View Poll Results: what is the worst Oscar-winning best picture ever?

Voters
40. You may not vote on this poll
  • The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

    1 2.50%
  • The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

    2 5.00%
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

    1 2.50%
  • Oliver! (1968)

    6 15.00%
  • Forrest Gump (1995)

    6 15.00%
  • Titanic (1997)

    14 35.00%
  • Chicago (2002)

    10 25.00%
  • Crash (2005)

    3 7.50%
  • other

    5 12.50%
Multiple Choice Poll.
Results 1 to 19 of 19
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Skinker-DeBaliviere, Saint Louis

    worst Best Picture-winning film ever (Oscars)

    Explain.

    People will probably have trouble with my including Kwai.

    I wanted My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music in there but I knew I couldn't make it all musicals. I also saw Tearms of Endearment had 90% on RT so I backed off that.

    2535, please repost your response. I had trouble with the poll and had to start over.

    A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
    ---Roger Ebert


    Some questions cannot be answered
    Who’s gonna bury who
    We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
    ---Over the Rhine

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by throatybeard View Post
    Explain.

    People will probably have trouble with my including Kwai.

    I wanted My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music in there but I knew I couldn't make it all musicals. I also saw Tearms of Endearment had 90% on RT so I backed off that.

    2535, please repost your response. I had trouble with the poll and had to start over.
    I almost went with Terms of Endearment for the same reason I am going with 1978's The Deer Hunter. I wholeheartedly believe this movie deserved the award but I saw it for the first time when my brother was on his first tour of Iraq. I bawled, and bawled, and bawled. This movie ruined me for days.

    Edit: Wish this had been multiple choice
    Last edited by 2535Miles; 06-17-2008 at 01:21 AM. Reason: Had to throw in two more cents :D

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    I voted for two - Chicago, which actually is the worst Best Picture winner I've seen, and Forrest Gump, which is the worst selection for Best Picture (winning over both Pulp Fiction and the Shawshank Redemption). I actually like Forrest Gump, but defeating what are arguably two of the 5-10 best films of all time was a travesty.
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Quote Originally Posted by throatybeard View Post
    I wanted My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music in there but I knew I couldn't make it all musicals.
    And good you left them off. This guy has a soft spot for My Fair Lady (now where'd that threat about things we're embarrassed to admit go . . .)
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Ashburn, VA
    Forrest Gump was actually '94, not '95 (that was Braveheart). I think FG, Shawshank and Pulp Fiction are all excellent so I wouldn't have a problem with any of them winning. FG did and I'm fine with that.

    I haven't seen the first two so I couldn't comment.

    I meant to vote for Chicago as my 2nd one but was distracted and hit submit before I did.

    That brings up to Titanic. Gattaca, Good Will Hunting, and (in my mind, the real Best Picture that year) LA Confidential are three of my favorite movies and all from '97.

    Oh, and it's not on there, but Gosford Park should have beaten out A Beautiful Mind in 2001 - but not many people have heard of it or seen it (it was nominated though) so it probably didn't get many academy votes.

    I liked Crash and am happy it won - also, that movie has perhaps the single most emotionally intense moment of any film I've ever seen.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Los Angeles

    Question a lot to choose from

    There are many -- usually because of competition more deserving.

    But I had to vote for The Greatest Show on Earth. Not necessarily a bad movie, but...the competition: High Noon

    The again, (1956) Around the World in 80 Days won against Giant, The King & I, the Ten Commandments

    Then in 1958, Gigi won rather than The Defiant Ones and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

    and not to beat a dead horse, but in 1980, Ordinary People took home the prize rather than Raging Bull. (I'll stop here and leave the next 25+ years to others).

