For every well-deserved award earned at the Oscars, there’s another tiny golden man sitting on the wrong shelf.
Each and every year, much is said and written about which movies didn’t deserve their Oscar nominations or trophies. But hindsight is a much more accurate indicator of whether an awarded film belongs amongst the greats.
Here are 14 of the most glaring missteps in Oscars history.
“The Shape of Water” won best picture in 2018.
Fox Searchlight – Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer star in ‘The Shape of Water.’
Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” was instantly beloved amongst critics and Academy members. It was the most-nominated film at the 2018 Oscars and won four out of 13 awards, including best picture and best director.
While the strange and sometimes wonderful film doesn’t deserve its slanderous reputation as “the fish-sex movie,” it also didn’t deserve to beat masterfully topical, instant classics like Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” or Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.”
As Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson noted at the time, “The Shape of Water” simply seems like “a safe choice for an industry that wants to signal its values.”
“The Imitation Game” won best screenplay in 2014.
The Weinstein Company – Benedict Cumberbatch stars in ‘The Imitation Game.’
“The Imitation Game” was little more than a straightforward biopic. It followed the story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a British war hero who decrypted German intelligence codes during World War II. He was also a queer man who eventually died by suicide because of the British government’s homophobic laws – a fact the film bizarrely refused to portray.
“It’s especially galling that this movie specifically won for its screenplay,” writes Complex’s Matt Barone, “which is half Benedict Cumberbatch saying ‘Eureka!’ and half British government officials spouting typical World War II dialogue.”
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” won best picture in 2015.
Fox Searchlight – Michael Keaton and Edward Norton star in ‘Birdman.’
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” racked up nine Oscar nominations in 2015 and won four. It certainly deserved its best picture award over “American Sniper,” “The Imitation Game,” or “The Theory of Everything” – especially since the performances from stars Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone are all excellent.
But, as INSIDER’s Jacob Shamsian points out, “it’s pretty clear that ‘Boyhood’ was the best movie of 2014 and should have won best picture, best director, and best screenplay instead.” Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was similarly more deserving. “Birdman” simply doesn’t have the same re-watch value and is far too easily forgettable.
(Excerpt) Read More at: BusinessInsider.com