I will never understand people who say Titanic is a bad movie. If they don't like it, fine, that's their opinon, but a bad movie? Like... have they seen actually badly made movies?
Totally agree. James Cameron’s direction really carries this movie (my all-time favorite Directing win), and it is extremely graceful too. Was reminded of classic epics like BEN-HUR, GONE WITH THE WIND etc. in terms of scope, and the fact that he was able to successfully recapture that feeling was amazing. TITANIC is one of my all-time favorite movies.
I’m not keen on the Kate and Leo love story but from the moment the ship hits the iceberg, it’s a remarkable feat of film making. Excellent direction and technical execution
Thank you for standing up for the Brendan Fraser win! Brendan gave a magnificent performance and ABSOLUTELY deserved that win. I agree his performance was not Oscar bait-y at all and seemed absolutely real and genuine. He really touched my heart, and I felt like I really deeply knew this character Charlie. Brendan slayed it both in the emotional moments, which were heart-wrenching, and in the quieter moments. Not many people comment on how he also perfected his body movements and voice, his struggling to breathe, coughing and moaning - I felt like I was really watching a dying person. I feel like honestly the voices screaming Butler should have won are just the loudest ones. Many, many of us were simply thrilled that Fraser won!
I was surprised this was listed as a hated win. I was in a rom full of people at an Oscar watch party, and this was the one award that year that we all cheered - no one wanted Austin Butler to beat Brendan Fraser in that amazing performance. I do think everyone in Banshees was phenomenal, but I cannot do anything but cheer Fraser's win.
Brenda Fraser was absolutely amazing in The Whale. His performance devastated me. It was raw, emotional and utterly convincing. His heartache and grief was almost palpable. The scene with Samantha Morton and the final interaction with Sadie Sink undid me. I don't cry often watching movies, but this reached deep into me and I let the tears flow. It was such an open and honest depiction of love lost and regret. He was awesome and very much deserved that statue.
Personally, I loved Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland and she deserved to win the Oscar. I thought her performance was strong and sublime and a true tribute to the great woman and star that Judy Garland was. And the fact that she sang the songs in the film extraordinarily - even getting a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Simply incredible.
I actually love Brendan Fraser winning as well. After his speech at the Critic's Choice awards, I said, "I hope he wins the Oscar," and then I watched The Whale and thought his performance was heart wrenching.
Chicago is one of the most dazzling, electric, ridiculously entertaining films I’ve ever seen, and I roll my eyes when I see it on a “Worst Best Picture Winners” list. Yes, The Pianist is a beautiful holocaust drama, and if you feel it’s the best film of 2002, I can’t argue with you, but to completely denounce Chicago is being very unfair to a very good movie.
I don't like most musicals in general but with Chicago most of the style felt way-overdone-annoying and the story pretty anticlimactic after (the one really good song) "We Both Reached for the Gun"
@@suarezguy so you think it was overdone but your favorite song was the most elaborate one? And the story is a little anticlimactic, but that’s the point. Violence will keep happening, and these women will keep getting away with their crimes. I think the final number does a great job ending the film on a high note.
@TheCatIndeed The problem with Chicago is that Renee Zellwegger's character is not really a character to root for. She's selfish, manipulative, deceives her husband and gets her way at the end even though she didn't deserve to. There's also a few other flaws as well. From an acting and musical standpoint, it's a good enough movie, but as a Best Picture winner, not really, in my opinion. The other nominees I felt were much better movies.
@@leoprince691 Roxie is supposed to be unlikable, the whole story is about how bad people win sometimes, but it’s told through an accessible and fun musical standpoint. It’s ok if you don’t like it, but many Best Picture winners have bad people getting away with their crimes.
People from my generation, specially progressive people, see Forrest Gump as this conservative fantasy, about how we should be dumb and embrace authority. They see the things that happen to Jenny as a lesson like "don't challenge authority", "don'ttry to escape your enviroment". I would say that the movie is indeed a fairy tale-like story, but it isn't this reactionary propaganda people claim it is. What happens to Jenny is a tragedy, her erratic behavior is framed as a product of abuse and trying to escape her enviroment.
Honestly it just strikes me as if Zemeckis and Roth didn’t really consider the deeper message of that movie, so I think calling it any kind of propaganda is a bit much, but I still don’t like it because Forrest is just overall kind of a useless character. I’d much rather watch a movie actually about Jenny.
@samuelbarber6177 I think the movie shows different sides to the american experience, and the comedic tone (we shouldn't forget that) makes it a kind of satire at some points
Maybe not outright direct blatant fantasy but it does too much feel like pro-following authority is best and as that the protesters/protesting was at best not really worthwhile, maybe more destructive.
@suarezguy the movie is pretty neutral on the protests. It doesn't show the war as a good thing since it killed Bubba and ruined Dan's life. Forrest is rewarded not for killing people but for saving people's lives and representing his country in Ping Pong. But the historical events are portrayed more as "stuff that happened" than good or bad things.
Do feel the Renee wouldn’t be hated if she didn’t win over Scarlett in marriage story and saorise in the little women and Brendan Fraser’s best actor win is deserved
10:36 I'm one of those people that thinks 'Forrest Gump' didn't deserve it. Not because I think it's bad, but because to see a film I view as more of a cheesy feel-good movie beat _Shawshank_ & _Pul Fiction_ is wild, and I even think 'Four Weddings and A Funeral' was a more interesting film. Not quite as bad as 'Green Book' winning over 'The Favourite' but, it's along those lines for my taste.
It's a classic academy issue. Pulp Fiction was never gonna win because it's so politically incorrect. Sex, Drugs, Violence... Tarantino never won Best Director which is a crime in itself but they just try to avoid those (Best Director, Best Movie) if not totally unavoidable. Forrest Gump is the perfect Academy movie. An outsider (also disadvantaged) who lives the American Dream and enjoys the freedom of good ol' America. Exactly what you so fittingly describe as cheesy. Don't get me wrong, I adore the movie. Hanks is magnificent, the screenplay is good and so much more. It's just the context of who it won against, that I think (in hindsight) that someone else should have won. To me that would have been Shawshank Redemption. The movie is just perfect. Riddles me till today why this hasn't won a single Oscar.
@@stvk99 is it feeldgood? Yeah, sure. I just dont think its cheesy. Feel-good in movies is totally okay as long as its not provoked. Shawshank rewards the viewer a few times with happy moments for the MC. Forrest Gump just never looses. There is almost no up and down in his story. So it isnt rewarding for the viewer, it just tells you to be happy about it because you know thats what the writer intended. In Shawshank you are happy because you genuinely feel happy for the characters because they have been through bad times.
I absolutely adore CODA! It's a story about love and family that made me cry and smile. The acting, screenplay, soundtrack, cinematography... everything is beautiful in that movie and very much deserves all 3 oscars it has ❤
I like Forrest Gump, don’t get me wrong, but it has some serious flaws I can’t get behind. It takes a very uninteresting approach to one of the most interesting historical periods, which can basically summed up as, “hey remember Watergate?” And “here’s Tom Hanks narrating over the Zapruder film”. And then Forrest is a character who feels like he has such little agency in any part of the story. Meanwhile Jenny tries to make the world a better place and is constantly punished for it. There are just parts of this film that I cannot get behind, and that’s a shame because there are other parts that are so good.
I think the way it presents it makes it enjoyable to sit through. Since the movie has a kind of corny tone sometimes, the way historical events happen being glossed over makes sense (especially since Forrest doesn’t know the significance of a lot of it, or at least doesn’t express it)
I'll die on the hill that 90% of people who hate How Green Was My Valley either never watched it or went into it with the mindset of wanting to dislike it. CODA sits comfortably at number 10/96 in my Best Picture ranking. If I were to rank it purely based on the impact it had on me, it would be in the top 3
5:07 Sorry, but your argument that Grace Kelly deserves to win because she starred in two Alfred Hitchcock films is horrible. She wasn't nominated for Rear Window, she was nominated for her performance on The Country Girl.
Ehh the Academy takes previous performances into account when selecting a winner, they do give out career wins and make-up awards. I don't like it but it's true, so his argument is valid.
Yeah, that's in an ideal world. I wanted Leo to win Best Actor for Wolf of Wall Street because he deserved it. But considering he didn't, I still prefer him winning it for The Revenant than not winning it at all. I have the same thought process for Grace Kelly
Brendan Fraser’s performance is third on my list of favourite Best Actor winning performances. I had no idea it was disliked and wasn’t surprised when it was won
Honestly, my impression has been that Brendan's performance was nearly universally loved and admired. Most critics who reviewed the film heaped praise onto him for it, (even if they didn't 100% like the film itself), and many everyday people who saw it were deeply moved by his performance (judging by people I've known who saw it, and many comments I've seen on the web.) Most people who express dislike for it seem to be fans of Austin Butler who are disgruntled that he did not win. I can understand their disappointment - I would have felt that way if Brendan hadn't won - but I don't understand why they have to trash Brendan so harshly. That's not necessary and I wonder if many of them actually saw Brendan's performance. In any case, they can still have their opinion that Austin should have won without having to annihilate the person who won instead.
