91st Annual Academy Awards

[samsnee]

What's the hate against Forrest Gump? Too sentimental?

 

[Schlosser85]

Forrest Gump I would say deserved to be a nominee. But I don't think it deserved to win over The Shawshank Redemption.

 

[jmc]

Return of the King was really a win for the entire trilogy, if there was any justice all three films would have taken home Best Picture. I will say though had Return of the King not been nominated I have no doubt in my mind Master and Commander would have swept the awards that year. Any other year that film would have cleaned up with 8 or 9 trophies.

 

[Boom]

What's the hate against Forrest Gump? Too sentimental?

In no realm of reality did that film deserve to win over the likes of Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption. Same issue with Shakespeare in Love. It is forever known as the film that beat Saving Private Ryan.

And Crash just sucks.

 

[samsnee]

I'm not arguing that Pulp Fiction or Shawshank should or shouldn't have won over it. But Forrest Gump itself, is it a "bad" movie? I do think it's basically aimed for baby boomers so if you're not close to that generation, you probably would dismiss it was a treacly piece of work. But the acting, direction, and score are all phenomenal.

Crash felt like another instance of Hollywood patting itself on the back for addressing racism in the most basic way without any nuance.

 

[Schlosser85]

Forrest Gump isn’t a bad movie.

Crash is treacly fake “woke” drivel.

 

[jmc]

See, the thing with the Oscars prior to the mid 2000's is the politics weren't really in the forefront with the winners or the nominations. Heck, even as recent as 2010 when Kathryn Bigalow became the first woman to win best director it wasn't that noisy. Now, every year the awards get more and more politicised for more and more trivial reasons, to the point now films like Bohemium Rhapsody and Green Book are being called out for being problematic. It's ridiculous.

 

[Boom]

I'm not arguing that Pulp Fiction or Shawshank should or shouldn't have won over it. But Forrest Gump itself, is it a "bad" movie? I do think it's basically aimed for baby boomers so if you're not close to that generation, you probably would dismiss it was a treacly piece of work. But the acting, direction, and score are all phenomenal.

Crash felt like another instance of Hollywood patting itself on the back for addressing racism in the most basic way without any nuance.

Forrest Gump isn't a bad movie by any means. But as far as Best Picture winners are concerned, it's a pretty egregious one when compared to the competition it went up against.

 

[The Shape]

I liked Crash.

 

[Boom]

I liked Crash.

 

[samsnee]

See, the thing with the Oscars prior to the mid 2000's is the politics weren't really in the forefront with the winners or the nominations. Heck, even as recent as 2010 when Kathryn Bigalow became the first woman to win best director it wasn't that noisy. Now, every year the awards get more and more politicised for more and more trivial reasons, to the point now films like Bohemium Rhapsody and Green Book are being called out for being problematic. It's ridiculous.

There was always campaigning, but Weinstein took it to whole other level and made it like a political race by leaking damaging details about other movies.

 

[Drizzle]

I don’t think Crash was a bad movie, but I’ll chime in with the general consensus in saying that it had no business winning over Brokeback Mountain. Maybe it shouldn’t have even been nominated in that category.

I will say though had Return of the King not been nominated I have no doubt in my mind Master and Commander would have swept the awards that year. Any other year that film would have cleaned up with 8 or 9 trophies.

I think Mystic River would have won that year if not for LOTR.

 

[MadderMaximus]

Most Satisfying Win of the last 25 Years: Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
Favorite Winner: Unforgiven
Worst Winner: Shakespeare in Love

And I definitely am in the same group that likes Crash but still agrees it was far from the best that year.

 

[terry78]

 

[Drizzle]

I remember even as a 10 year old being pissed off that Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan.

But does anyone else feel like the Best Picture title isn’t as prestigious as it used to be? Movies like The Silence of the Lambs, Schindler’s List, Titanic, and Return of the King stayed in the consciousness of the general public for years after they were released. Take this decade’s winners for example. The Artist, Argo, Birdman, Spotlight, even last year’s The Shape of Water. Nobody talks about them. It’s like they fade into obscurity the day after the awards ceremony. Moonlight is probably the most popular one and even then that’s mostly attributed to the whole La-La Land mixup when it won.

 

[samsnee]

I think over the time studios aren't willing to spend more money on prestige pictures that can actually win awards vs just spending money on what is profitable, e.g. franchise movies. The closet thing you get to that balance these days is a Christopher Nolan movie and even those generally get snubbed.

