on 'The Departed', or for that matter, that it's inferior to 'Infernal Affairs'. Those East Asians can come up with good scenarios for movies, but the acting and characterizations are dismal.

Rob · 1 year ago

How sad that so many cinema poseurs like yourselves would deride An American In Paris. A movie that is constantly ranked as the greatest musical ever. This was a classic movie from a time when movies were made to make you forget your troubles. If I want reality I watch the news. If I want violence and blood there is cage fighting. If I want pure entertainment that makes me happy and makes the cares of the world go away, An American in Paris is that movie. But then again, I guess you guys bashing a classic is the reason why this web site is called Film School Rejects. On the bright side, they will probably make Saw V or Hostel III so you guys can gush about the realism of the gore. Feel free to bash me as your opinions are obviously pointless so who cares. But to be fare, these thoughts are my humble opinion as are your thoughts.

jpschilling · 1 year ago

I have never been able to find a category remotely close, therefore, with a little help from learned film critics, could each person just place one nominee for the titel of "Most Overlooked Performance" in the Best Actor category?

Mine is Kevin Bacon for his performance in "Murder in the First" CHEERS!

Joseph French · 1 year ago

Ican understand nine of theselections and go along. But I vote with Rob on An American in Paris. This is one the greatest musicals ever. I was looking forward to seeing another Gene Kelly dance masterpiece. Never heard of Leslie Caron, and wow! You askwho could fall in love her. I could and did. Now I watch it dreaming of holding Leslie Caron in my arms. But even without her, there is the magnificent music of George Gershwin. Ihave staged several Gershwin concerts and even a full production of Of Thee I Sing. I love this film.

Ozymandias · 1 year ago

No Crash? I'm disappointed.

Kenneth Barr · 1 year ago

"The English Patient" was such a boring and predictable movie that I never understood how anyone good consider i Oscar-worthy. I totally disagree about "Around the World...," which I think is a ine bit of entertainment. "Ordinary People" is a movie firmly set in its time and hasn't aged well. Then again, how accurate has the "Best Picture" category been over the years when "Citizen Kane," which now tops many lists as the greatest ever, didn't win BP.

El Bicho · 1 year ago

Lorelai,

I am not sure how A Beautiful Mind deals with Nash's mental illness, especially considering they give him hallucinations he never had. Giving a character something and the story dealing with something are two different things. OP earned its spot due in part to the fact that it beat out a film many consider one of the best ever. Acting, Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, etc. are all better in Raging Bull. Also, Marlo Thomas was That Girl not MTM.

El Bicho · 1 year ago

Rob,

Obviously you are the one who cares about my pointless opinion since you responded.

Who is posing? Your assumption that I like modern day horror is misguided. Even you admit there's many people who deride this terrible film, but hey, if your standards are so low for "pure entertainment," lucky for you because there's plenty of goofy, poorly written love stories out there.

I enjoy plenty of musicals, and I enjoy the music in the film, but the film as a whole is terrible.

mattlove1 · 2 months ago

oh testify! I like the same kind of films Rob does - and hate the same kind of films he does. But this movie falls so short... its ponderous, cringe inducing, boring, pretentious, clunky... but most critics love it and rank it highly (like the awful children's film "Thief of Bagdad." I'm surprised to learn that you aren't making a bold statement by saying this film is no good. That's the case, but few are bold enough to say it, in my experience.

joey · 1 year ago

ya I have to agree with Rob and the other poster as well. Elbicho, you must be on crack to think An American in Paris is a horrible movie. True, without the music and cinematography, the story would probably fall flat but all the elements combine to make it a great movie. As for Around the World in 80 Days, I think that was a great movie too because it lets u travel the world in a single movie and theres just excitement in it. Maybe you should pop some adderall for your ADD so you can sit through the 18 minute finale of An American in Paris and appreciate it. By the way, anyone who didnt mention Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, or The English Patient on their list is truly a reject

Josh Radde · 1 year ago

What the f*ck?

busybee81 · 1 year ago

I have to agree completely in regard to The Departed. Actually, I consider it to be one of Scorcese's 'minor' works - it's an okay movie. But I think he really should have won for Gangs of New York, gosh I love that film - Daniel Day-Lewis is funktastic in his role (as usual).

Dead Poets Society was so much better than Driving Miss Daisy. I think it's telling when movies that should have won stand the test of time much better than the actual winners. I mean, which movie will be most remembered ten years from now?

Crash or Brokeback Mountain?

Pulp Fiction or Forrest Gump (though I liked the latter too, but it was a robbery)?

So many Oscar blunders!

