10 “Incorrect” Best Picture Winners

The Oscars aren’t always right (to put it mildly). The best, most innovative movie does not always win Best Picture. So in light of last night’s events, here are ten classic examples (and one soon-to-be classic example) of Best Picture winners which, in hindsight, might not have been as deserving of the victory as certain other nominees. This is not to say that one film is better than the other, but that the non-winner is now generally viewed as the more enduring, influential film.

2010 – The King’s Speech vs. The Social Network

2005 – Crash vs. Brokeback Mountain

1998 – Shakespeare in Love vs. Saving Private Ryan

1994 – Forrest Gump vs. Pulp Fiction

1990 – Dances With Wolves vs. Goodfellas

1980 – Ordinary People vs. Raging Bull

1976 – Rocky vs. Taxi Driver

1971 – The French Connection vs. A Clockwork Orange

1951 – An American in Paris vs. A Streetcar Named Desire

1946 – The Best Years of Our Lives vs. It’s a Wonderful Life

1941 – How Green Was My Valley vs. Citizen Kane

And a few bonus “Sophie’s Choice” picks (in other words, both films are beloved, but only one could win)

2007 – No Country for Old Men vs. There Will Be Blood

1979 – Kramer vs. Kramer vs. Apocalypse Now

1977 – Annie Hall vs. Star Wars

1967 – In the Heat of the Night vs. The Graduate

1965 – The Sound of Music vs. Doctor Zhivago

1962 – Lawrence of Arabia vs. To Kill a Mockingbird

1939 – Gone With the Wind vs. The Wizard of Oz

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Trailer Alert: True Grit (Teaser)

The first teaser trailer for the Coen Brothers’ True Grit has been released. You can watch it over at Apple.

To me, this is how you make a trailer. It’s the perfect tease. It sets up the story, introduces all of the main characters, and gives us some striking images. I also love the accompanying music.

The only actor who we get to see much of is leading lady Hailee Steinfeld, who looks like she has more than enough spunk for the role. The glimpses of Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin (who apparently must always be disfigured on camera now) look promising, but I have to say that Matt Damon seems slightly out of place in the Coens’ world (side note: I was also momentarily thrown off by his tag as “Academy Award Winner Matt Damon”).

Visually, it looks amazing, and very No Country For Old Men-esque. 2007 was an amazing year for Westerns (No Country for Old Men, 3:10 to Yuma, The Assassination of Jesse James, and There Will Be Blood, if you could call it that), so it’s great to see the trend continuing. Love the trailer, way more excited for the movie now.