100% agree with Forrest Gump and Brendan Fraser I didn't even know CODA was hated. My brother doesn't even like "Oscar Bait" movies, and HE likes CODA.
@@markatto33 - Exactly, the same way this channel questions whether movies like American Beauty are actually great 20 years later (after having watched the retrospective video from earlier this year) makes me wonder how people will evaluate Coda a decade from now once they see it had no outstanding artistic quality to it to call it the most excellent work of 2021. It was a feel-good film for streaming at a time after the pandemic where people needed to feel some pick-me-up. The screenplay win was ridiculous as it was incredibly similar to the French film that inspired it, while Drive My Car that year was an emotional three hour film based on a short story. You could tell when Oscar voters vote by their feelings vs. the craft they're being asked to evaluate.
I love "Shakespeare in Love" and I always thought the Oscar for best film was a fair award. It is unfairly criticized because of the comparison with "Saving Private Ryan", which is a film that everyone remembers until today and whose first 20/30 minutes are truly phenomenal. But "Ryan" also has its pacing and tone problems, and these flaws are kind of forgotten by the film's technical quality.
I LOVE Brendan Fraser’s win. I didn’t realize people hated that win. I like Renee Zellweger’s win for Judy too. She was quite uncanny in that movie and the ending was heartbreaking.
Thank you! Renee Zellweger gives such an incredible performance as Judy Garland. I think people are unfairly attacking her because there is more discourse against biopics and their exploitation nowadays and Judy is kinda the epitome of that. But let's not kid ourselves, Zellweger gives such a moving performance and really becomes Judy and she deserves to be recognized for that outstanding transformation.
Super glad you had Titanic on this list Brian. I'll never understand the backlash for it. I've adored Titanic all my life and definitely thought it was worthy of the best picture Oscar. I feel the same about Forrest Gump as well. One of my favourite movies of all time..it's just so watchable.
My issue with CODA is the anti -intellectual hate from it’s fans towards Power of the Dog. The whole idea that POTD had no emotion and was just an intellectual exercise and that if you didn’t puddle all over CODA , you had no feelings. I also can’t stand the fact that to my knowledge Apple was fronting like they were this little underdog company and that they refused to release it on physical media, even to public libraries.
CODA is not only so problematic in the way it portrays deaf characters as stereotypes but it also offended deaf people by showing them being a burden on hearing people and mocks the disabled. One of the worst wins ever! 👎
I've seen that film and Hanks was awful. The film is offensive and portrays people with with developmental disablities as stupid and oblivious to the world around them. AS someone with a developmental disability, who has been treated like he is stupid, I find it very offensive. And if that weren't bad enough Tom Hanks is so bad in that performance he makes Will Farrel look like Lawrence Olivier. That's not easy to do.
Never heard anyone say anything but good things about his performances they are near perfect and I’m glad that did not prevent people from condemning him for his awful behavior and actions no artist is too good to be punished for their crimes
The only popular other winner, from what I'm aware, would have been Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. He won at the Globes and had never won in the lead Actor category before, whereas Spacey was still new to the scene and had won only a few years prior.
Everybody used to love Spacey's performance in American Beauty, then he was cancelled and hipocracy took over. Thank you for being honest, I loved that performance too
I think Paul Mescal delivered one of the most devastating and heartbreaking performances of all time. In my opinion, it was the best performance of the year for a lead actor, and I still believe that Brendan Fraser deserved the Oscar that night. Sometimes, it's all about timing and place. Paul Mescal will win an Oscar one day, but that night belonged to Fraser.
People who hate the Forest Gump win most likely hadn't seen it in the theater. Whn I saw it for the first time there were women in the audience who were pulverized emotionally by the movie. I've never had a theater experience like that. Every down beats would set the audience off, like when Forest mom died, and meeting Forest Jr. and Jenny Dying, it all set off a chorus of blubbering and wailing and moaning. It was like being in the audience of one of those 50s cliffhanger movies with a bunch of kids, but with crying instead of cheering. That is why Forest Gump deserved an oscar.
Why is Brendan Fraser on here? His performance was immaculate and nobody that I have talked with has said otherwise. I understand the people that feel it should have been a real obese person but thats it. I was so happy for him.
Mine: 1. Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (Best Actor) 2. CODA (Best Picture) 3. Brendan Fraser for The Whale (Best Actor) 4. Frances McDorman for both Three Billboards …. and Nomadland (Best Actress) 5. Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (Best Actor) 6. Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody (Best Actor) 7. Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour (Best Actor) 8. Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture) 9. The Last Emperor (Best Picture) 10. The Hurt Locker (Best Picture)
I don’t think people really hate Leo winning that year, just that they think he’s done better work. He didn’t have much competition the year he won so it’s not like he won over someone noticeably better.
For me it would be The English Patient winning best picture. I'd always heard it was a slog and hard to get through. Similarly to Out of Africa, it was a big hollywood studio epic romance, but when I got into the film I was completely swept away by the desert landscapes and Ralph Fiennes dazzling romantic performance. The film swept the oscars and in my opinion deserved all 9 of them, even director. I was swept off my feet with surprise by how much I was LOVING that movie. The same cannot be said for Out of Africa, which I despise with a passion.
That's funny. I KNEW English Patient was supposedly "slow" so I was prepared for it and I TOO LOVED the movie. Definitely Oscar worthy. And I also agree with you on Out of Africa though perhaps NOT as strongly as you but still. Certainly Redford (one of my all time faves) didn't do much of anything to engage an audience. Streep's scene with that other actor..GOD I can't recall his name. Was he Austrian? German? Whatever...he & Streep I thought played well together. I tried reading the book and found it boring. Out of Africa should more appropriately be called Out of this THEATER!
It's all about taste in the end and I agree with most of your picks - Kevin Spacey, How Was Green Was My Valley (though Citizen Kane deserved to win, it was too ahead of its time), Robert Donat (I would prefer James Stewart but he won the year after). But Coda and Forrest Gump are different. Coda is a good movie (Mass is better but too tough for the Academy) but you know where the movie is going very early on and though, it's well-acted and well written, we've seen this kind of movie so many times before. That's my issue with it. I would much prefer Licorice Pizza to win - PTA is way overdue. (I also love Alana Haim in that movie but I also love Jessica Chastain so I'm not complaining) Since you asked that you don't understand why people would hate Forrest Gump, I'll tell you. Not only are Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption and Quiz Show (my favourite) all-timers, Forrest Gump is once again, the safe Oscar choice against more challenging material. Forrest Gump is endearing, Forrest Gump is clever, Forrest Gump is a wild ride, Forrest Gump is moving. To borrow your phrase, 'I get it'. And to borrow Forrest Gump's phrase 'Stupid is as stupid does' sort of sums up the movie. Whilst most people seem to think that if we were all like Forrest Gump, we'd all be better off and (as the movie concludes) America would be better off and it wouldn't have had to go through all that social upheaval with all those ridiculous Vietnam protestors and all those sexual promiscuous youth who brought on AIDS in the 1980s. The movie seems to be saying if you're a young protestor and you live it up, you deserve to die (Ginny) but if you're Forrest and just never learn anything and go through life being blissfully unaware of anything, you're loveable and adorable, I don't get it. Not only do I not get it, I don't buy such a monumentally stupid message. Not only does it reduce major events of American history to postmodern jokes (which sits well with millenials who think that the world didn't exist before they were born), it suggests that Forrest is a sympathetic victim of fate, being blown about like a feather on the wind whilst, really, he should just get educated and so should we all. And man, he is such an annoying character. Along with Driving Miss Daisy, this would be up there in terms of worst Oscar wins and I guess in my top 10 picks for Oscar Wins I Hate That Everybody Loves
I totally hear you about Coda in that it was just so formulaic to win an award like Best Picture. I was watching FYC or perhaps somewhere else, that they mentioned for every year you get a truly outstanding winner like Parasite that feels like an exceptional film, the Academy then moves back a step before they move forward again in actually honoring movies that truly stand out as exceptional movies. Think of how a hokey movie like the Green Book won the year before Parasite and after a family film like Coda wins, the next year sees a sweep by Everything Everywhere All at Once, quite a left-of-center film.
Bravo, you love a movie that mocks the disabled and portrays deaf people as a burden. I have two close friend who are deaf who are still appalled by this win.
Look at you finding ways to put a bright side on your weird, painful KS encounter! I love these vids where I don't necessarily agree with you but your well-articulated positions make me think. Keep them coming!
Great list, Brian! I appreciated you standing up for How Green Was My Valley. I'm a HUGE Orson Welles fan and adore Citizen Kane, but HWAMV was the first black and white movie I ever saw, when I was like six, and I've unabashedly loved it ever since. I still cry like a baby at the end (that damn Welsh singing!).
