Worst Best Picture movies

Hi, Everybody! Today, I'm going to be talking about the movies that have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards against movies that were so much better. These movies aren't necessarily bad, it's just that these movies didn't deserve the title of Best Picture.

20. American Beauty

Ok, at the time American Beauty was celebrated for its comedy, Sam Mendes' direction and Kevin Spacey's performance. The film won Best Picture in 2000 against The Cider House Rules, The Sixth Sense, The Insider and The Green Mile. Given the fact that Spacey's a real-life predator, I haven't looked at this movie the same way again! It's just very cringe watching a middle-aged man trying to be in a relationship with his daughter's friend! The true Best Picture was indeed The Green Mile.

19. Kramer vs. Kramer

According to The Academy, the best movie of 1979 was Kramer vs. Kramer, a drama film starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep who are fighting custody for their kid. When in actuality it was the Vietnam War masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. While Kramer vs. Kramer was a great movie it's no way better than a movie that Francis Ford Coppola worked soo hard to make. Francis even lost to K v. K director Robert Benton for the Best Director Oscar.

18. Rocky

Ok ok ok. I LOVE ROCKY SO MUCH! I think that it's a classic. The movie transcended the sports movie genre in so many ways. But the movie was up against 3 other classic movies, All the President's Men, Bound for Glory, Taxi Driver and Network, the latter being the ideal choice to win the top prize due to its satirical take on news ratings. Nobody could've predicted that a movie like Rocky would win Best Picture. John G. Avildsen received his Oscar for Best Director against Sidney Lumet, who directed Network, which won Best Original Screenplay while All the President's Men won Best Adapted Screenplay. 

17. The Greatest Show on Earth

In 1953, at the 25th Academy Awards, Cecil B. Demille's circus movie won the top prize against... High Noon, one of the greatest western movies of all time! It seemed as though that the Academy felt that Cecil was owed an Oscar since that he was never nominated and gave it to one of his lesser-known properties. However he did score another Best Picture nom for 1956's The Ten Commandments.

16. Out of Africa

If you liked Out of Africa for its cinematography and the performances of Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, good for you! But you know what movie was better in 1985? Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple! A departure from Spielberg's exciting filmography, The Color Purple showed the problems that Celie and other African American women faced in the American South including racism, domestic violence, incest, pedophilia, poverty and sexism. The Color Purple was nominated for 10 Oscars and it didn't take home anything while Out of Africa won 7 Oscars including Best Director for Sydney Pollack. With a movie with strong themes, it would've won the top prize that year. 

15. Green Book

As much as Green Book was a great film, it's a white-savior movie. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali had great friendship chemistry, but it's not exactly the worthy Best Picture that it claims to be. 2018 was a groundbreaking year for African Americans. Black Panther became the first superhero movie to tackle themes of African American prejudice, identity and what it means to be a ruler and was the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture, while the film did win Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, it could've been groundbreaking for a superhero movie to be a Best Picture winner. Spike Lee finally got the attention that he deserved from The Academy. BlacKkKlansman was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, winning one for Best Original Screenplay. A movie about an African American detective who exposes the Ku Klux Klan would've also been a Best Picture winner and not to mention that Roma was the first foreign language film to be nominated for the top prize, earning Alfonso Cuaron 3 Oscars including Best Director.

14. A Beautiful Mind

Sure, A Beautiful Mind is a great movie with a great performance from Russell Crowe, but is it Best Picture? I don't think so. The film won against Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Moulin Rouge!. That same year, Ron Howard won Best Director against Robert Altman and Peter Jackson while Mulholland Drive and Black Hawk Down were also nominated for its direction. A Beautiful Mind was a great character study on a mathematics professor with schizophrenia but an epic fantasy movie adapted from one of the greatest book writers of all time at least deserved the top prize, but if you are a fan of musical movies like Moulin Rouge, you'd want it to Best picture. Don't worry, Chicago won a year afterwards, the second time that a Lord of the Rings movie didn't win Best Picture. It wasn't until the next year that Return of the King became a gamechanging movie by winning all of its nominations in 2004, including, yes, Best Picture. Gosford Park, also a masterpiece, won Best Original Screenplay while In the Bedroom won nothing. 

13. Forrest Gump

PLEASE! Don't hate me for this and hear me out. Forrest Gump is beloved and iconic. I still quote it to this day. But 2 other movies that were nominated were soo much better! The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction. Shawshank, being one of the greatest movies of all time, surprisingly didn't win anything. However, Pulp Fiction did win Best Original Screenplay. Forrest Gump may have been celebrated for its groundbreaking filmmaking tactics but Shawshank had a much better story.

12. Gandhi

Sure, Gandhi is a great biopic about a great historical figure, but the best movies of 1982 were E.T, The Thing, Blade Runner and Tootsie. While both Thing and Blade Runner weren't nominated, E.T. and Tootsie could've been a sure win. Richard Attenborough won Best Director against Sydney Pollack and Steven Spielberg, Gandhi also won Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography, just to name a couple, while E.T. won for its visual effects. 

11. The Apartment

The Apartment was a classic Rom-Com movie! But much better movies were released in 1960, the best movie that year is obviously Psycho. But that movie wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, only being nominated for Best Director for Alfred Hitchcock which he lost to Billy Wilder. The Apartment was up against Elmer Gantry, The Sundowners, The Alamo and Sons and Lovers. The Apartment also won Best Original Screenplay, while Elmer Gantry won Best Original Screenplay and Sons and Lovers won Best Cinematography.

