What is the worst movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture?

I thought Black Orpheus was pretty bad, but the critics disagree. It got best foreign film in 1960.

Up until the 70’s, it looks like they’ve been fine. I liked The Deaprted, but I’d choose the Queen over it.
Shakespeare in Love when it should have been Svaing Private Ryan, Life Is Beautiful, or even Elizabeth.

Forest Gump over Shawshank Redemption (AND Pulp Fiction) still burns me. Worst year since they took “How Green Was My Valley” over “Citizen Kane” and (my 2nd all time favorite flick that doesn’t have Buster Keaton in it) “The Maltese Falcon”...

“Unforgiven” sucked. 1992 Clit Eastwood movie.
Forest Gump was actually an excellent movie. And as good as Shawshank was, and Pulp Fiction, Gump deserved to win that year.
However, I agree @crazyivan that Citizen Kane should have won that year!

And how about 1976, Rocky over All the President’s Men…Gimme a Break!

Or 1969 Midnight Cowboy over Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid! No way…

Forrest Gump. I think I’m like one of five people in the whole world who hated that movie and thought it was just plain awful. But that’s my vote. Oops. Edit. Didn’t notice. @crazyivan might agree.

@lillycoyote: I haven’t seen the whole movie all the way through, but I’ve seen it all in bits and pieces and I gotta say, I don’t understand why people love it so much.

@KatawaGrey I most certainly don’t get it either.

@lillycoyote & @KatawaGrey I think some people thought they would look like dicks if they got caught not liking a movie about a lovable handicapped man.

The Sound of Music,
Forrest Gump.

I cannot say what the worst movie ever to win Best Picture is because I have yet to see all the winners, but: Crash should not have won, The Pianist was better than Chicago, most of the 1998 nominees make me shake my head (but especially the winner, Shakespeare in Love), Good Will Hunting will always be better than Titanic, and I doubt anyone on the planet will agree with me, but I waned Babe to win in 1995. If I could have my way, James Cromwell would have won for supporting actor as well… but Kevin Spacey deservedly won that year.

I also agree about Forrest Gump, tenfold.

Tom Hanks didn’t go full retard and that’s why he won.

Also, Titanic stole L.A Confidential’s oscar. Just sayin’.

This morphed a bit into a conversation about what robbed what from what, but @muppetish I would agree that it we’re just talking about which is the worst to ever win the award, I would go with Crash as the least deserving. Who would have thought Hollywood would be too homophobic to give it to a movie about gay cowboys?

@Ben_Dover I love Butch Cassidy. The “Knife Fight” scene is still, in my mind, the greatest character intro in the history of film.

Titanic. I firmly believe they simply pandered to the whims of a bunch of 14 year old girls. What’s next, Best Picture for Twilight? All the other ones should have won, collectively.

Crash was good. It was not Oscar good. Maybe for something like “art direction” or “sound effects”.

The Blind Side. I wanted to stick a knife in my eye through that whole thing. I know people said it was an accurate impression of the woman, but that doesn’t mean I need to hear the story. Or that it was well-told.

I liked Forest Gump, but I can easily see how others wouldn’t.

Gladiator…that was terrible.

Going My Way over Double Indemnity? Were they nuts?

The Greatest Show on Earth? Really? Over High Noon or The Quiet Man? Cecil B. blew somebody in a back room. He had to have.

And Rocky over Network is just a slap in the face, it really is.

But with all that said, in my humble opinion (HA!), the worst so-called Best Picture so far is Shakespeare In Love. Unbelievable to me that it was even nominated, but the Academy are suckers for English trifles in yards of expensive fabric. I am too, but there’s got to be good acting and a story with weight for me to love it. Shakespeare In Love was fluff of the middling-est order. Ptui! No challenge or heft. A mere costume thing. The bits of lint in my bellybutton have more conflict and emotional resonance while interacting with each other. And it wasn’t funny!

Further, I think Joseph Fiennes has all the charisma of a holey sock that’s been left in a mud puddle in the backyard after a rainstorm, and Gwyneth isn’t much better. I forgive Dame Judy because she’s in it all of 5 seconds, and I forgive Geoffrey because it’s not as if he gets so much constant work that he can pick and choose. Plus, Shine. Which was great.

Yes, I was bamboozled into watching it by a chick movie-loving pal. Two hours of my life! Gone!

@crazyivan Right? Right? I would have been more than happy had Good Night, and Good Luck or Brokeback Mountain won… but Crash? Hell no. And I love Philip Seymour Hoffman. Love him. But Heath Ledger was out-right robbed.

@aprilsimnel I love you for everything you wrote about Shakespeare in Love.

@iamthemob You are one of the only people I have ever heard this from. It is such an overrated film. Why is it so universally adored? Billy Elliot wasn’t even nominated. What a terrible year at the Oscars.

Forrest Gump was complete garbage. That year was the start of my disillusionment with the Oscars.

Rocky was pretty great though – the romance between Rocky & Talia Shire is beautiful.

@muppetish – I feel like Gladiator was pushed because everyone knew Russel Crowe was going to win best actor that year, as he had been cheated the previous year for The Insider

I agree that Crash wasn’t anything close to as special as it was made out to be – it was mediocre at best – could’ve been a movie of the week.

| really liked Forest Gump – I thought it was fun and creative and original, it was educational without ramming anything down my throat – and it was well edited and acted. Maybe not the best movie of the year, but it was a slow year.

Juno

@talljasperman I agree. It was a fluke.

@talljasperman That won Best Picture? Wow. I thought it was good in a kind of “there are seriously worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon” kinda way, not in an award winning way. Seriously, do the guys who choose who wins just let their teenaged children pick them?

@papayalily No way, the teenagers would do a god job. More likely it is their pre-teens who choose.

@talljasperman Juno didn’t win Best Picture – No Country For Old Men did. Diabo Cody did win for Best Original Screenplay, which I think is rubbish. Of the nominated films, I was pulling for Lars and the Real Girl. The Darjeeling Limited wasn’t even nominated, which is a shame. I think it was beautifully written.

That’s not to say that I hated Juno. I thought it was a fun film. It just wasn’t memorable.

I’m sorry if I sound like an utter snob… but I’m a snob.

@muppetish Hey, snobs are just people who dare to have standards.

Gadzooks! The biggest gaff I can see lately was The Hurtlocker over Avatar? What were thry thinnking?

The Departed.

I would have rather seen anything (except maybe Little Miss Sunshine) win that year (2006), but Letters From Iwo Jima would have been my pick.

Crash won. It should have been Brokeback Mountain.

I really gotta agree woith everyone disparaging Crash. I remember returning the movie to the RedBox thinking how I certainly wasted a dollar again.

The English Patient.
I prefer Sack Lunch

I loved the Departed – I was glad it won. I think it’s Leo DiCaprio’s best performance and one of Martin Scorsese’s best movies.

@heresjohnny Scorsese deserved one, but the Departed didn’t deserve it on its own. Gans of New York, maybe, but the Departed (loved the flick) wasn’t the Best Picture…

There are a few that shouldn’t have won—-

“Titanic” A juvenile depiction of history.

“Braveheart” Silly!

“Unforgiven” Sillier Western!

@MRSHINYSHOES Clint should have gotten it for Grand Torino Just saying.

@MRSHINYSHOES Could not agree more on Titanic. I thought Braveheart was a bit more deserving simply because it pushed the boundaries of cinematography (though I suppose that just shouldn’t have earned it a Best Picture award).