I am so glad that you put Forrest Gump as best picture winner as a favorite. I was born in 1995 the same year that Forrest Gump won for best picture and Forrest Gump is a movie that I can go back to over and over again and enjoy what I love about The speech they gave at the Oscars about how the movie was not about politics, or race, or religion. It is about humanity at its finest, and how one man can change the people around him in the words Forrest,” I am not a smart man, but I know what love is.”
Titanic and Forrest Gump deserve their wins for Best Picture. Politics definitely played a role in Citizen Kane not winning considering who the character was loosely based on. The Brendan Fraser win is not a bad win but had it not been the presence of social media and the undying love he gets from it maybe the outcome would’ve been different. I remember that everyone was wanting to come down between Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser but everyone written off Austin Butler but once Butler won GG and BAFTA then the Fraser fans were in a panic because the possibility of Brendan not winning. And both ELVIS and THE WHALE shared a category in Best Makeup and once Whale won I knew Brendan was gonna win.
I like your list. Here’s my comments: 10. I do know people who are mixed on Titanic. Some people I know say it’s too long and they’re not into the love story, but generally I think there’s a good number of people who still love that win. 9. I don’t know too much about the performance, but I thought people enjoyed that movie. Although maybe I’m thinking of a later version. 8. If anything, I think that’s the case of an actress getting nominated for the wrong movie that year. That I think would be an interesting idea for a Top 10. (Top 10 nominees who had a better performance the same year.) 7. I enjoyed How Green Was My Valley. Personally I preferred 8 of the other 9 nominees that year over it, but I think that’s because that year was pretty stacked overall in Best Picture. I didn’t hate that win. 6. I actually really enjoyed A Touch of Class, largely because of Jackson. I didn’t think it was worthy of a Best Picture nomination, but it was solid, albeit very 70s, and it was largely because of her performance. 5. Generally speaking, people love Forrest Gump. I think it’s just when people look at the other nominees they have problems. 4. I have yet to see this one, so I can’t comment. 3. I think part of the reason is also because Judy Garland never won an Oscar, and yet someone won an Oscar for playing her, and that just doesn’t sit well with some. 2. I just saw CODA for the first time last month, and I really enjoyed it. I’m kind of surprised it won Best Picture since I thought it was kind of a formulaic teen vs the parents family drama, but it was well-executed. It wasn’t my favorite nominee that year, but I still loved it and I’m happy it won. 1. I have yet to see American Beauty (on my list), but I see what you mean.
The win that tops this particular list for me is SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE for Best Picture. I saw it again last night, and it’s actually an extremely well executed film with a great script and top notch filmmaking, with strong performances across the board. Was reminded a little of AMADEUS in terms of story structure. I do think that it deserved it more than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, which I found to start strong but lose momentum as the story dragged on and also emotionally manipulative at times.
A fellow Shakespeare in Love apologist! There are dozens of us! Dozens! I went into Shakespeare in Love expecting to absolutely hate it but could not agree more that it's a wonderful film.
I saw it at the cinema and really liked it as well. It was a very well constructed film, easy to watch and enjoy. And I very much appreciated that it didn't try to be more than it was. Saving Private Ryan... It's an American war movie. Well produced, great effects but the story wasn't for me. And I agree it really wanted you to think a certain way at times. (The bit where they let the German soldier go only for him to of course break his promise of surrendering to another unit had my eyes rolling.)
I think Forrest Gump is in a very awkward situation that there was never any way to avoid. Pulp Fiction, Shawshank and FG are all amazing movies that in any other year would have stood head and shoulders above the competition. The problem always is that only one movie could win. I think whichever of the three had won would end up being resented today because the other two were snubbed. If Shawshank had won I could definitely see it being seen as unworthy today, and in the case of Pulp Fiction even more so, because Tarantino has had two other movies nominated for Best Picture since and fans would complain he didn't win for those because he got the trophy for PF instead. Of the three movies, I personally think FG takes the bronze because it is a bit too whimsical and charming for its own good, but it's still a fantastic film and definitely doesn't deserve the bitterness it receives, at least without the proper context, because it is a Best Picture worthy film. I can't really go all in with this opionion because I never saw The Whale, but I did see Banshees and Elvis and absolutely thought Farrell gave the best performance in a lead role that year.
Yes! Thank you, sir, for defending Titanic and Forrest Gump! Could not agree more. Both unarguable masterpieces! I also agree with you on CODA. I was thrilled when that won. Power of the Dog was good but CODA was superior to me without question. As for Kevin Spacey, it’s a shame that he turned out to be who he is, but that performance was definitely great.
Citizen Kane (or Maltese Falcon) should have made it in '42, just like Pulp Fiction (or Shawshank) should have made it in '95. Hollywood was just celebrating itself in those years, that's the simple truth. Coda on the other hand was a well deserved winner, although I don't think that it was a particularly strong year. Gotta watch Mass some day, so thanks for reminding me.
Great list! Thinking about the movie “Judy”-have you ever done a countdown of the best Oscar wins for playing a real person? Would love to see where RZ would land.
@@mattpaul5441 - If you watch the French film, you'll then roll your eyes even more about how Coda won Best Adapted Screenplay. I literally felt like I was watching the same movie except instead of the girl having farmer parents in France, they were fishermen/fisherwomen in New England, nothing else was different which made the screenplay win feel so uninspired.
9:20 “but then she doesn’t win a year later for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore…” Actually, she did win the Oscar for that movie, but wasn’t there to accept it so director Martin Scorsese did.
Love to see the Forrest Gump praise! Shawshank and Pulp are both masterpieces yes, but I will forever believe that Gump is a masterpiece as well. Though I do have to say, I didn’t love Fraser’s win for the whale. I thought Butler wholeheartedly deserved it, with Farrell and mescal being close behind him. Thought Fraser was alright, was happy to see him as a person winning an Oscar, but yeah not for that performance lol
Thank you for mentioning Glenda Jackson! I will always defend her win there! Granted I was the 12 year old, instead of obsessing about Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder (soooo dating myself there lol!), I was obsessing about Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave! Lol
Titanic is one of the greatest movies ever made. And it's one of those films from the late '90s and early 2000s that became popular and people thought was cool to hate. But history and time has been kind to it and has shown that it's actually incredible. It's James Cameron's best movie in my opinion. Titanic IS pop culture
If Ellen Burstyn would have won for “The Exorcist” AS SHE SHOULD HAVE, that would have meant Gena Rowlands would have won the following year for “A Woman Under The Influence” AS SHE SHOULD HAVE. Glenda Jackson winning in ‘73 was a complete joke and makes the Academy lose all credibility HARD. Certainly not the first time and certainly not the last. People still talk about Barbra Streisand in “The Way We Were” and obviously “The Exorcist” and Ellen Burstyn’s performance has never been out of the zeitgeist since it premiered in 1973.
I’m with you on CODA. It was a beautiful film. America needed a feel good family drama at that time when we were still recovering from the pandemic. It was refreshing.
This has been your best video. I still think American Beauty is a wonderful film. Good for you for being able to separate the man from the artist. Spacey may be a creep, but he was one hell of an actor.
Spacey in American Beauty is great. I love his character in it so much that I made my own cut of the film. The stuff that came up years later after the movie was released doesn’t make his performance any worse.
American Beauty is 1 of my favorite movies of all time, but so as Forest Gump & Gone with the Wind :) , i don't think American beauty is a bit dated at all, its a very cool picture .. I also met Kevin Specy in Village of Soho late night he was with friends walking ahead i kinda didn't care for him ( taking pics) and maybe he didn't care either. Maybe Tom Cruise i would be a bit ..WOW i have to ask :)LOL\
I don't believe everyone "hates" my choice, but I know there is a good amount of disagreement about my opinion that Elizabeth Taylor's performance in Butterfield 8 has some moments where she is quite good (the "confession" scene stands out). Was the film or her work Oscar-worthy? No, but I think she did pretty well with what she was given.
Deborah Kerr or Melina Mercouri could have won the award easily and probably should have..BUT...I agree with you. I think Taylor was fine and dandy. The movie itself is actually VERY watchable and enjoyable. It's one of those movies you watch on a winter afternoon with coffee, maybe a danish...and it's totally enjoyable. It's an easy watch.
Not only is it meh but CODA also got backlash from the deaf community for it's stereotypes and the portrayal of them being a burden. The fact it also won for the problematic screenplay is just heinous. 😒
Brave choices. I appreciate all of them although I disagree with several of them. Your channel is one of my favorites when it comes to film history with its emphasis on awards, and detailed backgrounds in your review of the process of film production, marketing, artistic presentation, and industry politics.
I think the hate for Forrest Gump is specifically within certain groups because the vast majority of the movie going population loves Forrest Gump, including myself. Pulp Fiction and Shawashank Redemption are great movies, but Forrest Gump is iconic.
@drdavid1963 I'm a millennial, and I love the movie. I was ten years old when Forrest Gump came out. I might have been too young to see it, but I loved it then, and I've loved it all the tens and tens of times I've seen it.
