20 of the worst Oscar winners in history

the sorriest movie i have ever seen was babel

Mine (and others') strong disagreements with some of the author's criticisms - and equally strong agreements with others - are simply proof that the Academy Awards are not the final word on artistic merit, an erroneous belief held too long by too many. The Oscars are, more often than not, just an exclusive popularity contest among the cliques in the industry, whose subjectivity is mired in whatever project they happen to have been consumed with when voting comes around. Their inside knowledge of the politics of the industry seems to be a more likely influence on the nominations and selections than entertainment value (like the author's mention of an award given that really rewards past work). Most people don't go to see a movie because the cast includes a trademarked award before somebody's name - they go because they like the genre, the talent, or the preview. It's a mystery to me why the Academy Award still has any street cred at all.

I understand this thing was meant to be funny but... It is an extremely weak argument to play the racism card with Gone With The Wind and then suggest Ford's Stagecoach instead. Stagecoach is definitley as racist as GWTW... no, it is even more so. It pictures apaches only as murderous maniacs.

GWTW was the triumph of the studio system, epitome of the Hollwood of that era. In that sense, it deserved every Oscar it got.

Whether or not you like Gone With the Wind, it's obviously false to say that the film doesn't "stand up to modern scrutiny" when it's still loved and watched by millions of people.

Everything about Shakespeare in Love, especially Gwyneth Paltrow winning Best Actress

I'm a big fan of Gene Hackman's. But was his role in "Unforgiven" more worthy of a best supporting actor Oscar than Jack Nicholson's in "A Few Good Men"?

What about Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love) winning the best actress award over Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) in 1998? Or...Sandra Bullock (The Blindside) over Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia) in 2009? Was "Shakespeare in Love" really better than "Saving Private Ryan" in 1998? And how could the Academy explain awarding the best picture to "Chicago" over "The Pianist" in 2002?

I caon't believe you did not mention Terms of Endearment winning over the Right Stuff. I stopped watching the awards after that one.

1981 Best Picture Choice: Chariots of Fire. Boring, boring. board. It beat out one of Hollywoods most iconic pictures, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Seriously? Or Reds or On Golden Pond would have been better choices than watching a bunch of pasty white Brits running in their underwear.

I have to disagree with Gone With The Wind, Forrest Gump and Crash.
Gone With the Wind was an epic milestone in American Cinema mostly because at the year 1939, who would have thought that they could come up with a motion picture that have that type of multicolored cinematography and the grand production was just not right for that year (too early). Remember that Ben Hur was made what? 20 or so more years and Gone with the Wind has basically the same caliber in terms of cinematography, production and directing?
Second, Forrest Gump was just so slick and sooo damn good in terms of artistic content.
Lastly, Crash. We may admit that on that year, Crash was standing alongside good movies like BrokeBack Mountain but all of them had their own edge against each other and Crash had it's own by having a damn good knitty story-line which was comparable to that of Babel.

There are 10000 people who will disagree with your assessment of Gone with the Wind not standing up to modern scrutiny to everyone who will agree. Regardless of whether you like or dislike the story and its contents, most people agree it was a watershed in film history and it has been seen by more people than any other film, and is still amazingly popular today. As for the racist comment, yes, slavery was racism in its ultimate form but it happened.

The Departed? can consider itself lucky to be in a weak year. I'd agree with everything here apart from Rocky(though Taxi Driver should have won other awards) Also Chariots of Fire was nice and everything but how did it beat REDS?!

I'm still angry that Crash beat Brokeback Mountain.

Sorry, but I have to say I disagree on "Driving Miss Daisy." It may not be a heavy-hitting film, but it was beautifully made, and Bruce Beresford's omission for Best Director was a crime.

And what about "American Beauty"? Was that crap really the best the Academy could do in 1999?

That said, THANK YOU for bringing up the sickening Best Picture win for "Forrest Gump."

How about Slumdog Millionaire in 2009? That was a real shocker!

Hey great list but Anthony Hopkins deserves it, and Forrest Gump well the other nominations were really goo too but Forrest humm it was great.

Who say Forrest Gump,A Beautiful mind and crush don't deserve oscar?Are you nuts?Your list just sucks!

