And the Oscar Should Have Gone to...

[Spurs]

The Color Purple and everyone in it. Except Oprah. G-d imagine how smug she'd be if she had an Oscar.

[Auroranorth]

Hotel Rwanda should have swept the Oscars. The Aviator should have been nominated for best makeup. If that.

Cate Blanchett should never have been allowed within screeching distace of an Oscar for that awful performance.

Hilary Swank shouldn't have won for anything and should never win again unless she does the role of a lifetime while simultaneously curing cancer and creating world peace. On that occasion she will only be allowed to say thank you and get off the stage.

Lastly and most importantly, the magnificent Dexter Gordon is owed five Oscars to make up for the one he was denied in 1986. That was the year that Mr. Gordon played (fictional) jazz musician Dale Turner in Round Midnight, a role that he was eminently suited for since he was a jazz musician himself. He was denied an Oscar since some people felt that a jazz musician playing a jazz musician was not really challenging enough. These were the same !@#$!@#$!@#$!@#$ morons who decided that Marlie Matlin, a deaf woman playing a deaf woman, was worthy of an Oscar that same year. My reaction at the time was a suggestion as to what could be done with Mr. Gordon's saxophone to these nitwits, but I changed my mind on the realization that such philistines shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Mr. Gordon or his saxophone. I decided to settle for having them beaten to death with Oscars. I still hate all award shows to this day. (When I hold a grudge, I HOLD A GRUDGE.)

[Deleted]

I have a friend who is a passionate film buff. He still gets visibly angry when talking about the Academy Awards because of 1980's best picture:

Ordinary People wins

Raging Bull loses

[marywebgirl]

I hated the chain reaction that started when Kevin Spacey won for whining his way through American Beauty. That Oscar belonged to Russell Crowe for The Insider. The voters realized their mistake and tried to make up for it the next year by giving him one for Gladiator, when it should have gone to Tom Hanks for holding my interest for an hour-and-a-half by talking to a freaking volleyball. I guess YMMV on Castaway, but I just felt it was straight-up acting, even if the writing and story were weak/silly/glurgy.

[vacationland]

I have a friend who is a passionate film buff. He still gets visibly angry when talking about the Academy Awards because of 1980's best picture:

Ordinary People wins

Raging Bull loses

Bonsai, I am right there with your friend...I remember being pissed when it happened, 'cause it was the first time I'd actually gone to see most of the nominated movies and felt like I was just getting a handle on what made certain movies better than others. I was still in high school at the time, and just starting to see "important" movies (vs. romances and comedies and horror schlock made for teenagers), and even my relatively untrained self could tell that the depressing and limited Ordinary People (despite the presence of dreamy Timmy Hutton) was nowhere near the film Raging Bull was. The latter movie blew me away; I literally couldn't breathe when I was watching it. The former movie just gave me a headache.

Marty was robbed!

[dwanollah]

I'm still boggled that claptrap like "A Beautiful Mind" could win "Best Picture" but a true, genre-challenging work of art like "Mouin Rouge" couldn't.

Rah rah Mainstream!

[Door]

Julia Roberts should hand her Oscar over to Ellen Burstyn. Ellen's performance in Requiem for a Dream was disturbing and heartbreaking. What did Julia do to win? Show up in a push-up bra, that's what. Ugh.

[jdkwfan4ever]

Julia Roberts should hand her Oscar over to Ellen Burstyn. Ellen's performance in Requiem for a Dream was disturbing and heartbreaking. What did Julia do to win? Show up in a push-up bra, that's what. Ugh.

WORD. Julia as actress in general is overrated. Ellen was BRILLIANT in that movie.

[Deleted]

I truly believe "American Beauty" will age badly during the next few years.

I also thought "Three Kings" was the best movie of 1999 but it was truly shafted at the Oscars.

As for the "Kate v. Hilary" battle, I saw both roles and forgive me for being in the minority, but Kate was meh in my opinion. I thought she was better in "Heavenly Creatures."

Also, the actress who got screwed in Gwyneth Paltrow's Oscar win was not Cate Blanchett but Fernanda Montenegro in "Central Station." Now that was a terrific performance.

[Deleted]

Martin Scorcese, Raging Bull
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Tom Cruise, Magnolia

And it's still outrageous that Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and Richard Burton never won competitive Oscars. (F/X doesn't count.)