I strongly dislike Forrest Gump, but it was a technical marvel with an achievement in special effects. I can't really knock it winning. It was a picture of the times. I don't understand not wanting Brendan Fraser to win for The Whale just because the film was disliked. I didn't like the movie too much but Fraser was fantastic.
You're not an anomaly. CODA is a truly outstanding movie! I was pleasantly surprised when it won because I figured most Oscar voters would simply be too dull-witted to appreciate what an extraordinary film it is on so many levels. It absolutely deserved each of its wins! (Oh, and I agree with you about Titanic as well.)
Brian, I completely agree with your opinion on No. 1. And especially the way you talked about Kevin Spacey in that regard. I ike a lot of his performances, he was a great entertainer (singing, his impersinations), but besides that you can't say anything good about him. That being said - I think he deserved both his Oscars. But I absolutely get why people would hate these wins.
OMG. My #1 choice for this would have been American Beauty's win for BP. I loved this movie. It helped me get through the final days of my father's life by recognizing that the last few years of his hard and abused life was filled with joy and gratitude. I separate the Spacey person from his role, just like I do Michael Jackson from his work, JK Rowling from her work, etc. I still watch this movie, and his performance is amazing. I would have to say that Annette Benning should have won over Hillary Swank for her role. My #2 is Shakespeare In Love over Saving Private Ryan. I am one of the few people who didn't care for SPR. I've seen it three times and it bored me after the Storming of Normandy ends. I thought SIL was well acted, well directed, and well written.
Hi Brian, I feel the same way about American Beauty and Kevin Spacey. It was my favorite movie and his performance also a favorite for years. Now, we've learned about the private life of Spacey and I wrestle with how we think about the artist's product and the artist's private life. How do we weigh and consider what an artist creates (Woody Allen comes to mind) against their alleged crimes or misdeeds? I would love to see you make a TH-cam video about this subject and hear your thoughts. How do YOU judge or weigh the art against the private life of the artist? Tell my your thoughts...
I agree with most of these especially Titanic, Coda, Renee Zellweger, Brendan Fraser and even the Kevin Spacey performance and I love American Beauty the way you do! But yeah I’m kind of in the hate boat for “Forrest Gump” I never really liked it with the exception of the score and the Robin Wright performance.
Titanic is one of the most memorable movies of all time and one of the most memorable Best Picture winners of all time. of all time. It’s only “hated” for how awesomely successful it is.
Grace Kelly totally deserved her Oscar and I agree with all the points you mentioned for it. It wasn’t her best role but 1954 was her year. I also loved her in ‘Rear Window’, especially the last scene of the film with her lounging and reading the outdoor magazine.
As a Welshman, How Green Was My Valley, it's painful, I don't think anyone on that film had ever heard a Welsh accent or had ever been to Wales. That aside, Citizen Kane all the way.
I agree completely that "How Green Was My Valley" is perfectly deserving of the win. Yes, so is "Citizen Kane," but too often John Ford's beautifully filmed and emotionally affecting picture is overlooked as a classic in its own right.
Here's my 2 wins I like that no one else does: 1980 Best Picture- "Ordinary People" over "Raging Bull" and 1992 Best Supporting Actress- Marisa Tomei over Vanessa Redgrave
I don’t know if anyone hates this, but Sean Connery winning Best Supporting Actor for The Untouchables is one I like. I just love that a James Bond actor got an Oscar, and I think he is quite good in The Untouchables. Also, as much as I love Raging Bull, I’m cool with Ordinary People winning Best Picture. Redford winning Best Director over Marty though…
Ordinary People gets sooo much hate because of the Oscars, but I watched it and ended up loving it, actually almost as much as Raging Bull! Hutton deserved his win, and personally I’m also ok with Redford winning Director, but I do think Scorsese would’ve been a mighty deserving winner for Director (more so than for his Departed win, imo).
I agree. I loved Ordinary People. It was so not the standard "TONE" movies generally have. I thought it was perfect. Don't get me wrong Raging Bull is a good movie...but almost like Citizen Kane for all its rage it has no heart. Scorsese SHOULD have won for GOOD FELLAS. One of the biggest travesties EVER...I mean NOT WINNING THE OSCAR is the travesty! HA!
@@nuntiuso7347what are you talking about? Scorsese deserved that win for the departed also. It’s a confident and well put together and is not the kind of movie to win best picture or director (in a year with more obvious Oscar bait titles)
@@ChrisThomson-y7l I just prefer his directing work for Raging Bull. I think it’s got better performances, cinematography, and stronger emotions. I respect The Departed, but it’s not even top 5 Scorsese for me.
@ I respect Raging Bull a lot myself (I believe it just barely missed my top 5 Scorsese films) and I think his directing job there was incredible. But I prefer watching the departed (I’ve seen it 3 times now in only 6 months) but raging Bull is something I have to be in the mood to watch again (I rewatched it recently for my 2nd viewing)
Titanic is still my favorite film of all time! They just don't make movies like this anymore. Incredible film! It absolutely deserved all the recognition!
gosh u really got your feelings hurt w/ your Kevin Spacey interaction haha, can you spill the tea on other actors and actresses you’ve talked to or met in person?????
I will never understand people who say Titanic is a bad movie. If they don't like it, fine, that's their opinon, but a bad movie? Like... have they seen actually badly made movies?
Totally agree. James Cameron’s direction really carries this movie (my all-time favorite Directing win), and it is extremely graceful too. Was reminded of classic epics like BEN-HUR, GONE WITH THE WIND etc. in terms of scope, and the fact that he was able to successfully recapture that feeling was amazing. TITANIC is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Titanic is my all time favorite film. I think people think it’s cool to hate this film and just jump into the bandwagon lol… screw the haters
Highly agree
Rubbish script, mediocre acting and it goes on FOREVER
I’m not keen on the Kate and Leo love story but from the moment the ship hits the iceberg, it’s a remarkable feat of film making. Excellent direction and technical execution
Thank you for standing up for the Brendan Fraser win! Brendan gave a magnificent performance and ABSOLUTELY deserved that win. I agree his performance was not Oscar bait-y at all and seemed absolutely real and genuine. He really touched my heart, and I felt like I really deeply knew this character Charlie. Brendan slayed it both in the emotional moments, which were heart-wrenching, and in the quieter moments. Not many people comment on how he also perfected his body movements and voice, his struggling to breathe, coughing and moaning - I felt like I was really watching a dying person. I feel like honestly the voices screaming Butler should have won are just the loudest ones. Many, many of us were simply thrilled that Fraser won!
He came along way since the mummy movies.
I was surprised this was listed as a hated win. I was in a rom full of people at an Oscar watch party, and this was the one award that year that we all cheered - no one wanted Austin Butler to beat Brendan Fraser in that amazing performance. I do think everyone in Banshees was phenomenal, but I cannot do anything but cheer Fraser's win.
I will never come over with Colin Farrell didn't win.
I didn't see any hate over him. He was absolutely perfect.
A spectacular performance.
Brenda Fraser was absolutely amazing in The Whale. His performance devastated me. It was raw, emotional and utterly convincing. His heartache and grief was almost palpable. The scene with Samantha Morton and the final interaction with Sadie Sink undid me. I don't cry often watching movies, but this reached deep into me and I let the tears flow. It was such an open and honest depiction of love lost and regret. He was awesome and very much deserved that statue.
You're not the only one who would've claimed Spacey as their favorite actor. That was me as well. Glad you stayed safe when you met him.
Personally, I loved Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland and she deserved to win the Oscar. I thought her performance was strong and sublime and a true tribute to the great woman and star that Judy Garland was. And the fact that she sang the songs in the film extraordinarily - even getting a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Simply incredible.
I actually love Brendan Fraser winning as well. After his speech at the Critic's Choice awards, I said, "I hope he wins the Oscar," and then I watched The Whale and thought his performance was heart wrenching.
Ann Dowd should have won the Oscar for best supporting actress in “MASS”
💯 percent agree! That entire cast was a master class in acting! Especially Ann Dowd!
Jason Isaacs too!
@@HaydenReviews5 YES! The entire cast was on another level!
She should've won BSA for the next 5 years for that role
Agreed. OMG.
Chicago is one of the most dazzling, electric, ridiculously entertaining films I’ve ever seen, and I roll my eyes when I see it on a “Worst Best Picture Winners” list. Yes, The Pianist is a beautiful holocaust drama, and if you feel it’s the best film of 2002, I can’t argue with you, but to completely denounce Chicago is being very unfair to a very good movie.
I don't like most musicals in general but with Chicago most of the style felt way-overdone-annoying and the story pretty anticlimactic after (the one really good song) "We Both Reached for the Gun"
@@suarezguy so you think it was overdone but your favorite song was the most elaborate one? And the story is a little anticlimactic, but that’s the point. Violence will keep happening, and these women will keep getting away with their crimes. I think the final number does a great job ending the film on a high note.
