February 16th, 2007
The Oscars: Films that lost out on Best Picture
We seem to be knee-deep in Blog Awards chatter this week (voting closes at 5pm today, so if you haven’t already voted, and would like to see The Sigla blog on the shortlist for Best Arts & Culture Blog and Best Music blog, mosey on over here) and as with every Awards bash, there’s bound to be griping about some inclusions and omissions. Nothing, it has to be said, in the way of the Oscars. Not since Moses and his Red Sea antics has an award ceremony divided people. One of the most contentious categories is Best Picture, a thorny one because of what some consider to be a general decline in standard over the last decade or so. Chicago hardly ranks alongside Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia does it?
So as the world’s biggest film awards loom next weekend, here are some suggestions (there are many more) in no particular order of the Best Picture losers that should have won. Think of them as films that lost out to a lesser piece of work, or in the case of Goodfellas, the ones that were robbed in broad daylight.
*Citizen Kane (1941). The film that always tops ‘Best Ever Film’ lists was beaten by John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley, a sentimental Welsh mining drama doesn’t hold a candle to the ‘Rosebud’ saga. (Other nominees: The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York (on TCM today at 3pm) and Hitchcock’s Suspicion).
*Mildred Pierce (1945) - A seminal film in terms of female independence and roles for women, Joan Crawford won Best Actress for her part but the film lost out to The Lost Weekend. (Other nominees: Anchors Aweigh, The Bells of St. Mary’s and Spellbound).
*Double Indemnity . Despite Billy Wilder direction and a screenplay co-written by Raymond Chandler, this film noir classic starring femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck was pipped by Going My Way, a musical starring Bing Crosby as a priest and Barry Fitzgerald as the stage Irishman. Gaslight was also over looked this year. (Other nominees: Gaslight, Since You Went Away and Wilson.)
*Taxi Driver (1976) . As much as we love Sly’s pugilism pics (even the new one), it’s still hard to believe that every other film in this category was a more deserving winner than Rocky, particularly Scorsese’s sociopath classic Taxi Driver. (Other nominees: All the President’s Men, Network and Bound for Glory).
*Apocalypse Now (1979) . Coppola’s epic reimagining of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness during the Vietnam War went way over budget, lead to cocaine-induced heart attacks and lost out to domestic weepie Kramer Vs Kramer. You can’t get more typical of the Oscars than that. (Other nominees: All That Jazz, Breaking Away and Norma Rae).
*The Killing Fields (1984) . A brilliant account of friendship during the Cambodian War was beaten by overblown campfest Amadeus for Best Picture. (Other nominees: A Passage to India, Places in the Heart and A Soldier’s Story).
*My Left Foot (1989)- This isn’t a biased one, as MLF is one of the best Irish films of the last 20 years (“Let Christy taaakke iihh!â€?) and was beaten by the sweet but safe Driving Miss Daisy, (Other nominees: Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society and Field of Dreams).
*Goodfellas (1990) . Without doubt the biggest case of Oscar daylight robbery. Scorsese’s violent masterpiece lost out to Kevin Costner’s dreary Dances With Wolves - someone should have gone to jail for crimes against film-making. (Other nominees: Awakenings, Ghost (definitely a bad year) and The Godfather, Part III).
*Pulp Fiction (1994) . One of Tarantino’s finest outings but Hollywood plumped for saccarhine patriotism and gave the Best Picture award to Forrest Gump. (Other nominees: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Quiz Show and - another worthy winner - The Shawshank Redemption).
*Saving Private Ryan (1998) . Many think this should have won for the opening scene alone (shot on a beach in Wexford), but Spielberg was denied again in favour of the flippant Shakespeare in Love. (Other nominees: Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful and The Thin Red Line).
*Crash (2005) - Any of the other nominated films were better films and worthier winners than the poor man’s Magnolia. In my opinion, one of worst Best Picture winners ever… (Other nominees: Capote, Munich, Good Night and Good Luck and Brokeback Mountain).
