By Steve Levy
The Oscars are coming up this Sunday. As the years go by, I have less interest, mainly because there are fewer good movies made in the year that I wind up seeing.
I assume many of you have experienced the same.
And then there’s the trend to reward movies that fit certain politically correct narratives rather than reward entertainment value. The two front-runners for best picture this year, Sinners and One Battle After Another, fit this mold.
I started to think back about the many lousy films that won Best Picture and the various classics that failed to do. So here’s my list.
My list of movies that should have won Best Picture, followed by the year distributed and the inferior movie that won:
- 1962 — The Longest Day and To Kill a Mockingbird lost to Lawrence of Arabia
- 1964 — Dr. Strangelove lost to My Fair Lady
- 1969 — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lost to Midnight Cowboy
- 1973 — The Exorcist lost to The Sting
- 1980 — Raging Bull lost to Ordinary People
- 1982 — ET and The Verdict lost to Gandhi
- 1988 — Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love
- 2010 — The Social Network lost to The King’s Speech
- 2014 — American Sniper lost to Birdman
- 2016 — La La Land lost to Moonlight
- 2022 — Top Gun: Maverick lost to Everything Everywhere All at Once
Here is a list of movies that could have won the Best Picture award, but lost to an equally good or better film:
- 1939 — The Wizard of Oz and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington lost to Gone with the Wind
- 1946 — It’s a Wonderful Life lost to The Best Years of Our Lives
- 1953 — Stalag 17 and Shane lost to From Here to Eternity
- 1967 — The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde lost to In the Heat of the Night
- 1970 — M*A*S*H lost to Patton
- 1975 — Jaws lost to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- 1976 — Taxi Driver lost to Rocky
- 1986 — Top Gun lost to Platoon
- 1990 — Goodfellas lost to Dances with Wolves
- 1992 — Scent of a Woman and A Few Good Men lost to Unforgiven
- 1994 — Pulp Fiction lost to Forrest Gump
We would love to get your feedback and also see your list as well. Send them to LI Life and Politics and we will publish them.