@TheCatIndeed The problem with Chicago is that Renee Zellwegger's character is not really a character to root for. She's selfish, manipulative, deceives her husband and gets her way at the end even though she didn't deserve to. There's also a few other flaws as well. From an acting and musical standpoint, it's a good enough movie, but as a Best Picture winner, not really, in my opinion. The other nominees I felt were much better movies.
@@leoprince691 Roxie is supposed to be unlikable, the whole story is about how bad people win sometimes, but it’s told through an accessible and fun musical standpoint. It’s ok if you don’t like it, but many Best Picture winners have bad people getting away with their crimes.
Crazy thing about "Chicago" is that it's my 4th out of that year's BP nominees, but I'm still OK with its win. That was one heck of a film!
Someone standing up for Goodbye Mr Chips. Good to see!
People from my generation, specially progressive people, see Forrest Gump as this conservative fantasy, about how we should be dumb and embrace authority. They see the things that happen to Jenny as a lesson like "don't challenge authority", "don'ttry to escape your enviroment". I would say that the movie is indeed a fairy tale-like story, but it isn't this reactionary propaganda people claim it is. What happens to Jenny is a tragedy, her erratic behavior is framed as a product of abuse and trying to escape her enviroment.
Honestly it just strikes me as if Zemeckis and Roth didn’t really consider the deeper message of that movie, so I think calling it any kind of propaganda is a bit much, but I still don’t like it because Forrest is just overall kind of a useless character. I’d much rather watch a movie actually about Jenny.
@samuelbarber6177 I think the movie shows different sides to the american experience, and the comedic tone (we shouldn't forget that) makes it a kind of satire at some points
Maybe not outright direct blatant fantasy but it does too much feel like pro-following authority is best and as that the protesters/protesting was at best not really worthwhile, maybe more destructive.
@suarezguy the movie is pretty neutral on the protests. It doesn't show the war as a good thing since it killed Bubba and ruined Dan's life. Forrest is rewarded not for killing people but for saving people's lives and representing his country in Ping Pong. But the historical events are portrayed more as "stuff that happened" than good or bad things.
@@gui4816 you made great points
Do feel the Renee wouldn’t be hated if she didn’t win over Scarlett in marriage story and saorise in the little women and Brendan Fraser’s best actor win is deserved
10:36 I'm one of those people that thinks 'Forrest Gump' didn't deserve it. Not because I think it's bad, but because to see a film I view as more of a cheesy feel-good movie beat _Shawshank_ & _Pul Fiction_ is wild, and I even think 'Four Weddings and A Funeral' was a more interesting film.
Not quite as bad as 'Green Book' winning over 'The Favourite' but, it's along those lines for my taste.
Agreed 👍
It's a classic academy issue. Pulp Fiction was never gonna win because it's so politically incorrect. Sex, Drugs, Violence... Tarantino never won Best Director which is a crime in itself but they just try to avoid those (Best Director, Best Movie) if not totally unavoidable.
Forrest Gump is the perfect Academy movie. An outsider (also disadvantaged) who lives the American Dream and enjoys the freedom of good ol' America. Exactly what you so fittingly describe as cheesy. Don't get me wrong, I adore the movie. Hanks is magnificent, the screenplay is good and so much more. It's just the context of who it won against, that I think (in hindsight) that someone else should have won. To me that would have been Shawshank Redemption. The movie is just perfect. Riddles me till today why this hasn't won a single Oscar.
isn't shawshank also a cheesy feel-good movie?
@@stvk99 is it feeldgood? Yeah, sure. I just dont think its cheesy. Feel-good in movies is totally okay as long as its not provoked. Shawshank rewards the viewer a few times with happy moments for the MC. Forrest Gump just never looses. There is almost no up and down in his story. So it isnt rewarding for the viewer, it just tells you to be happy about it because you know thats what the writer intended.
In Shawshank you are happy because you genuinely feel happy for the characters because they have been through bad times.
I always hated "Forrest Gump" and felt quite alone with it. Nice to read some others don't like it.
I absolutely adore CODA! It's a story about love and family that made me cry and smile. The acting, screenplay, soundtrack, cinematography... everything is beautiful in that movie and very much deserves all 3 oscars it has ❤
I like Forrest Gump, don’t get me wrong, but it has some serious flaws I can’t get behind. It takes a very uninteresting approach to one of the most interesting historical periods, which can basically summed up as, “hey remember Watergate?” And “here’s Tom Hanks narrating over the Zapruder film”. And then Forrest is a character who feels like he has such little agency in any part of the story. Meanwhile Jenny tries to make the world a better place and is constantly punished for it. There are just parts of this film that I cannot get behind, and that’s a shame because there are other parts that are so good.
Yeah really feel the movie was, felt overly harsh to Jenny, at the least too relatively uninterested in her.
Jenny was the villain of the film, and rightfully in my mind.
I think the way it presents it makes it enjoyable to sit through. Since the movie has a kind of corny tone sometimes, the way historical events happen being glossed over makes sense (especially since Forrest doesn’t know the significance of a lot of it, or at least doesn’t express it)
I'll die on the hill that 90% of people who hate How Green Was My Valley either never watched it or went into it with the mindset of wanting to dislike it.
CODA sits comfortably at number 10/96 in my Best Picture ranking. If I were to rank it purely based on the impact it had on me, it would be in the top 3
5:07 Sorry, but your argument that Grace Kelly deserves to win because she starred in two Alfred Hitchcock films is horrible.
She wasn't nominated for Rear Window, she was nominated for her performance on The Country Girl.
I would rather have Grace Kelly as never winning an Oscar over Judy Garland being Oscar-less (her juvenile Oscar doesn’t count)
Ehh the Academy takes previous performances into account when selecting a winner, they do give out career wins and make-up awards. I don't like it but it's true, so his argument is valid.
Judy should have won
Here! Here!
Yeah, that's in an ideal world.
I wanted Leo to win Best Actor for Wolf of Wall Street because he deserved it. But considering he didn't, I still prefer him winning it for The Revenant than not winning it at all. I have the same thought process for Grace Kelly
Brendan Fraser’s performance is third on my list of favourite Best Actor winning performances. I had no idea it was disliked and wasn’t surprised when it was won
Honestly, my impression has been that Brendan's performance was nearly universally loved and admired. Most critics who reviewed the film heaped praise onto him for it, (even if they didn't 100% like the film itself), and many everyday people who saw it were deeply moved by his performance (judging by people I've known who saw it, and many comments I've seen on the web.) Most people who express dislike for it seem to be fans of Austin Butler who are disgruntled that he did not win. I can understand their disappointment - I would have felt that way if Brendan hadn't won - but I don't understand why they have to trash Brendan so harshly. That's not necessary and I wonder if many of them actually saw Brendan's performance. In any case, they can still have their opinion that Austin should have won without having to annihilate the person who won instead.
Keep up the great work sir. Your videos are always top class. 🤞🏼
100% agree with Forrest Gump and Brendan Fraser
I didn't even know CODA was hated. My brother doesn't even like "Oscar Bait" movies, and HE likes CODA.
Coda is a fine movie, People got mad because its not by any measure the best film of the year.
@@markatto33 - Exactly, the same way this channel questions whether movies like American Beauty are actually great 20 years later (after having watched the retrospective video from earlier this year) makes me wonder how people will evaluate Coda a decade from now once they see it had no outstanding artistic quality to it to call it the most excellent work of 2021. It was a feel-good film for streaming at a time after the pandemic where people needed to feel some pick-me-up. The screenplay win was ridiculous as it was incredibly similar to the French film that inspired it, while Drive My Car that year was an emotional three hour film based on a short story. You could tell when Oscar voters vote by their feelings vs. the craft they're being asked to evaluate.
I have a deaf ministry at my church, and I like that the deaf community was represented in the Academy and the world.
I love "Shakespeare in Love" and I always thought the Oscar for best film was a fair award. It is unfairly criticized because of the comparison with "Saving Private Ryan", which is a film that everyone remembers until today and whose first 20/30 minutes are truly phenomenal. But "Ryan" also has its pacing and tone problems, and these flaws are kind of forgotten by the film's technical quality.
I LOVE Brendan Fraser’s win. I didn’t realize people hated that win. I like Renee Zellweger’s win for Judy too. She was quite uncanny in that movie and the ending was heartbreaking.
Yes, all the fangirls were upset because Austin Butler didn't win for Elvis.
@@johnnolan5579 Nah. I want neither to win. It’s Paul Mescal for me all the way for Aftersun.
Renee Zellweger’s acceptance speech for ‘Judy’ was really outstanding, too. I think it was the best acceptance speech I’ve ever heard.
Thank you! Renee Zellweger gives such an incredible performance as Judy Garland. I think people are unfairly attacking her because there is more discourse against biopics and their exploitation nowadays and Judy is kinda the epitome of that. But let's not kid ourselves, Zellweger gives such a moving performance and really becomes Judy and she deserves to be recognized for that outstanding transformation.