Any more suggestions?
February 16th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Raging Bull losing out to Ordinary People…
February 16th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I lost you on Taxi Driver - what were you saying there? Who won that year?
And I nearly freaked out when I saw you had Crash listed… then I read what you said and relaxed again. God I disliked that film. Why did so many of, even my saner, friends like it?
February 16th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Martin - is Ordinary People the Robert Redford family drama thing? Haven’t seen it, but have heard it’s only alright.
Frank - sorry, a glaring omission on my part - although I referred to Sylvester Stallone, I forget to mention Rocky. Will fix that, thanks.
February 16th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Ah yes, I should have been able to put it together in fairness, but not enough Coffee in me today. Or I could have just googled oscars 1976… but as I say…
February 16th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Damn, Martin beat me to it. Ordinary People beating Raging Bull - that was an absolute travesty. Even I, a year old at the time, was outraged.
February 16th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Yeah that’s the one - one son dead, the rest of ‘family dealing with it. I saw it on TV years ago. It’s not that it’s that bad but it’s not a classic the way Raging Bull is. Great performances (Pesci is possibly better than DeNiro but the weight loss/gain gets the headlines) and one of the most beautifully photographed films ever…
William H Macy said in the IoS recently that the Oscars are about marketing (those fuckers again!) and not about honouring. And he’s right…
February 16th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
RE:Pulp Fiction…Samuel L. Jackson losing out to Martin Landau (in Ed Wood)was an even bigger crime. and why the hell wasn’t Sam in for Best Actor rather than best supporting Actor? Oh the humanity…
February 16th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
you mentioned chicago in your intro, a soggy pile of poop if ever there was one. can’t remember what else was nominated when it won, but I think it might have been Lord of the Rings.
February 16th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
John, agreed. As much as I loved Martin Landau in Ed Wood, that’s the best performance of Samuel L Jackson’s career.
Dave, I don’t like musicals at the best of times (except for a handle of old classics), and I couldn’t handle Chicago at all. The year it won The Pianist was also nominated, which I really liked. Polanski got Best Director and Adrian Brody got Best Actor (the youngest to do so, at 29).
You’ve also reminded me of Million Dollar Baby, which won a couple of years ago. I can’t stress how much I hated this film. Predictable, offensive and full of false heart-string moments. Girlfight (starring Lost’s Michelle Rodriquez is a far better film about female boxers. And Sideways and The Aviator deserved the best picture award more than MDB. Clint seems to be the King Midas of the Oscars though, maybe he’ll win for Iwo Jim. Poor Marty Scorsese though…
February 17th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Pulp Fiction has dated really badly. It already had by 1999, when I watched it on BBC. It’s still better than Forrest Gump, mind, and Tarantino has since made his masterpiece in Jackie Brown (and his greatest piece of shit in Kill Bills combined). Scorsese will win this year, though The Departed is an embarrassingly bad piece of scenery-chewing show-boating. It took dumbing-down for Marty to get recognised by the Academy.
February 17th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Seanachie, I agree it’s dated but it blew me away when I saw it in the cinema 13 years ago (yikes). Jackie Brown is brilliant, not least for the music - Taratino is particularly good at picking great music for his films. ‘Across 110th Street’ is amazing.
I liked The Departed but yes, it’s dumbed down and the ending was appalling, it really bugged me. There’s a lot of talk that he’ll win this year and that it’ll be his “sympathy” Oscar for not winning for Taxi Driver/Goodfellas/Raging Bull.
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:04 am
I didn’t think “The Departed” was that good. Infernal Affairs was better.
I don’t think Scorsese should win with a remake. He must have another worthy original in him.
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:07 am
It’s definitely the poorest film he could win for alright, but it’s looking like the Academy might give it to him. I haven’t seen Infernal Affairs, but everyone who has tells me it’s much better.
October 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Hey!…I Googled for four weddings and a funeral, but found your page about The Oscars: Films that lost out on Best Picture…and have to say thanks. nice read.