Save it for your Facebook page, haters shouldn't be journos. Many of these films that you rant about are widely considered classics. I understand that you're entitled to your opinion but just because you don't like certain things doesn't make them bad.

Could not disagree more with number 13! Haunting performances delivered by two masters of the craft.

You all keep thinking awards are based on quality. This is a myth. It's the Oscars, not the Nobel Prize.

Rico - someone who klnows what they are talking about...not that knows...

Tom Huddleston - The Academy Awards are not a recognition of talent or quality. Your article seems to think they are supposed to be. Why are you surprised that poor films win and good films don't? Am guessing Time Out needed to come up with something around Oscar time but something a little more thoughtful would have been better. I think people enjoy moaning about how the Oscars get it wrong all the time. If you think they get it wrong then you don't understand the actual purpose they fulfil.

How about Cries and Whispers beaten to Best Picture by The Sting in 1973? Or Ingmar Bergman himself beaten to Best Director (for Fanny and Alexander) by James. L. Brooks (for Terms of Endearment) in 1983.

Tom Huddleston? It could have been: Someone that knows what they are talking about!

You seem to think the Academy Awards have something to do with quality.

A little hard on "How Green Was My Valley" (and yes, Citizen Kane was clearly more deserving). But spot-on regarding "The Greatest Show on Earth"...however, you failed to mention what is truly the best picture of 1952, "Singin' In The Rain."

I think you neglected a couple of other Best Picture winners that have not stood up at all. "Going My Way" (Bing Crosby?!?) comes to mind, especially since the same studio released "Double Indemnity" in the same year.

american bodies know about film as they do about free market economics. which why there is a financial crisis and three transformers films.

Some valid points, but you're way to harsh with movies that don't deserve it, it seems just like lame fan rage. And you missed arguable the worst decision (in my opinion) in the academy's history: In a year that saw the release of 2001: A space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, Rosemary's Baby, Once Upon a Time in the West, Night of The Living Dead, Bergman's Shame, The Producers and The Lion in Winter even, the academy could have awarded some amazing genre fare or at least some deserving classics of foreign movies, and they award Oliver! (Not saying it's that bad a movie, like you do in every element of your list). Shameful.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

Wow! While I agree that many of these choices are not good ones, they are certainly not the WORST Oscar winners ever. That list starts inarguably with Roberto Benigni in "Life is Beautiful" as Best Actor. Without question the worst Oscar ever handed out in any category. There may be other bad choices and even some AS BAD, but none WORSE.
I also agree with Rob's previous comment, Randy Newman is a hack and doesn't deserve even half of the nominations he has received. To say he is deserving over the Disney songs, completely invalidates your list.

Should be on your list:
"Ghost" (Original Screenplay)
"Pillow Talk" ( Original Screenplay)
Judi Dench in "Shakespeare in Love" (Supporting Actress)
Gustavo Santaolalla for "Babel" (Music Score)
"Jai-Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Song)
"Oliver!" (Best Film 1968)
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (Best Film 2003)
---Even if you like the trilogy and want to reward it, as an individual film, you can not say that it stands alone. Taken together, they are a great achievement, but individually they are incomplete as films.)

Not a winner, but surely Pat Morita's best supporting actor nomination for Mr MIyagi in the karate kid deserves special mention.
You're way too hard on A Beautiful Mind - there's no way it can be mentioned in the same breath as Titanic and Chicago.

Lots of valid points, but Baker's make-up for Harry and the Henderson's is surely worthy of an award? Sure the film is a low-rent Spielberg production, but Harry's every bit as worthy as the likes of similarly constructed make-up, no?

I stopped reading when you said anything by Randy Newman

I find it odd that with all the Best Original Song winners of the past decade, many of which appear in the credits of their respective films and are never heard from again, you choose to lambast three Disney songs from the '90s which are well-integrated their movies, are beautifully animated, and mean a lot to the fans of those movies.

As a child of the 90s, I can tell you that "A Whole New World" and the others mean a lot more to me and my friends than something like "I Need to Wake Up" means to anyone other than Al Gore and Melissa Etheridge.

Worst over PULP since ROCKY over TAXI DRIVER....no debate, thankyou.

nice list, can't believe driving miss daisy beat my left foot. and taxi driver wasn't nominated? always thought the oscars were a load of crap but this really confirms it