Super glad you had Titanic on this list Brian. I'll never understand the backlash for it. I've adored Titanic all my life and definitely thought it was worthy of the best picture Oscar.
I feel the same about Forrest Gump as well. One of my favourite movies of all time..it's just so watchable.
😮 8:20 hot
My issue with CODA is the anti -intellectual hate from it’s fans towards Power of the Dog. The whole idea that POTD had no emotion and was just an intellectual exercise and that if you didn’t puddle all over CODA , you had no feelings. I also can’t stand the fact that to my knowledge Apple was fronting like they were this little underdog company and that they refused to release it on physical media, even to public libraries.
CODA is not only so problematic in the way it portrays deaf characters as stereotypes but it also offended deaf people by showing them being a burden on hearing people and mocks the disabled. One of the worst wins ever! 👎
What about Dune part 1 it won Oscsrs as well
idk if forrest gump deserved best picture but tom hanks %100 deserved to win best actor and he's one of the best winners
I've seen that film and Hanks was awful. The film is offensive and portrays people with with developmental disablities as stupid and oblivious to the world around them. AS someone with a developmental disability, who has been treated like he is stupid, I find it very offensive. And if that weren't bad enough Tom Hanks is so bad in that performance he makes Will Farrel look like Lawrence Olivier. That's not easy to do.
Who hates Kevin Spacey win for The American Beauty? He deserved that Oscar.
Never heard anyone say anything but good things about his performances they are near perfect and I’m glad that did not prevent people from condemning him for his awful behavior and actions no artist is too good to be punished for their crimes
The only popular other winner, from what I'm aware, would have been Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. He won at the Globes and had never won in the lead Actor category before, whereas Spacey was still new to the scene and had won only a few years prior.
I don't hate his win. But Denzel was the better choice IMO. He got robbed twice in the 90's.
@@PlusUltraAdrian and then he robbed Russell Crowe two years later.
Washington or the not-nominated Al Pacino would have gotten my vote.
Everybody used to love Spacey's performance in American Beauty, then he was cancelled and hipocracy took over. Thank you for being honest, I loved that performance too
Excellent list. My personal favorite is Brendan Fraser. He deserved that Oscar.
I think Paul Mescal delivered one of the most devastating and heartbreaking performances of all time. In my opinion, it was the best performance of the year for a lead actor, and I still believe that Brendan Fraser deserved the Oscar that night. Sometimes, it's all about timing and place. Paul Mescal will win an Oscar one day, but that night belonged to Fraser.
People who hate the Forest Gump win most likely hadn't seen it in the theater. Whn I saw it for the first time there were women in the audience who were pulverized emotionally by the movie. I've never had a theater experience like that. Every down beats would set the audience off, like when Forest mom died, and meeting Forest Jr. and Jenny Dying, it all set off a chorus of blubbering and wailing and moaning. It was like being in the audience of one of those 50s cliffhanger movies with a bunch of kids, but with crying instead of cheering. That is why Forest Gump deserved an oscar.
Why is Brendan Fraser on here? His performance was immaculate and nobody that I have talked with has said otherwise. I understand the people that feel it should have been a real obese person but thats it. I was so happy for him.
Mine:
1. Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (Best Actor)
2. CODA (Best Picture)
3. Brendan Fraser for The Whale (Best Actor)
4. Frances McDorman for both Three Billboards …. and Nomadland (Best Actress)
5. Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (Best Actor)
6. Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody (Best Actor)
7. Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour (Best Actor)
8. Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture)
9. The Last Emperor (Best Picture)
10. The Hurt Locker (Best Picture)
I don’t think people really hate Leo winning that year, just that they think he’s done better work. He didn’t have much competition the year he won so it’s not like he won over someone noticeably better.
Thank you for saying that about Forrest Gump. I love that film and I’ll watch it whenever it’s on.
For me it would be The English Patient winning best picture. I'd always heard it was a slog and hard to get through. Similarly to Out of Africa, it was a big hollywood studio epic romance, but when I got into the film I was completely swept away by the desert landscapes and Ralph Fiennes dazzling romantic performance. The film swept the oscars and in my opinion deserved all 9 of them, even director. I was swept off my feet with surprise by how much I was LOVING that movie. The same cannot be said for Out of Africa, which I despise with a passion.
I agree on both counts
That's funny. I KNEW English Patient was supposedly "slow" so I was prepared for it and I TOO LOVED the movie. Definitely Oscar worthy. And I also agree with you on Out of Africa though perhaps NOT as strongly as you but still. Certainly Redford (one of my all time faves) didn't do much of anything to engage an audience. Streep's scene with that other actor..GOD I can't recall his name. Was he Austrian? German? Whatever...he & Streep I thought played well together. I tried reading the book and found it boring. Out of Africa should more appropriately be called Out of this THEATER!
I actually agree with this. Also, Out Of Africa really does suck.
It's all about taste in the end and I agree with most of your picks - Kevin Spacey, How Was Green Was My Valley (though Citizen Kane deserved to win, it was too ahead of its time), Robert Donat (I would prefer James Stewart but he won the year after).
But Coda and Forrest Gump are different. Coda is a good movie (Mass is better but too tough for the Academy) but you know where the movie is going very early on and though, it's well-acted and well written, we've seen this kind of movie so many times before. That's my issue with it. I would much prefer Licorice Pizza to win - PTA is way overdue. (I also love Alana Haim in that movie but I also love Jessica Chastain so I'm not complaining)
Since you asked that you don't understand why people would hate Forrest Gump, I'll tell you. Not only are Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption and Quiz Show (my favourite) all-timers, Forrest Gump is once again, the safe Oscar choice against more challenging material.
Forrest Gump is endearing, Forrest Gump is clever, Forrest Gump is a wild ride, Forrest Gump is moving. To borrow your phrase, 'I get it'. And to borrow Forrest Gump's phrase 'Stupid is as stupid does' sort of sums up the movie. Whilst most people seem to think that if we were all like Forrest Gump, we'd all be better off and (as the movie concludes) America would be better off and it wouldn't have had to go through all that social upheaval with all those ridiculous Vietnam protestors and all those sexual promiscuous youth who brought on AIDS in the 1980s. The movie seems to be saying if you're a young protestor and you live it up, you deserve to die (Ginny) but if you're Forrest and just never learn anything and go through life being blissfully unaware of anything, you're loveable and adorable, I don't get it. Not only do I not get it, I don't buy such a monumentally stupid message. Not only does it reduce major events of American history to postmodern jokes (which sits well with millenials who think that the world didn't exist before they were born), it suggests that Forrest is a sympathetic victim of fate, being blown about like a feather on the wind whilst, really, he should just get educated and so should we all. And man, he is such an annoying character.
Along with Driving Miss Daisy, this would be up there in terms of worst Oscar wins and I guess in my top 10 picks for Oscar Wins I Hate That Everybody Loves
I totally hear you about Coda in that it was just so formulaic to win an award like Best Picture. I was watching FYC or perhaps somewhere else, that they mentioned for every year you get a truly outstanding winner like Parasite that feels like an exceptional film, the Academy then moves back a step before they move forward again in actually honoring movies that truly stand out as exceptional movies. Think of how a hokey movie like the Green Book won the year before Parasite and after a family film like Coda wins, the next year sees a sweep by Everything Everywhere All at Once, quite a left-of-center film.
@@smann87 - Yes, it's been a constant feature of the Oscars but there are occasional surprises.
I too love Goodbye Mister Chips, so you’re not alone.
I loved Coda and I am so glad that it won. A heartwarming story deserves to win every once in a while.
Bravo, you love a movie that mocks the disabled and portrays deaf people as a burden. I have two close friend who are deaf who are still appalled by this win.
Loved this vid, and I thought Fraser gave an absolutely spectacular performance that left the most impact for me that year. So Oscar worthy 💪
Really like your videos! Coda is fantastic!
Haha my number one for a list like this would easily be Rami Malek. I’ve been fighting that battle for years now 😂
Too much hate for that win . I think it’s better than it gets credit for .
I agree!
I thought he was phenomenal in Bohemian Rapsody
It is a terrible win for a mediocre film that was not truthful at all. I hate this win so much.
Look at you finding ways to put a bright side on your weird, painful KS encounter! I love these vids where I don't necessarily agree with you but your well-articulated positions make me think. Keep them coming!
Great list, Brian! I appreciated you standing up for How Green Was My Valley. I'm a HUGE Orson Welles fan and adore Citizen Kane, but HWAMV was the first black and white movie I ever saw, when I was like six, and I've unabashedly loved it ever since. I still cry like a baby at the end (that damn Welsh singing!).
There you go! HGWMV is such a great movie. When John Ford is on his game, there's no one who can touch him? THE QUIET MAN? HELLO!!!! LOL
Kevin Spacey's situation feels ai.ilar to Will Smith's in a way. A very deserving Oscar tainted only by the person themselves.
