The Oscars: Previous Years Winners And Runner Ups (23 pics)
11. Winner: Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Based on the Jules Verne novel, the film cost Hollywood around $6 million. While that is not much now for a movie, it was a large sum back then. It appears that Hollywood was just trying to cover their assets on this one.
Runner Up: The Ten Commandments
We can see that the academy has been biased from the early years with this one. Charlton Heston led an all-star cast as Moses and didn’t even get an Oscar nod for his role. The visual effects were remarkable for the era, but Cecil B. DeMille went home empty handed in his final directing effort.
10. Winner: Ordinary People (1980)
The late 1970’s and early 1980’s was the peak of melodrama movies and “Ordinary People” was just in the right place at the right time. The film not only took home best picture, but best director (Robert Redford) and best actor (Timothy Hutton). While the film had some great acting, the story itself was lackluster.
Runner Up: Raging Bull
Looking back at this one, it is EASY to see that the academy royally screwed this one up. De Niro portrayed Jake LaMotta perfectly and Martin Scorsese delivered one of countless masterpieces with this one. They created something together that had remained relevant for the past 40 years yet still went home without best picture.
9. Winner: Titanic (1997)
Titanic was a crowd favorite back in 1997. James Cameron created a 3-hour long love story based on the tragic events of the ill-fated RMS Titanic and the box office ate it up. In a rare occurrence where the Academy actually chose what the audience liked, they still made the wrong decision.
Runner Up: L.A. Confidential
Who doesn’t love a film about crooked cops in L.A.? The movie is regarded as one of the best noirs ever made but the academy went with the popular film over the gritty drama featuring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce.
8. Winner: Argo (2012)
Ben Affleck starred and directed this true story of the rescue of six Americans in Tehran in the 1980s through the creation of a fake Hollywood production. It is easy to see why the Oscar voters love it but it was, at best, an average drama with below-average production value.
Runner Up: Zero Dark Thirty
If a film about a true story was going to win, it should have been Kathryn Bigelow’s look at how Osama Bin Laden was tracked down. Since it was not feeding the ego of the Hollywood elites though, this film to a back seat for best picture.
7. Winner: The King’s Speech (2010)
Colin Firth delivered an incredible performance along with Geoffrey Rush, but the movie was lackluster aside from them. Best picture was a big win for a movie that is really just about King George VI’s public-speaking issues.
Runner Up: The Social Network
Still in its earlier days, Facebook did not control the world like it does today. The Social Network was a prime example of this as the film was “too young” for the Academy voters as they could not relate to social media and the impact that it would make on the world. In a perfect example of age bias of the Academy, is makes sense that more members could relate to a film that was set in the late 1930s rather than one of a younger generation.
6. Winner: Chicago (2002)
Musicals made a comeback in the early 2000’s and Chicago was in the right place at the right time. The cast took home six Oscars, but the film has fallen off the face of the earth since it was actually relevant. Unless you are obsessed with musicals, I am sure this film has not crossed your mind in nearly 20 years.
Runner Up: The Pianist
Roman Polanski took home an Oscar for his WWII film of a Jewish musician’s struggles to survive a Warsaw Ghetto but the film ultimately lost out to something a little more upbeat for best picture. While The Pianist still remains on many lists of the top movies ever made, Chicago is nowhere to be found. Hindsight is definitely 20/20 on this one.
5. Winner: Green Book (2018)
Green Book was a good film but only won as Academy voters were trying to prove that they were not a group of white-privileged people. In the end, they really only confirmed that they were out of touch with society as their woke culture crowned the film as best picture without having any true depth.
Runner Up: A Star is Born
Bradly Cooper made his directorial debut with this classic remake with Lady Gaga and the film was universally loved. While it was a remake of an older film, their onscreen chemistry gave this version a life of its own but the Academy did not see it the same way as everyone else did, opting to appear woke by giving the best picture nod to a less impressive film.
4. Winner: Dances with Wolves (1990)
Kevin Costner directed and starred in the film that dives into the life of a soldier on a remote Western Civil War outpost who befriends the Native Americans. The film initially received positive reviews, but many Native American cultures took issue with their inaccurate portrayals.
Runner Up: Goodfellas
I think the Academy is just not a Scorsese fan was it all boils down. Joe Pesci took home a win for best supporting actor and Scorsese won best director, but the film itself was left high and dry when it came to best picture.
3. Winner: Crash (2005)
Critics were split on the 2005 film as some went as far as to name it the worst movie of the early 2000’s. It was also one of a few best picture winners to not be nominated for a Golden Glove. The win came with some backlash as popular vote had a completely different winner.
Runner Up: Brokeback Mountain
Remember, this was back in 2005. Many of the voter’s then were uncomfortable with the subject matter of Brokeback Mountain and steered away from it when it came time to vote. Looking back now, only one of these two movies has remained relevant and talked about since its debut.
2. Winner: How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Directed by John Ford, this story of a coal-mining family at the turn of the century has the pedigree for Oscar love. It is not a surprise that the film did well, but when it comes to its competition, its runner up is still one of the biggest snubs of the Oscars.
Runner Up: Citizen Kane
One of the greatest films of all time, Citizen Kane was based on newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was still alive when the film came out and was not a fan of the film itself. With numerous Hollywood friends, it is no surprise that politics played a role in Citizen Kane going home empty handed.
1. Winner: Shakespeare in Love (1998)
How a film about how William Shakespeare created “Romeo & Juliet” won will always baffle me. The film was nothing special and beat out one of the greatest war films to ever be made.
Runner Up: Saving Private Ryan
It is difficult to turn on a TV and not see Saving Private Ryan playing on one of the channels. The film has gone down as one of, if not the best war film to ever be made and is still watched and talked about to this day. In the end though, a Friday-night comedy about Shakespeare took home the top prize of the 1998 Oscars.
