[ROCKSTAR]

The Best Never To Win... "The Shawshank Redemption" has been voted the greatest film never to win a Best Picture Oscar. Here is the list of the top ten as voted by readers in "Radio Times" magazine. 1. The Shawshank Redemption 2. It's A Wonderful Live 3. ET 4. 2001: A Space Odyssey 5. The Great Escape 6. The Wizard of Oz 7. Some Like It Hot 8. The Color Purple 9. Raider's of the Lost Ark 10. Psycho

Great list, huh? I agree with Shawshank Redemption but I don't know if over ET.

What do you think? I know some people here resent Gladiator wining it when it did.

And you can also comment on other Academy Awards categories you thought the best didin't win.

[shrrshrr]

Well, I definitely don't agree with The Color Purple - uch, I hate that film.

But the others - I don't know, I can definitely see it (although like you, I'm also questioning the addition of ET).

[Maliejandra]

Did Gone With the Wind win? I should know that but I honestly don't. I don't pay that much attention to those things.

I definitly agree Some Like it Hot should have won. I was actually talking about that movie today with some friends who hadn't seen it. I showed it to this kid I was babysitting and he loved it.

[mr.simpatico]

It's not a very fair list. You have to look at what these films were up against to see if they "deserved it or not"

1. Shawshank Redemption - was beaten by Forrest Gump in 1995 and nobody was stopping Gump that year. Pulp Fiction was also in the running.

2. It's a Wonderful Life which is famous mostly because it was shown every Christmas by a zillion channels (because it was copyright free at the time) was rightly trounced in 1946 by one of the great post-war dramas ever The Best Years of Our Lives

3.E.T. was beaten in 1983 by Gandhi although E.T was the better film IMO. But Oscar loves it's epics.

4. 2001 was indeed robbed. It wasn't even nominated in 1969 and the Oscar went to Oliver! which is one of the worst Best Pics ever.

5. The Great Escapealso wasn't nominated the year it came out. Best Pic was Tom Jones which was also pretty good. I consider that a wash.

6. The Wizard of Oz is one of the all-time greats but it was up against Gone With the Wind , and was nominated in the same year with Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Ninotchka, Dark Victory, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Of Mice and Men and Mr.Smith Goes To Washington. Any one of these could have been Best Picture in a different year.

7. Some Like it Hot wasn't nominated the year it came out which is a travesty but does anyone really think it deserved to beat out the epic of all epics, Ben-Hur?

8. The Color Purple may have been better than 1986 winner Out of Africa but neither IMO was as good as Witness which was also nominated that year.

9. Raiders of the Lost Ark was IMO the Best Pic of 1982 and belongs since it lost to Chariots of Fire, a film most memorable for the Vangelis score and not the movie itself.

10. Psycho wasn't nominated (though Hitchcock was for Director) in 1960 and The Apartment won. I agree there. Psycho is now almost as influential as Citizen Kane (which also didn't get a Best Picture Oscar) while The Apartment seems dated.

But still the list is arbitrary to the extreme. The quality of the film has nothing to do with if it wins or not - the culture of the time, Hollywood politics (Shakespeare in Love over Private Ryan?) and the competition of that year plays a huge part. As I said anyone of the films that went against GWTW including Oz would have won in any other year.

And oh yeah, I love IMDB. All this useless trivia at my fingertips.

[mukooh]

often imitated in one way or another......and never equaled....

'pulp fiction'.......

[last beautiful girl]

10. Psycho

Psycho? Scary, but definitely not Oscar-worthy.

E.T. didn't win an Oscar? Shame!

[Profaine Angel]

Oliver was definitely more deserving than 2001

Should have won - or at least been nominated - Brief Encounter. But then, I doubt American voters would have ever let it win over The Best Years of Our Lives (which did deserve to win so I won't begrudge it)...but Celia Johnson was SO robbed for best actress that year, as was Barbara Stanwyck for Stella Dallas (and she also should have been at least nominated for So Big cos that was just...wow.) - and for Double Indemnity which was also SO incredibly robbed of best picture. I'd also put The Philadelphia Story as more deserving than Rebecca and Singin' in the Rain also at least deserved a nomination. I actually really like The Greatest Show on Earth but it's not a better picture than SITR

[shrrshrr]

Originally posted by mr.simpatico It's not a very fair list. You have to look at what these films were up against to see if they "deserved it or not" 1. Shawshank Redemption - was beaten by Forrest Gump in 1995 and nobody was stopping Gump that year. Pulp Fiction was also in the running.

I could comment on the others, but this is as good an example as any - this just goes to show you how ridiculous the Oscars can be. Forest Gump? The film that told people it was okay to be stupid. Which is why I don't watch the Oscars anymore. Sure, it was very clever but the story annoyed the hell out of me and I thought it was directed in such a manipulative and intentionally sappy way that I could have hurled at several points in the film.

Still, I can't fault the acting (although I don't care for what's-her-name all that much...Robin Wright Penn? She was good in soaps and The Princess Bride, but...)

But your point about some of the other films being up against giants is also true - some of those films are incredible and well deserved the distinction.

Oh, and I loved Chariots of Fire!

Originally posted by mr.simpatico And oh yeah, I love IMDB. All this useless trivia at my fingertips.

WORD, yo!

[summerbug]

I'm sorry but I could not stand Forrest Gump. I do not understand the appeal...maybe the soundtrack? It was, in my opinion, completely overrated. Oh yeah, and Tom Hanks? Admittedly, I'm not a fan but he would get nominated for reading the phone book. Shawshank Redemption was far superior in my opinion and the performances were great. I took forever to see Shawshank because the promos for it did not do it justice. Pulp Fiction was great but several of the performances were not that strong and the film just isn't typical Oscar material - I guess you could say it doesn't appeal to the masses.


E.T. - as a kid, I loved it. Watching it a couple of years later I just could not figure out what I had liked about it. Did anyone else have that experience?

[ROCKSTAR]

I just wanted to say this list came from a poll. It was not put together by critics or movie buffs.

I posted this because I wanted to see your own choices with the list as a starting point

[m&m fkan]

Originally posted by Maliejandra Did Gone With the Wind win? I should know that but I honestly don't. I don't pay that much attention to those things. I definitly agree Some Like it Hot should have won. I was actually talking about that movie today with some friends who hadn't seen it. I showed it to this kid I was babysitting and he loved it.

GWTW won 10 academy awards, including best picture.

I liked ET...but I didn't think that it was oscar-worthy..

Raiders of the Lost Ark, on the other hand....


Claudia

[j-pop G&Jo]

The Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction

[86amanda86]

I have ot say that I'm moderately apalled that Princess Bride is not up there....or Life As A House...or Man in The Moon- I've never seen a film that made me feel so much....

[Galaxia21]

I love Some Like It Hot.

I'll have to think about it more to make my own top 10 never to win list.

[Alexander]

Gladiator was a very good film, so is Forrest Gump. I have no problem with either of those films winning.

NOT ON THE LIST...Star Wars??? Give me a break, Should have won hands down, but don't mention the "F" word to the academy That's why I was so pleasantly surprised to see LOTR ROTK win last year. Maybe the "tide" is changing now, and ALL movies regardless of what they are "categorized" as will have a chance to win the best picture category.

Star Wars was and is one of the most revolutionary films of all time. Not only b/c of the techonology invented during and for this film and then the next two that followed, but to create a multi-generational modern day myth is simply unheard of nowdays. George Lucas is I dare say a "modern" day Tolken. Star Wars swept away a generation of fans and continues to be one of the most successful franchises of all time.


lex