And the Oscar Goes to… Not These Films

The Oscars will be handed out on March 2nd, and everyone will be wondering which film will walk away with Best Picture. Surely, whoever wins the Academy Award will be remembered for many years to come…or will they?

Recently, my branch did a display on movies that won at the Academy Awards, and a funny thing happened. A lot of the movies we thought had won Oscars, especially Best Picture, actually hadn’t. Some of the greatest movies of all time either didn’t win Best Picture or walked away with nothing at all.

It turns out that the winning movies are not always the ones that are remembered. For example, when was the last time someone thought about Gandhi (the film, not the man)? Not me. However, even those who were not around back in 1982 know a little guy named E.T. Yep, the alien lost to the Indian.

And that is not the only headscratcher. Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poet’s Society, Field of Dreams, and My Left Foot all lost to the legend that is…Driving Miss Daisy? (Spike Lee’s phenomenal Do the Right Thing wasn’t even nominated that year.)

Many people think Fargo won Best Picture, but it lost to The English Patient. The perennial holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life lost to The Best Years of Our Lives. Citizen Kane is considered one of the greatest films of all time, but it lost Best Picture to How Green Was My Valley.

People are still talking about how Crash beat the groundbreaking Brokeback Mountain and Shakespeare in Love defeated Saving Private Ryan. Both upsets stunned people in the movie industry.

Of course, sometimes a year is so stacked that some classics will inevitably be overlooked. Like 1994, which saw both Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption having to compete against the powerhouse that was Forrest Gump. All three of these movies are still fondly thought of.

Then there are the movies in the wrong genre. The Academy is not known for its love of Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror, so a nomination is usually considered a win for those types of films. However, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King did manage to win a boatload of Oscars, including Best Picture.

At least the above movies were nominated for an Oscar. A few notable films never even got a single nomination. Reservoir Dogs, The Shining, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly were ignored entirely. The outstanding Fight Club can at least say it got one nom—Best Effects.

Looking back through the history of this ceremony, it is apparent that the golden statuette won’t always go to the most memorable films. But, Oscar or not, some movies will remain part of our memories forever.

Check out the award winners and losers in MCPL’s extensive DVD collection.

Pamela M.
Antioch Branch