MiamiMaria · 1 year ago

I agree that The Departed is Scorsese "lite." While it is interesting on its first viewing, it does not hold up on multiple viewngs. I think that is the best gage. Can the film be viewed again and again and still elicit something in the viewer. Personally, I think it was amazing that Daniel Day-Lewis lost, what should have been his second oscar, to Adrian Brody who seems on his way to join the ranks of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Halle Barry as biggest joke winners ever!


And while people may hate on A Beautiful Mind it is a complete joke that Crowe lost to Washington in Training Day. I mean the film wins picture, director, supporting actress, and screenplay yet the guy who is in almost every minute of the film loses to Washington playing a pretty average role.

danny · 1 year ago

i agree with others regarding "crash," which undoubtedly belongs in the top 5 of worst best picture winners.

reza · 1 year ago

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Robert · 9 months ago

I'd take Ordinary People off of this list (a very good film with superior performances that's only crime was being given Best Picture over Raging Bull) and add Out of Africa, Gladiator and most especially Crash, which was an appalling choice, as it is turgid, heavy handed and unbearably self-important. BTW, I think The Aviator should have won over Million Dollar Baby also, but what's up with your writing "Hollywood wanted to stick it to conservatives"? Huh?

stossone · 4 months ago

You have to base the quality on the time it was made. Yes Richard Dix is the worst actor ever, but when he was making films, the silent era type acting was accepted and expected. Watch more of these movies from 29 to 32 and you will see what I mean. In Jean Harlow's first performance in Public Enemy was the worse piece of single acting I have ever seen yet she progressed as acting standards progressed. I also believe that if it was not for this ham type acting, sound would never have taken off. Granted, the inability to speak had to be replaced with physical gestures during the silent era, theatre actors were able to use there voice but still used these gestures because that was how acting was done. As camera and sound technology improved, they could use better methods to create and explain a particular scene thereby lifting the burden on the actor to act their part through voice and expression. That is why during the late 30's to the 50's, actors like Gary Cooper thrived because he relied on great effects and story writing to tell the picture while he would only use a minimun amount of expression in his words and gestures and thereby associating the drama or action towards him and not his words or movements. As for musicals, same thing. They were new and big and people expected that type of zeal during and inbetween a song. The songs and dances were big and bold and they just couldn't have simple acting inbetween. It had to be as big and bold throughout to hold the viewer and not go from big dance and big song to average acting scenes and character parts. Also I want to emphasize this one major point. Racism. Since none of us knows what any minority was actually like during the time, we should look at it in terms as I explained above. Movies like Cimarron take place in the late 1800's just after the Civil War. Do you honestly believe that black people talked like they do now, of course not. They were still slaves in most respects until the 1950's and were denied any education for the most part. So when they speak with what we now would call racist sterotyping, that was how most of them actually talked. Even during the first half of the 1900's, they were kept down in servatude, denied middle class education and were expected to use that form of speech and vocabulary. Take a look at the films of the first independent black film maker Oscar Micheaux whose films who now be consider racist if not for the fact that he was black himself.

mattlove1 · 2 months ago

How did giving an academy award to "Million Dollar Baby" stick it to conservatives? Seems to me that film sticks it to disabled people, not conservatives, by telling them if they should just go die. Since the reactionary Clint Eastwood went to court to try to resist providing wheelchair access to his restaurant, we can have some intelligent speculation about his motiviations. What was the motivation of the Academy? Who knows. Eastwood makes terrible, terrible films.

Eldorado66 · 2 months ago

Mystic River and Flags of our Fathers are terrible,terrible films? Wow. That is so ridiculous I dont know what to say.

mattlove1 · 1 week ago

Good. As Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain or somebody or other once said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

Eldorado66 · 2 months ago

Yes its too bad Raging Bull didnt win but that doesnt mean Ordinary People belongs on this list. Its one of the most gripping films ive seen and comparing it to a Lifetime movie leads me to the conclusion you dont know what you are talking about.

Nan2 · 3 weeks ago

i also disagree about Beautiful Mind and Ordinary People. I thought Russel Crowe was fantastic portraying John Nash. I also loved Jennifer Conelley's performance. This movie was exciting and suspenseful and certainly kept my interest. Now with Ordinary People, again the acting performances by Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore were exceptional. I was rivetted by Moore's scenes with her son (Hutton) -- she was so cold and completely devoid of emotional feelings toward him. I have known of families who faced this tragedy and watching Ordinary People really hit close to home.

I also disagree with Driving Miss Daisy's poor rating in list. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie too. I do not agree that Jessica Tandy's portrayal of Miss Daisy showed no empathy for this character. She was harsh and probably very rigid and definitely narrow-minded and I believe Jessica Tandy's acting got this character right on target. Of course this movie is not trying to send a message about civil rights during the 1950's, it is just trying to portray life in the 1950's and that is how things were in the 1950's living in the deep South.