10. An American in Paris

If you think An American in Paris deserved Best Picture, I can respect that. I can always enjoy Gene Kelly singing and dancing. Both A Place in the Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire are two of the greatest drama films of all time! George Stevens, the director of A Place in the Sun, won Best Director and A Streetcar Named Desire was nominated for 12 Oscars. A Place in the Sun also won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, which could've been an easy gateway to the Academy's top prize. 

9. The Artist

The Artist was a throwback to classic Hollywood Era of silent movies that was released in 2011. While the movie wasn't bad by all means, it's just that there were much better movies that were nominated that came out that year like Hugo, Moneyball and The Tree of Life. The latter was Terrence Malik's best directed movie and was also robbed of his Oscar. A movie taking place in 1930s Hollywood shouldn't win against a movie revolving around the meaning of life. Hugo won for its visual effects while Moneyball and The Tree of Life won nothing.

8. My Fair Lady

Don't get me wrong, My Fair Lady is a classic and I'm sure I can understand why The Academy chose this movie for its iconic musical numbers and Audrey Hepburns iconic outfit but Stanley Kubrick's satirical masterpiece Dr. Strangelove is far superior! America was at the height of the Cold War and Dr. Strangelove was just a hilarious and insightful look at nuclear conflicts. I guess Academy voters weren't ready to embrace satires yet. My Fair Lady also most notably beat out Mary Poppins.

7. The English Patient

If we're talking pretentious Oscar picks, The English Patient somewhat comes to mind. Anthony Minghella knew how to make ambitious dramas since he also directed the epic romance film Cold Mountain. It certainly isn't the 2hrs and 31 min. that I will never get bac, the movie did have incredible cinematography and landscapes, Fargo could've been a sure win for Best Picture because of its wildly entertaining story, dark themes and memorable quirky characters.

6. Driving Miss Daisy

At the time, Driving Miss Daisy was a friendly and informative approach to racism. While the performances of Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy kept it afloat, the racial stereotypes and white-savior narrative were very flawed. Much better movies were released in 1988 like Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams and My Left Foot. All of these movies could've been a sure win for Best Picture. Not to mention Spike Lee's magnum opus, Do the Right Thing which was never nominated for any Academy Awards and I what I think is the true Best Picture of 1989 due its groundbreaking approach to racism and that it was ahead of its time in terms of gentrification. The Academy certainly didn't know about Radio Raheem, huh?

5. The King's Speech

The King's Speech was a decent biopic with smartly written dialogue and great performances, particularly Colin Firth which won him Best Actor. That movie beat out the best movie of 2010 and the decade, The Social Network, which was directed by David Fincher and written by screenwriter savant Aaron Sorkin. The movie perfectly captured the cultural zeitgeist of Generation Z and the impact of social media and the film feels relevant to this day. The Academy really should've the acknowledged the themes and signficance of Fincher's masterpiece. They sure do love period films tho.

4. Ordinary People

Ordinary People was a sentimental family drama starring Donald Sutherland that won Best Picture against Raging Bull, a sports drama masterpiece directed by Martin Scorsese. The Academy might've been too happy with their pick for Rocky.

3. Dances with Wolves

This is by far one of the biggest upsets in Academy Award history! Dances with Wolves was another White Savior movie where Kevin Costner helps Native Americans. The best movie of 1990 was in fact, GoodFellas! 10 years later and Martin Scorsese was robbed of his Best Picture and Best Director award! The Academy sure do love movies with white savior plots, huh? Don't worry, Marty, your Oscar is 16 years away.

2. How Green Was My Valley 

It really depends on who you ask what the greatest movie of all time is. Citizen Kane usually comes to mind. In 1941, How Green Was My Valley won Best Picture against Citizen Kane! I mean, how could The Academy not pick a movie that had a great narrative, a complex character, amazing direction and cinematography and amazing dialogue?! How Green Was My Valley was nothing like Citizen Kane, it was pretentious, tedious and boring and the film's quality does not hold up today. But Citizen Kane still does after 80 years! This is known as the Citizen Kane of Best Picture upsets.

Honorable Mentions:

- The Last Emperor

Won against: Broadcast News and Fatal Attraction

- Gentleman's Agreement

Won against: Great Expectations and Miracle on 34th Street

- Argo

Won against: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Life of Pi and Amour

- Gone with the Wind

Won against: The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Wuthering Heights

1. Shakespeare in Love and Crash

It was very very tough to pick which Best Picture movie was the worst one. So this is a tie. Shakespeare in Love was another decent period drama about one of the greatest playwrights of all time and how he came up with Romeo and Juliet albeit with many historical inaccuracies, the one movie that was soo much better than this was Saving Private Ryan, the greatest war movie ever made! The Academy's decision to give Shakespeare in Love the top prize divided Hollywood for so many years. However, if there was one movie that was the epitome of Oscar bait, it's Crash. I can't even remember what the movie's plot was! It had a great cast, yes, but that's not enough to make it a great movie. Brokeback Mountain was the better movie in 2005 and at the time, The Academy wasn't ready to embrace a great LGBT love story. It goes to show how the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences don't embrace tradition but rather pick the movies that voters think are considered great in their opinion rather than the popularity from the movies themselves.

Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to comment your thoughts below.

Good night to everyone except The Academy.