Oscar Trolling
A Recent History of an Academy in Accuracy and Error
2011 - The Artist
should have been: well, I'd probably go with A Separation. Maybe a cop-out since it won best foreign film, but Life is Beautiful was nominated for best picture. . . .
also better than The Artist: better not to go down that rabbit hole again.
2010 - The King's Speech
should have been: Inception.
also better than the King's Speech: The Fighter, 127 Hours, Animal Kingdom, Blue Valentine
2009 - The Hurt Locker
should have been: The Hurt Locker. Some might say Inglourious Basterds, but not me, I'm with the Academy on this one.
2008 - Slumdog Millionaire
should have been: The Dark Knight [lots of Nolan love from me so far, maybe it's snub bias] also better than Slumdog: oof. . . too many, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Wall-E . . .
2007 - No Country for Old Men
should have been: No Country for Old Men. I also would have accepted There Will Be Blood.
2006 - The Departed
should have been: Children of Men. I do love me some Marky Mark, but Children of Men is up there as the best film of the decade for me. (It wasn't nominated.)
also better than The Departed: not much, any year.
2005 - Crash
should have been: tough choice between Brokeback, Sin City, and A History of Violence for me. I'd probably go with A History of Violence as my personal favorite of the year, but certainly wouldn't begrudge the award going to Brokeback Mountain.
also better than Crash: The gum on the bottom of the seat at the theater. Oh my god, in a great year for film this has to be one of the worst Best Picture selections ever. The list of movies better than Crash released in '05 is nearly as long as the list of movies released in '05. A refresher on some of the better ones: Sin City, Brokeback Mountain, Layer Cake, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Kung Fu Hustle, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Oldboy, Murderball, Grizzly Man, Goodnight and Good Luck, Batman Begins, Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Junebug, Howl's Moving Castle, Millions, Capote, Walk the Line, Match Point, Hustle & Flow. . . .
This brings us to Logan's worst year nomination: 2004 - Million Dollar Baby
should have been: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
also better: again too many. I'd go with The Motorcycle Diaries, Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, House of Flying Daggers, Maria Full of Grace, Sideways, Kill Bill vol. 2, Spider-Man 2, Before Sunset.
2003 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
should have been: City of God. I don't blame the Academy for finally recognizing a Lord of the Rings film in '03 but damn, City of God.
also better: 21 Grams, Lost in Translation.
2002 - Chicago should have been: Why didn't you give the Oscar to Lord of the Rings this year instead of this Chicago bullshit? Are you kidding? Chicago? I mean Punch Drunk Love would have been my choice, but at least go with Lord of the Rings over Chicago.
also better: my dung. Incidentally, Y tu mama tambien, Talk to Her, Hero, Adaptation.
2001 - A Beautiful Mind
should have been: Memento. also better: Mulholland Drive, Lord of the Rings 1, Amelie, The Devil's Backbone, The Royal Tennanbaums, Oceans Eleven, Spy Kids, Black Hawk Down. . . more.
2000 - Gladiator
should have been: Amores Perros.
also better: nothing really, I don't really mind Gladiator winning, but Amores Perros is another of my favorite films of the decade, so I'd go with that.
I'll stop there.
2011 - The Artist
should have been: well, I'd probably go with A Separation. Maybe a cop-out since it won best foreign film, but Life is Beautiful was nominated for best picture. . . .
also better than The Artist: better not to go down that rabbit hole again.
2010 - The King's Speech
should have been: Inception.
also better than the King's Speech: The Fighter, 127 Hours, Animal Kingdom, Blue Valentine
2009 - The Hurt Locker
should have been: The Hurt Locker. Some might say Inglourious Basterds, but not me, I'm with the Academy on this one.
2008 - Slumdog Millionaire
should have been: The Dark Knight [lots of Nolan love from me so far, maybe it's snub bias] also better than Slumdog: oof. . . too many, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Wall-E . . .
2007 - No Country for Old Men
should have been: No Country for Old Men. I also would have accepted There Will Be Blood.
2006 - The Departed
should have been: Children of Men. I do love me some Marky Mark, but Children of Men is up there as the best film of the decade for me. (It wasn't nominated.)
also better than The Departed: not much, any year.
2005 - Crash
should have been: tough choice between Brokeback, Sin City, and A History of Violence for me. I'd probably go with A History of Violence as my personal favorite of the year, but certainly wouldn't begrudge the award going to Brokeback Mountain.
also better than Crash: The gum on the bottom of the seat at the theater. Oh my god, in a great year for film this has to be one of the worst Best Picture selections ever. The list of movies better than Crash released in '05 is nearly as long as the list of movies released in '05. A refresher on some of the better ones: Sin City, Brokeback Mountain, Layer Cake, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Kung Fu Hustle, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Oldboy, Murderball, Grizzly Man, Goodnight and Good Luck, Batman Begins, Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Junebug, Howl's Moving Castle, Millions, Capote, Walk the Line, Match Point, Hustle & Flow. . . .
This brings us to Logan's worst year nomination: 2004 - Million Dollar Baby
should have been: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
also better: again too many. I'd go with The Motorcycle Diaries, Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, House of Flying Daggers, Maria Full of Grace, Sideways, Kill Bill vol. 2, Spider-Man 2, Before Sunset.
2003 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
should have been: City of God. I don't blame the Academy for finally recognizing a Lord of the Rings film in '03 but damn, City of God.
also better: 21 Grams, Lost in Translation.
2002 - Chicago should have been: Why didn't you give the Oscar to Lord of the Rings this year instead of this Chicago bullshit? Are you kidding? Chicago? I mean Punch Drunk Love would have been my choice, but at least go with Lord of the Rings over Chicago.
also better: my dung. Incidentally, Y tu mama tambien, Talk to Her, Hero, Adaptation.
2001 - A Beautiful Mind
should have been: Memento. also better: Mulholland Drive, Lord of the Rings 1, Amelie, The Devil's Backbone, The Royal Tennanbaums, Oceans Eleven, Spy Kids, Black Hawk Down. . . more.
2000 - Gladiator
should have been: Amores Perros.
also better: nothing really, I don't really mind Gladiator winning, but Amores Perros is another of my favorite films of the decade, so I'd go with that.
I'll stop there.
posted by b r christensen at 3/07/2012 12:32:00 PM
3 Comments:
See this isn't trolling because, on the whole, you are making very reasonable claims :P
Also, just in terms of the 2000 nominees, you don't think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Traffic, Quills, Requiem for a Dream, Wonder Boys, Almost Famous have a bit more quality than Gladiator?
Oh man, I had completely forgotten about The Patriot until I looked over the 73rd Oscar list.
That Spatacus show that I've never watched and have no interest in is way better than Gladiator.
I did something similar with this last, crappy Oscar show. I also like to go back and figure out which movie I think had the most influence on film going forward. Rarely are those movies even nominated. This year, for instance, I'd predict that Drive will actually have more effect on the style and texture of movies for the next five years.
I actually agree with your choices with a few exceptions:
2010–I like The King's Speech better than Inception. Inception was interesting and good, but it was too long and I had some issues with the logic of the plot.
2009—Basterds.
2005—Goodnight, and Good Luck.
2003—Lost In Translation.
2001 is a tough year. But I probably favor the Tenenbaums.
1999. I surprised you didn't go back so that you could include The Matrix.
Post a Comment
<< Home