  7. #7
    Hindsight bias...the Oscars awarded many years ago(particularly musicals) reflect the values and tastes of the time. I was reading an article somewhere that showed a distinct lack of understanding of the time context between generations. It used a nursing home example where the staff played Elvis Presley from the '60's for someone in their 70's who grew up with Big Band era music. The Elvis stuff may have been "old" for the person who chose it, but was hardly "contemporary" for the elderly person.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Lexington, KY

    Red face 1968 was a weird year

    Oliver! was a weird year. The acting awards were impressive. Kate Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) TIED with Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl). Peter O'Toole (The Lion in Winter) lost to Cliff Robertson (Charly). I think the acting in Lion and Funny Girl cancelled each other out when it came to voting for best picture. Add in Romeo & Juliet and Paul Newman's "Rachel, Rachel" and I believe votes for Oliver! weren't competing with those of other nominees.

    Meanwhile, "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick) was given a nomination for directing (Oliver! won that), but received NO nomination for best picture. I guess that movie wasn't appreciated back then as it is now.

    My sentimental choice from that year was the over-the-top acting of Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes.

    Cheers,
    Lavabe

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by pfrduke View Post
    I voted for two - Chicago, which actually is the worst Best Picture winner I've seen, and Forrest Gump, which is the worst selection for Best Picture (winning over both Pulp Fiction and the Shawshank Redemption). I actually like Forrest Gump, but defeating what are arguably two of the 5-10 best films of all time was a travesty.
    Really? I'd be voting for Shawshank if it had won best picture. I think Pulp Fiction deserved the honor.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by pfrduke View Post
    I voted for two - Chicago, which actually is the worst Best Picture winner I've seen, and Forrest Gump, which is the worst selection for Best Picture (winning over both Pulp Fiction and the Shawshank Redemption). I actually like Forrest Gump, but defeating what are arguably two of the 5-10 best films of all time was a travesty.
    I don't understand.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX

    Forest Gump - Simply because of the competition

    As others have said - Forest Gump. Quiz Show was also that year, along with Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Forest Gump was pure schmaltz in my mind when I first saw it, and it doesn't hold up well for me either. I understand why people like it, and that's cool, but it wasn't Oscar-worthy.

    Someone once said -- if you want an Oscar, play someone sick (physically or mentally) or slow, or ugly yourself up. Go back and look at best actor/actress awards and best pictures and it's pretty amazing how many winners fall into one of those categories.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by pfrduke View Post
    I voted for two - Chicago, which actually is the worst Best Picture winner I've seen, and Forrest Gump, which is the worst selection for Best Picture (winning over both Pulp Fiction and the Shawshank Redemption). I actually like Forrest Gump, but defeating what are arguably two of the 5-10 best films of all time was a travesty.
    PF and SR are both good movies, but IMO neither comes close to top 5-10 of all time.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Lexington, KY

    Wink Who's sick, slow, or ugly?

    Quote Originally Posted by A-Tex Devil View Post
    As others have said - Forest Gump. Quiz Show was also that year, along with Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Forest Gump was pure schmaltz in my mind when I first saw it, and it doesn't hold up well for me either. I understand why people like it, and that's cool, but it wasn't Oscar-worthy.

    Someone once said -- if you want an Oscar, play someone sick (physically or mentally) or slow, or ugly yourself up. Go back and look at best actor/actress awards and best pictures and it's pretty amazing how many winners fall into one of those categories.
    Difference of opinion: Take a look at both actors/actresses in the 2000's:

    Best Actor in the 2000's
    2000 Russell Crowe - Gladiator as Maximus
    2001 Denzel Washington - Training Day as Alonzo Harris
    2002 Adrien Brody - The Pianist as Wladyslaw Szpilman
    2003 Sean Penn - Mystic River as Jimmy Markum
    2004 Jamie Foxx - Ray as Ray Charles
    2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote as Truman Capote
    2006 Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin
    2007 Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview

    Best Actress in the 2000's
    2000 Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich as Erin Brockovich
    2001 Halle Berry - Monster's Ball as Leticia Musgrove
    2002 Nicole Kidman - The Hours as Virginia Woolf
    *2003 Charlize Theron - Monster as Aileen
    *2004 Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby as Maggie Fitzgerald
    2005 Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line as June Carter
    2006 Helen Mirren - The Queen as The Queen
    2007 Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose as Edith Piaf

    I'll give you 2003 & 2004. I might give you Nicole Kidman for wearing a prosthetic nose. And hey, if having a death scene and a troubled life counts, well, I'd include Cotillard. Otherwise, I'm having trouble coming up with an amazing number of Oscar-winning actresses from 1980 - 1999 that fit the hypothesis, at least for the course of a movie.