I am so glad that you put Forrest Gump as best picture winner as a favorite. I was born in 1995 the same year that Forrest Gump won for best picture and Forrest Gump is a movie that I can go back to over and over again and enjoy what I love about The speech they gave at the Oscars about how the movie was not about politics, or race, or religion. It is about humanity at its finest, and how one man can change the people around him in the words Forrest,” I am not a smart man, but I know what love is.”
The Color Purple not winning one Oscar was ridiculous. Amazing movie.
Whoopi should have won for The Color Purple.
The Color Purple was the best in that category.
You can partly blame the NAACP for The Color Purple losing. They went to town ripping apart this film 🎥, which made no sense to me.
Titanic and Forrest Gump deserve their wins for Best Picture. Politics definitely played a role in Citizen Kane not winning considering who the character was loosely based on.
The Brendan Fraser win is not a bad win but had it not been the presence of social media and the undying love he gets from it maybe the outcome would’ve been different. I remember that everyone was wanting to come down between Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser but everyone written off Austin Butler but once Butler won GG and BAFTA then the Fraser fans were in a panic because the possibility of Brendan not winning. And both ELVIS and THE WHALE shared a category in Best Makeup and once Whale won I knew Brendan was gonna win.
'L.A. Confidential' blows 'Titanic' away, artistically.
No question. Best film of that year by far.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Mr Rowe!!
I like your list. Here’s my comments:
10. I do know people who are mixed on Titanic. Some people I know say it’s too long and they’re not into the love story, but generally I think there’s a good number of people who still love that win.
9. I don’t know too much about the performance, but I thought people enjoyed that movie. Although maybe I’m thinking of a later version.
8. If anything, I think that’s the case of an actress getting nominated for the wrong movie that year. That I think would be an interesting idea for a Top 10. (Top 10 nominees who had a better performance the same year.)
7. I enjoyed How Green Was My Valley. Personally I preferred 8 of the other 9 nominees that year over it, but I think that’s because that year was pretty stacked overall in Best Picture. I didn’t hate that win.
6. I actually really enjoyed A Touch of Class, largely because of Jackson. I didn’t think it was worthy of a Best Picture nomination, but it was solid, albeit very 70s, and it was largely because of her performance.
5. Generally speaking, people love Forrest Gump. I think it’s just when people look at the other nominees they have problems.
4. I have yet to see this one, so I can’t comment.
3. I think part of the reason is also because Judy Garland never won an Oscar, and yet someone won an Oscar for playing her, and that just doesn’t sit well with some.
2. I just saw CODA for the first time last month, and I really enjoyed it. I’m kind of surprised it won Best Picture since I thought it was kind of a formulaic teen vs the parents family drama, but it was well-executed. It wasn’t my favorite nominee that year, but I still loved it and I’m happy it won.
1. I have yet to see American Beauty (on my list), but I see what you mean.
The win that tops this particular list for me is SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE for Best Picture. I saw it again last night, and it’s actually an extremely well executed film with a great script and top notch filmmaking, with strong performances across the board. Was reminded a little of AMADEUS in terms of story structure.
I do think that it deserved it more than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, which I found to start strong but lose momentum as the story dragged on and also emotionally manipulative at times.
A fellow Shakespeare in Love apologist! There are dozens of us! Dozens! I went into Shakespeare in Love expecting to absolutely hate it but could not agree more that it's a wonderful film.
I love it too!
I saw it at the cinema and really liked it as well. It was a very well constructed film, easy to watch and enjoy. And I very much appreciated that it didn't try to be more than it was.
Saving Private Ryan... It's an American war movie. Well produced, great effects but the story wasn't for me. And I agree it really wanted you to think a certain way at times. (The bit where they let the German soldier go only for him to of course break his promise of surrendering to another unit had my eyes rolling.)
I think Forrest Gump is in a very awkward situation that there was never any way to avoid. Pulp Fiction, Shawshank and FG are all amazing movies that in any other year would have stood head and shoulders above the competition. The problem always is that only one movie could win. I think whichever of the three had won would end up being resented today because the other two were snubbed. If Shawshank had won I could definitely see it being seen as unworthy today, and in the case of Pulp Fiction even more so, because Tarantino has had two other movies nominated for Best Picture since and fans would complain he didn't win for those because he got the trophy for PF instead.
Of the three movies, I personally think FG takes the bronze because it is a bit too whimsical and charming for its own good, but it's still a fantastic film and definitely doesn't deserve the bitterness it receives, at least without the proper context, because it is a Best Picture worthy film.
I can't really go all in with this opionion because I never saw The Whale, but I did see Banshees and Elvis and absolutely thought Farrell gave the best performance in a lead role that year.
I have to agree on Titanic. It has aged pretty well.
Also, this is the first I've heard of Brendan Fraser being controversial in any way.
I disagree about Brendan Frasier. He deserved that award.
THANK YOU for shouting out Mass. Criminally underseen film!!
I feel like people hate “The English Patient” win for Best Picture but I love this film so much.
You're not alone.
Elaine Benes
Loved the movie.
Elaine?
I liked The English Patient too. Fargo did grow on me just not on the first watch.
Yes! Thank you, sir, for defending Titanic and Forrest Gump! Could not agree more. Both unarguable masterpieces!
I also agree with you on CODA. I was thrilled when that won. Power of the Dog was good but CODA was superior to me without question.
As for Kevin Spacey, it’s a shame that he turned out to be who he is, but that performance was definitely great.
Citizen Kane (or Maltese Falcon) should have made it in '42, just like Pulp Fiction (or Shawshank) should have made it in '95.
Hollywood was just celebrating itself in those years, that's the simple truth.
Coda on the other hand was a well deserved winner, although I don't think that it was a particularly strong year. Gotta watch Mass some day, so thanks for reminding me.
Great list!
Thinking about the movie “Judy”-have you ever done a countdown of the best Oscar wins for playing a real person? Would love to see where RZ would land.
Thank you for saying what you did about “Forrest Gump” !!
Coda was a great movie. It just felt like it belonged on the hallmark channel
It's a remake of a french film " la famille Bélier"
@marie-juliecharpentier7000 then it felt like hallmark make a remake.
@@mattpaul5441loll 😂
@@mattpaul5441 - If you watch the French film, you'll then roll your eyes even more about how Coda won Best Adapted Screenplay. I literally felt like I was watching the same movie except instead of the girl having farmer parents in France, they were fishermen/fisherwomen in New England, nothing else was different which made the screenplay win feel so uninspired.
9:20 “but then she doesn’t win a year later for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore…”
Actually, she did win the Oscar for that movie, but wasn’t there to accept it so director Martin Scorsese did.
This is true. Im somewhat surprised that someone who seems to know the Oscars so well would make such a simple mistake.
@@andymorley2620 It was no mistake, you two just got him wrong.
@@andymorley2620 I agree. Knowing Ellen Burstyn won in ‘75 is probably pretty easy for him.
However, I’m sure he’ll realize that inaccuracy.
@@jensmucha1339 I can understand that
You misunderstood him. He was saying that if she won for the Exorcist then she doesn't win again the next year for Alice. He knows she won.
Love to see the Forrest Gump praise! Shawshank and Pulp are both masterpieces yes, but I will forever believe that Gump is a masterpiece as well.
Though I do have to say, I didn’t love Fraser’s win for the whale. I thought Butler wholeheartedly deserved it, with Farrell and mescal being close behind him. Thought Fraser was alright, was happy to see him as a person winning an Oscar, but yeah not for that performance lol
Thank you for mentioning Glenda Jackson! I will always defend her win there!
Granted I was the 12 year old, instead of obsessing about Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder (soooo dating myself there lol!), I was obsessing about Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave! Lol
Titanic is one of the greatest movies ever made. And it's one of those films from the late '90s and early 2000s that became popular and people thought was cool to hate. But history and time has been kind to it and has shown that it's actually incredible. It's James Cameron's best movie in my opinion. Titanic IS pop culture
If Ellen Burstyn would have won for “The Exorcist” AS SHE SHOULD HAVE, that would have meant Gena Rowlands would have won the following year for “A Woman Under The Influence” AS SHE SHOULD HAVE. Glenda Jackson winning in ‘73 was a complete joke and makes the Academy lose all credibility HARD. Certainly not the first time and certainly not the last. People still talk about Barbra Streisand in “The Way We Were” and obviously “The Exorcist” and Ellen Burstyn’s performance has never been out of the zeitgeist since it premiered in 1973.
I’m with you on CODA. It was a beautiful film. America needed a feel good family drama at that time when we were still recovering from the pandemic. It was refreshing.
Omg the Coda one was tough. And I'm so glad you know it. I can't stand Coda winning Best Picture.
This has been your best video. I still think American Beauty is a wonderful film. Good for you for being able to separate the man from the artist. Spacey may be a creep, but he was one hell of an actor.
I never understood the big deal about Forest Gump. I thought the movie was stupid. It had its moments but none of it resonated with me.
