Best Movie That Never Won The Best Picture Oscar

[KnoxHarrington]

So I'm flipping channels, and I see that The Shawshank Redemption is on cable yet again (on one of the Encore channels, so at least it's the unedited version), and it makes me wonder this: is there any better movie out there that got an Best Picture Oscar nomination that didn't win?

In case you're wondering, it was beaten in the 1995 Oscars by Forrest Gump, a movie whose reputation, I'd argue, has only diminished over time, while Shawshank seems to be a greater presence cinematically than ever. I mean, like tonight, it seems to be be airing somewhere or another on TV at any given moment.

One of the other movies I can think of that might deserve this honor was actually another nominee from 1995: Pulp Fiction. The fact that that piece of shit Forrest Gump beat out both Shawshank and Pulp Fiction pretty much tells you what you need to know about the Oscars, really.

Who else ya got?

[Gvac]

Raging Bull did not win the Oscar in 1980.

It lost to Ordinary People.

LOCK THIS UP.

[instrument]

You could at least link to the article you stole the thread idea from...

[Gerald]

Come on, Forrest Gump isn't a piece of shit. It's excels on every level imaginable: acting, storytelling, direction, production values. The film has become almost Titanic-like in that it's something people from the internet age have uniformly distanced themselves from just to look hip. It's an iconic character and all the people who loved the film at the time are now trying to revise history by devaluing or overlooking what it meant to the industry during its original window of release. I know I'm talking semantics here but a harsh classification where something is equated to fecal discharge I think should be reserved for stuff like the Lou Diamond Phillips SyFy mutant creature feature of the week. If you honestly weren't won over by the story, fine, but that doesn't mean the level of professionalism that went into the film should be leapfrogged so you can arrive at the conclusion that it's the cinematic equivalent of a bowel movement.

Anyway, my answer would be 2001. It should've been the first work of science fiction to take home the top prize. If they gave out Oscars in retrospect it would unquestionably be the hindsight victor from that particular year. It's shameful that fantasy broke through the Best Picture barrier with LOTR while nothing from this more distinguished genre has been able to in the history of the telecast.

[GreatAmericanZero]

might as well be a thread just called "Best Movie not 'the Godfather"' and you'll have the same answers. Rarely do great, even good movies win "best picture"

you can go anywhere from "citizen kane" and "wizard of oz" to "pulp fiction" and "eternal sunshine"...anything Kubrick has ever done, anything Scorsese ever done besides "the Departed"...its ridiculous

as far as "best movie ever", my mind is always conflicting between "a clockwork orange" or "Taxi Driver"...once i think one is better i watch the other and second guess myself.

[realmenhatelife]

Slow down with that Eternal Sunshine business.

I think Pulp Fiction- it represents the wave of indie filmmaking that thoroughly changed the kind of movies people would see- I think it put independent film into the lexicon of the regular guy, put indie films into multiplexes and made studios start indie imprints. It was pretty landmark.

[west milly Tom]

Casino. That's the one that got away.

[epo]

Casino. That's the one that got away.

Wasn't that the Braveheart year?

[Sue_Bender]

Raging Bull did not win the Oscar in 1980.

It lost to Ordinary People.

LOCK THIS UP.


Done and DONE.







Bitches.

[barjockey]

Cool Hand Luke

[Dude!]

Sunset Boulevard

Citizen Kane

[MacVittie]

Gap.

[razorboy]

The Night of the Hunter.

[Section 8]

Star Wars...

Scratch that...

The Empire Strikes Back...

[realmenhatelife]

Casino. That's the one that got away.

I watch Casino just like the next guy, but the story is completely lumpy, overy reliant on the VO, and the acting is shockingly bad. No way should this have won an oscar.

[foodcourtdruide]

I watch Casino just like the next guy, but the story is completely lumpy, overy reliant on the VO, and the acting is shockingly bad. No way should this have won an oscar.

I agree. I always thought casino was a little overrated.

[TheMojoPin]

Casino is sooooooooo much better than Goodfellas.

[TheMojoPin]

Come on, Forrest Gump isn't a piece of shit. It's excels on every level imaginable: acting, storytelling, direction, production values. The film has become almost Titanic-like in that it's something people from the internet age have uniformly distanced themselves from just to look hip. It's an iconic character and all the people who loved the film at the time are now trying to revise history by devaluing or overlooking what it meant to the industry during its original window of release. I know I'm talking semantics here but a harsh classification where something is equated to fecal discharge I think should be reserved for stuff like the Lou Diamond Phillips SyFy mutant creature feature of the week. If you honestly weren't won over by the story, fine, but that doesn't mean the level of professionalism that went into the film should be leapfrogged so you can arrive at the conclusion that it's the cinematic equivalent of a bowel movement.

Eh. So it's an expensive, lovingly crafted piece of shit as opposed to a cheap, tossed off one. The end result is still the same.

[hammersavage]

Casino is sooooooooo much better than Goodfellas.

I can't always tell sarcasm. Well played