It's why they tried to do that whole "popular movie" category which was just insulting. A movie can be popular and well received critically.

 

[MadderMaximus]

I was thinking that last week while binging on Best Picture Winners (still binging). It's like everything after Hurt Locker (which I love and think deserved that year, but very few saw it) was shrug worthy or flash in the pans. And I liked a few of them, but they all seem smaller compared to the past. The newer ones don't seem to age well.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Forrest Gump absolutely deserved its Oscar. Haven't watched The Shawshank Redemption but for me Forrest Gump is much better than Pulp Fiction, even though the latter is truly an entertaining, flawless cinema experience.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Silence of the Lambs has to be the most deserving and best of the last 25 years. It's the only movie out of the list I would rewatch over the rest.

I might be the only one here who hate Silence of The Lambs. The only note-worthy about this movie is Sir Hopkins' performance. The book is much, much better IMO.

 

[Kane52630]

I was looking at the past winners for the Spirit Awards and they've been on point recently.

Independent Spirit Award for Best Film - Wikipedia

 

[DarkKnight88]

I remember even as a 10 year old being pissed off that Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan.

But does anyone else feel like the Best Picture title isn’t as prestigious as it used to be? Movies like The Silence of the Lambs, Schindler’s List, Titanic, and Return of the King stayed in the consciousness of the general public for years after they were released. Take this decade’s winners for example. The Artist, Argo, Birdman, Spotlight, even last year’s The Shape of Water. Nobody talks about them. It’s like they fade into obscurity the day after the awards ceremony. Moonlight is probably the most popular one and even then that’s mostly attributed to the whole La-La Land mixup when it won.

Not really. I mean, I think it’s always been that way. There’s always standouts but there’s also a bunch of forgotten films. Not bad by any means, but haven’t held on.

Look at The English Patient. Who really talks about that anymore? Or Out of Africa? Around the World in 80 Days? A Man for All Seasons? Shakespeare in Love? The Last Emperor? Even American Beauty has been more or less forgotten.

 

[samsnee]

Look at that list again. I would say the last winner that resonated both with critics and general audiences was maybe Argo? The last blockbuster to win was probably LOTR. Argo and King's Speech were solid performers but have been pretty much forgotten.

• 2017 - "Moonlight"
• 2016 - "Spotlight"
• 2015 - "Birdman"
• 2014 - "12 Years a Slave"
• 2013 - "Argo"
• 2012 - "The Artist"
• 2011 - "The King's Speech"
• 2010 - "The Hurt Locker"
• 2009 - "Slumdog Millionaire"
• 2008 - "No Country for Old Men"
• 2007 - "The Departed"
• 2006 - "Crash"
• 2005 - "Million Dollar Baby"
• 2004 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
• 2003 - "Chicago"
• 2002 - "A Beautiful Mind"
• 2001 - "Gladiator"
• 2000 - "American Beauty"
• 1999 - "Shakespeare in Love"
• 1998 - "Titanic"
• 1997 - "The English Patient"
• 1996 - "Braveheart"
• 1995 - "Forrest Gump"
• 1994 - "Schindler’s List"
• 1993 - "Unforgiven"
• 1992 - "The Silence of the Lambs"

 

[Drizzle]

Not really. I mean, I think it’s always been that way. There’s always standouts but there’s also a bunch of forgotten films. Not bad by any means, but haven’t held on.

Look at The English Patient. Who really talks about that anymore? Or Out of Africa? Around the World in 80 Days? A Man for All Seasons? Shakespeare in Love? The Last Emperor? Even American Beauty has been more or less forgotten.

Right, but it just seems like practically every Best Picture winner is forgotten now compared to the ‘80s or ‘90s. There’s no cultural phenomenon like Titanic. The only nominee in that category to buck that trend this year would be if Black Panther were to win or to a much lesser extent, Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

[Boom]

Frankly, the only Best Picture winners over the last 25 years that I really give a **** about are:

The Shape of Water
Spotlight
No Country for Old Men
The Departed
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Schindler's List
Unforgiven
The Silence of the Lambs

The Departed wasn't my favorite movie of 2006, but it was nice to see Scorsese finally get his due. Same with The Shape of Water. I preferred Dunkirk last year, but I also adore GDT and loved seeing him take the big prizes.

 

[scarlet-witch]

The King's Speech and The Artist are too undeserving wins too, IMO. Especially the former considering it had a lot of better competition.