Spacey in American Beauty is great. I love his character in it so much that I made my own cut of the film.
The stuff that came up years later after the movie was released doesn’t make his performance any worse.
American Beauty is 1 of my favorite movies of all time, but so as Forest Gump & Gone with the Wind :) , i don't think American beauty is a bit dated at all, its a very cool picture .. I also met Kevin Specy in Village of Soho late night he was with friends walking ahead i kinda didn't care for him ( taking pics) and maybe he didn't care either. Maybe Tom Cruise i would be a bit ..WOW i have to ask :)LOL\
Omg I felt the same about coda !! I loved it and was surprised so many people hated the win lol
I don't believe everyone "hates" my choice, but I know there is a good amount of disagreement about my opinion that Elizabeth Taylor's performance in Butterfield 8 has some moments where she is quite good (the "confession" scene stands out). Was the film or her work Oscar-worthy? No, but I think she did pretty well with what she was given.
Deborah Kerr or Melina Mercouri could have won the award easily and probably should have..BUT...I agree with you. I think Taylor was fine and dandy. The movie itself is actually VERY watchable and enjoyable. It's one of those movies you watch on a winter afternoon with coffee, maybe a danish...and it's totally enjoyable. It's an easy watch.
"Sorry kid . . .," You weren't Kevin's type!!!! 😂😂😂😂
CODA was meh! I can’t believe it won, while Tick, Tick… Boom! wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture!
Exactly!
Not only is it meh but CODA also got backlash from the deaf community for it's stereotypes and the portrayal of them being a burden. The fact it also won for the problematic screenplay is just heinous. 😒
OMG The "backroom comment" his awful but hysterical at the same time, "OK GREAT"
Glenda Jackson- the best Elizabeth I! Masterpiece theater! I love her.
Brave choices. I appreciate all of them although I disagree with several of them. Your channel is one of my favorites when it comes to film history with its emphasis on awards, and detailed backgrounds in your review of the process of film production, marketing, artistic presentation, and industry politics.
I think the hate for Forrest Gump is specifically within certain groups because the vast majority of the movie going population loves Forrest Gump, including myself. Pulp Fiction and Shawashank Redemption are great movies, but Forrest Gump is iconic.
Amongst millenials maybe but not amongst Gen-Xers who saw it at the time
@drdavid1963 I'm a millennial, and I love the movie. I was ten years old when Forrest Gump came out. I might have been too young to see it, but I loved it then, and I've loved it all the tens and tens of times I've seen it.
@@moronsmincemovies - It's a movie for ten year olds
@@drdavid1963 TH-cam comments are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
@@moronsmincemovies - Spoken like a ten year old
Really good video can I give you a suggestion for a video you should do the 1994 Oscar’s and if they were deserved or how you would change it
Specifically Jessica Lange's win...
Yes I apologize on this post I meant the 1994 and 1995 Oscar’s
@@oscarman42 Who would you give it to that year instead of Lange ?
@@kellie-nd1yp Jodie Foster. You?
@@kellie-nd1yp Jodie Foster.
I strongly dislike Forrest Gump, but it was a technical marvel with an achievement in special effects. I can't really knock it winning. It was a picture of the times. I don't understand not wanting Brendan Fraser to win for The Whale just because the film was disliked. I didn't like the movie too much but Fraser was fantastic.
You're not an anomaly. CODA is a truly outstanding movie! I was pleasantly surprised when it won because I figured most Oscar voters would simply be too dull-witted to appreciate what an extraordinary film it is on so many levels. It absolutely deserved each of its wins! (Oh, and I agree with you about Titanic as well.)
Titanic is a masterpiece ! You can hate the love story all you want, but this movie was extremely well made !!!!
Brian, I completely agree with your opinion on No. 1. And especially the way you talked about Kevin Spacey in that regard. I ike a lot of his performances, he was a great entertainer (singing, his impersinations), but besides that you can't say anything good about him. That being said - I think he deserved both his Oscars. But I absolutely get why people would hate these wins.
OMG. My #1 choice for this would have been American Beauty's win for BP. I loved this movie. It helped me get through the final days of my father's life by recognizing that the last few years of his hard and abused life was filled with joy and gratitude. I separate the Spacey person from his role, just like I do Michael Jackson from his work, JK Rowling from her work, etc. I still watch this movie, and his performance is amazing. I would have to say that Annette Benning should have won over Hillary Swank for her role.
My #2 is Shakespeare In Love over Saving Private Ryan. I am one of the few people who didn't care for SPR. I've seen it three times and it bored me after the Storming of Normandy ends. I thought SIL was well acted, well directed, and well written.
Love American Beauty, think Beninig in it was good but not very much, one of the weaker parts of the film, Swank much better.
Hi Brian, I feel the same way about American Beauty and Kevin Spacey. It was my favorite movie and his performance also a favorite for years. Now, we've learned about the private life of Spacey and I wrestle with how we think about the artist's product and the artist's private life. How do we weigh and consider what an artist creates (Woody Allen comes to mind) against their alleged crimes or misdeeds? I would love to see you make a TH-cam video about this subject and hear your thoughts. How do YOU judge or weigh the art against the private life of the artist? Tell my your thoughts...
Don't you know he's been cleared of all allegations? The man had his life ruined by lies
I agree with most of these especially Titanic, Coda, Renee Zellweger, Brendan Fraser and even the Kevin Spacey performance and I love American Beauty the way you do! But yeah I’m kind of in the hate boat for “Forrest Gump” I never really liked it with the exception of the score and the Robin Wright performance.
Titanic is one of the most memorable movies of all time and one of the most memorable Best Picture winners of all time. of all time. It’s only “hated” for how awesomely successful it is.
Grace Kelly totally deserved her Oscar and I agree with all the points you mentioned for it. It wasn’t her best role but 1954 was her year. I also loved her in ‘Rear Window’, especially the last scene of the film with her lounging and reading the outdoor magazine.
As a Welshman, How Green Was My Valley, it's painful, I don't think anyone on that film had ever heard a Welsh accent or had ever been to Wales. That aside, Citizen Kane all the way.
I agree completely that "How Green Was My Valley" is perfectly deserving of the win. Yes, so is "Citizen Kane," but too often John Ford's beautifully filmed and emotionally affecting picture is overlooked as a classic in its own right.
I Feel like the Will Smith "Slap" kind of overstaffed CODA Best Picture win being memorable, it is a great movie.
Will Smith's slap >>>>> CODA (mid)
It absolutely isn't it's a mid movie and it isn't even a new premise there's an Indian movie from the 90s with the exact same premise
Here's my 2 wins I like that no one else does: 1980 Best Picture- "Ordinary People" over "Raging Bull" and 1992 Best Supporting Actress- Marisa Tomei over Vanessa Redgrave
I certainly agree that Tomei deserved to win. She was extraordinary in My Cousin Vinny.
I agree.
I don’t know if anyone hates this, but Sean Connery winning Best Supporting Actor for The Untouchables is one I like. I just love that a James Bond actor got an Oscar, and I think he is quite good in The Untouchables.
Also, as much as I love Raging Bull, I’m cool with Ordinary People winning Best Picture. Redford winning Best Director over Marty though…
Ordinary People gets sooo much hate because of the Oscars, but I watched it and ended up loving it, actually almost as much as Raging Bull! Hutton deserved his win, and personally I’m also ok with Redford winning Director, but I do think Scorsese would’ve been a mighty deserving winner for Director (more so than for his Departed win, imo).
I agree. I loved Ordinary People. It was so not the standard "TONE" movies generally have. I thought it was perfect. Don't get me wrong Raging Bull is a good movie...but almost like Citizen Kane for all its rage it has no heart. Scorsese SHOULD have won for GOOD FELLAS. One of the biggest travesties EVER...I mean NOT WINNING THE OSCAR is the travesty! HA!
@@nuntiuso7347what are you talking about? Scorsese deserved that win for the departed also. It’s a confident and well put together and is not the kind of movie to win best picture or director (in a year with more obvious Oscar bait titles)
@@ChrisThomson-y7l I just prefer his directing work for Raging Bull. I think it’s got better performances, cinematography, and stronger emotions. I respect The Departed, but it’s not even top 5 Scorsese for me.
@ I respect Raging Bull a lot myself (I believe it just barely missed my top 5 Scorsese films) and I think his directing job there was incredible. But I prefer watching the departed (I’ve seen it 3 times now in only 6 months) but raging Bull is something I have to be in the mood to watch again (I rewatched it recently for my 2nd viewing)
I think the Will Smith/ Chris Rock slap made people forget about Coda winning that night. 😮
The Bélier Family is a much, much, much better film than CODA
Titanic is still my favorite film of all time! They just don't make movies like this anymore. Incredible film! It absolutely deserved all the recognition!
gosh u really got your feelings hurt w/ your Kevin Spacey interaction haha, can you spill the tea on other actors and actresses you’ve talked to or met in person?????