    Of course, I'll defer to Shammrog about his former avatar's TWO Oscars for best actress. Swank's performance in MDB was great.

    On the actor side, I agree with your hypothesis during the 1984-1996 stretch (F. Murray Abraham, Cage, Hanks, Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Hopkins, Pacino, Geoffrey Rush).

    Other than that, I don't think the hypothesis is as amazing as you stated, especially in the 2000's.

    Cheers,
    Lavabe

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Quote Originally Posted by xenic View Post
    PF and SR are both good movies, but IMO neither comes close to top 5-10 of all time.
    That's why I said arguably. For what it's worth (and I don't think it's worth much), both poll in the top 5 of IMDB's top 250.
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    I would have voted "other," but I am not sure on this:

    Did The English Patient win Best Picture? If it did, it gets my vote. It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

    This may be sacrilege, but I also didn't like 2001: A Space Odyssey either...

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Denver, CO.
    I voted other. Titanic was not that great a movie and it beat L.A. Confidential which, as someone as already noted, was the best movie that year.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Shammrog View Post
    I would have voted "other," but I am not sure on this:

    Did The English Patient win Best Picture? If it did, it gets my vote. It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

    This may be sacrilege, but I also didn't like 2001: A Space Odyssey either...
    Word. That movie is unbearable.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    St. Louis

    I voted other

    I'm not sure which one it is, but between Gigi, The Sound of Music, and Kramer vs. Kramer, one is deserving.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Lavabe View Post
    Difference of opinion: Take a look at both actors/actresses in the 2000's:

    Best Actor in the 2000's
    2000 Russell Crowe - Gladiator as Maximus
    2001 Denzel Washington - Training Day as Alonzo Harris
    2002 Adrien Brody - The Pianist as Wladyslaw Szpilman
    2003 Sean Penn - Mystic River as Jimmy Markum
    2004 Jamie Foxx - Ray as Ray Charles
    2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote as Truman Capote
    2006 Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin
    2007 Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview

    Best Actress in the 2000's
    2000 Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich as Erin Brockovich
    2001 Halle Berry - Monster's Ball as Leticia Musgrove
    2002 Nicole Kidman - The Hours as Virginia Woolf
    *2003 Charlize Theron - Monster as Aileen
    *2004 Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby as Maggie Fitzgerald
    2005 Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line as June Carter
    2006 Helen Mirren - The Queen as The Queen
    2007 Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose as Edith Piaf

    I'll give you 2003 & 2004. I might give you Nicole Kidman for wearing a prosthetic nose. And hey, if having a death scene and a troubled life counts, well, I'd include Cotillard. Otherwise, I'm having trouble coming up with an amazing number of Oscar-winning actresses from 1980 - 1999 that fit the hypothesis, at least for the course of a movie.

    Of course, I'll defer to Shammrog about his former avatar's TWO Oscars for best actress. Swank's performance in MDB was great.

    On the actor side, I agree with your hypothesis during the 1984-1996 stretch (F. Murray Abraham, Cage, Hanks, Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Hopkins, Pacino, Geoffrey Rush).

    Other than that, I don't think the hypothesis is as amazing as you stated, especially in the 2000's.

    Cheers,
    Lavabe
    Well Ray Charles is blind. Ida Amin and Jimmy Markum and Daniel Day Lewis and Capote are all kind of "ugly" characters in some way.

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