Thursday, January 07, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks (Oscar Winners Edition): Best Picture

 

For the first week of 2021 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We enter the first in a series of subjects devoted to the Oscars as the first is on Best Picture winners. Films that are considered the best of the year they’re released to the public as there’s been many that are great but there are also films that won that big prize but have not aged well. Here are my three picks for winners for Best Picture… that absolutely fucking sucked:

1. Driving Miss Daisy
How in the fuck did this film beat Born on the 4th of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, and My Left Foot? Not to mention that there were several other films not nominated for Best Picture that are regarded as classics such as Do the Right Thing, Batman, Drugstore Cowboy, sex, lies, & videotape, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Glory, The Little Mermaid, and so many other films that could’ve gotten that fifth spot. All this movie is about an old cranky white lady who just keeps on bitching and bitching to her black chauffeur and all sorts of shit. It has not aged well and it remains one of the worst films that I had ever seen in my life.

2. Dances with Wolves
Awakenings, Ghost, and Goodfellas could’ve been a better choice than what won as it was essentially a boring western about a cavalry officer who decides to make friends with the Native Americans and then become one of them yet there is no dancing with wolves. How can you call a movie with that name and there’s no dancing wolves? Kevin Costner fortunately would make a much better film in Open Range but this was extremely dull as fuck. As someone like myself who loves westerns, this was just terrible and there is no way a film like that is better than fucking Goodfellas.

3. A Beautiful Mind
Moulin Rouge!, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring would’ve been better choices than this extremely saccharine, dull, and idiotic film about a mentally-ill mathematician. There are so many films released in 2001 that are so much better and instead they gave the Oscar to fucking Opie and the asshole who wrote the lines, “Hi Freeze! I’m Batman!” I hated this film and the only reason Jennifer Connolly won the Oscar was to make up for the fact that she didn’t win it the year before for Requiem for a Dream. It is a very by-the-numbers film that is manipulative and with some idiotic twists and turns that doesn’t do anything for the people involved. It’s Oscar-bait bullshit just like the other 2 films in this list.

© thevoid99 2021
at

10 comments:

  1. Katy3:56 PM

    I haven't seen any of these primarily because I feel like they're overrated. The Oscars has a sad history of going for the standard drama about "humanity" rather than more complex or unique films. I say that knowing at least The Artist on my list falls into that category too. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. joel659135:11 PM

    I didn't hate any of these as much as you but agree there were better alternatives to each in their years.

    I went with a similar idea picking the three films I think are the worst to ever win BP.

    The Broadway Melody (1929)-It only took two years for the Academy to award the wrong film. Glue-footed musical that came out shortly after sound changed the industry won more out of the novelty of songs being able to be heard on screen than any kind of worth the picture possesses….which ain’t much!

    Cimarron (1931)-Stiff as a board adaptation of Edna Ferber’s classic novel of the settling of the Oklahoma Territory. Leaden direction, dull performances (incredibly Richard Dix won Best Actor) and a sluggish pace aren’t compensated by one great land rush sequence. The first Western to win Best Picture (in a year where The Public Enemy, Little Caesar and City Lights weren’t even nominated!) soured the pot and it took another 60 years until Dances with Wolves captured another.

    Around the World in 80 Days (1956)-The title says just about all about this insufferable, tedious, tiresome and endlessly bloated adaptation of a Jules Verne adventure dealing with a balloon trip circumnavigating the globe. Stuffed with cameos of stars of the day in either passing bits or meaningless parts it made a mint on release but this is the worst film to ever win Best Picture.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ThePunkTheory2:16 AM

    I am mostly indifferent about the films you mentioned but I am still disappointed the LOTR trilogy only won Best Picture once. Every single one of those movies would have deserved that Oscar.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sonia Cerca4:46 AM

    I've seen all three and I agree with you. I didn't hate any of them (I actually loved Dances with Wolves) but there were films that deserved to win so much more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Brittani Burnham5:05 AM

    I haven't seen Driving Miss Daisy but I haaaaaaaated Dances With Wolves. A Beautiful Mind I think is a fine movie but I would've given it to Moulin Rouge or LOTR.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cinematic Delights5:12 AM

    Ha, excellent choices! I enjoyed reading these. I quite liked Dances with Wolves, but it's not something I watch regularly. And you're right: where are the dancing wolves?!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ruth7:28 PM

    Ahah, I like that you went with your picks of WORST Best Picture. I haven't seen Dances with Wolves before, probably never as I'm not that interested in the story. I do like the score though. I do like A Beautiful Mind but wow, Fellowship of the Ring or Moulin Rouge! would've definitely been a better choice to win Best Picture.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jay3:53 AM

    Even more than your choices, I love your mini rants about each.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Birgit8:04 AM

    I love your reviews and it made me laugh even though I didn’t mind these films mentioned but I do agree there were much better films. My Left Foot was a much better choice. I hate...hate In boredom and glad it didn’t win and I hate Goodfellas...hate. Open Range is a much better film and didn’t get much notice at all. I would have chosen LOTR or Gosford Park for the last one.

    ReplyDelete
  10. thevoid994:00 PM

    @Katy-I like The Artist but it's not even my top 20 films of the year and I doubt it will be in a list of the best films of the 2010s for me.

    @joel65913-I've only seen Around the World in 80 Days and yeah, it's not that great at all as the cameos in the film were more distracting from the story.

    @ThePunkTheory-The whole trilogy winning would've been incredible though I think were better films that year but still. The trilogy at least got a Best Picture win.

    @Sonia-The Oscars often get something wrong in favor of something safe.

    @Brittani-I still am miffed over the fact that a film written by the guy who nearly killed the Batman franchise got an Oscar when he is really one of the worst writers ever.

    @Cinematic Delights-If the movie had the guy dancing with the wolves and maybe do a samba or two. I wouldn't be complaining.

    @Ruth-I think A Beautiful Mind is such a fucking bore and Moulin Rouge! just fucking kills it as it never stops while it knew what it was and didn't apologize for it.

    @Jay-Thank you.

    @Birgit-Glad to know there's some love for Open Range.

    ReplyDelete