Overrated Best Picture Nominees (2000-2009)

Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chooses to single out five (and now ten) films as the "best" of the year. Often mirroring the other award categories, the Best Picture field is almost always narrowed down to two or three favorites by Oscar week, leaving anywhere from three to seven afterthoughts, sure to go the way of the dodo in the American cinematic subconscious. Sometimes a film sneaks into the race because of its cast or its director, but sometimes, only God and the Academy know why a film was nominated (I'm looking at you, A Soldier's Story).

A Soldier's Story is a fine film...just not Best Picture good.

Now, that's not to say that the Academy habitually nominates movies like The Back-Up Plan and Basic Instinct 2. The movies are usually pretty good, or at the very least, debatable. And in no way am I saying the following films are bad. I just wouldn't place them in my top five of the year, often, not even in the top ten. With that in mind, here is my list of films nominated for Best Picture 2000-2009 which didn't deserve a nomination, along with some alternative choices. Now, I understand you don't have all day to read my blog (which you would if you could), so I'll be brief. Any questions, feel free.

2009


What better place to start than 2009, the year of Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker....and those other seven. For the sake of expedience, I'll just highlight the most undeserving of the "other 7," starting with...

Southern accent + Sassiness = Oscar.

The Blind Side (my ranking: #36)
Homelessness + Race Relations + Miss Congeniality with an accent + "Based on a true story" + Typical uplifting sports drama script, acting, and direction = Best Picture nominee? I don't really think so. My nominee: (500) Days of Summer


An Education (my ranking: #56)
Does the acting (admittedly good) make this a Best Picture nominee? No. We get it, Carey Mulligan, you want to grow up. You want to be a rebel...kinda. And we get it, Peter Sarsgaard, you're a bastard and a creep. "Call me bubba-lub." My nominee: Invictus

Precious: Based on something with a really long title (my ranking: #38)
This movie was propelled to Oscar-dom simply because it's hard to watch. Mo'Nique is super nasty, and the story is sad. Other than that, it's no better than any other hard-times-in-the-ghetto movie. My nominee: La Secreta de sus Ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes)

A Serious Man (my ranking: #41)
Love the Coens. Don't love this movie. This is a case of clearly talented filmmakers who know how talented they are making pompous movies. An incredibly elegantly shot movie, A Serious Man is interesting, but didn't bring enough emotion to the table. My nominee: The Cove

Up! (my ranking: #37)
Should we just reserve a spot in the new ten-nominee Best Picture race for whatever Pixar's made recently? That's what I feel they did with this one. Very cute and funny movie, but Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret of Kells were both better...and that's just of the animated films. My nominee: Crazy Heart

2008


Only one nominee from this year, Frost/Nixon, made my top five. Milk and (winner) Slumdog Millionaire are both awesome movies, but just outside my nominations. The most overrated are...

I'm old...or am I?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (my ranking: #30)
It's a three hour reimagining of Forrest Gump, but with reverse aging. The effects are pretty awesome, but why should I watch them for so long? I never got a good enough reason. My nominee: The Dark Knight (as if you didn't see that one coming)

The Reader (my ranking: #38)
Kate Winslet is German. Kate Winslet is a Nazi. Kate Winslet is naked. Kate Winslet has sex. Kate Winslet can't read. Kate Winslet is bad. Is Kate Winslet bad? The Reader. My nominees: Changeling, Doubt, Revolutionary Road


2007


In my opinion, one of the best years in film of the past 15 or so. Atonement and (BP winner) No Country for Old Men are both among my top 10 of the 2000s, so they easily make the cut here. Not so much for: 


Juno (my ranking: #42)
I really like this movie. But how is it better than Whip It? Youth in Revolt? Scott Pilgrim vs. The World? Answer: it's not. It's about teen pregnancy, and that's what got it the acclaim. My nominee: Gone Baby Gone


Michael Clayton (my ranking: #29)
Another good-not-great movie. George is just being George, Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson own it. My nominee: Lars and the Real Girl


There Will Be Blood (my ranking: #41)
I love P.T. Anderson, but...um...yeah. Remember the part where he kills the guy with a bowling pin? I guess oil tycoons can be bad people? That's news. My nominee: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


2006


Another solid year in film. Only the winner (The Departed) makes my top five.

Two overrated Brad/Cate collaborations in three years? Sad.

Babel (my ranking: #31)
What a mess. My nominee: United 93


Letters from Iwo Jima (my ranking: #28)
It's Flags of Our Fathers in Japanese. Well-acted, well-shot, well-everything. Just not original in the least. My nominees: Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, Once


2005


I've only got the beautifully-crafted Good Night, and Good Luck in my top five. Everything else BARELY misses, except:

Munich (my ranking: #23)
Takes a lifetime to watch. No Spielberg, no nomination. My nominees: Match Point, Memoirs of a Geisha, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Pride and Prejudice


2004

Don't worry, THC and Paul...you're cool.

I'm not particularly miffed by any of the nominees from this year. All fell in my top 15. For the record, though, my top five (in order) would be: Million Dollar Baby, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kill Bill Volume 2, A Very Long Engagement, and Dogville. 


2003


Return of the King only won because it wrapped up a really great series. Master and Commander and Seabiscuit are both very good, but miss my top five narrowly. Instead of these three, I'd take 21 Grams, House of Sand and Fog and Kill Bill Volume 1. 

2002

Finally, we're back to some glaring mistakes in my book.

Can anyone tell me what nationality I am?

Gangs of New York (my ranking: #25)
What a beautifully designed film. Well-shot by Martin Scorsese (one of my favorites). But what is ANYONE doing in this film? D-Day Lewis has about three different accents. Just over the top and baffling to me. My nominee: Road to Perdition


The Hours (my ranking: #44)
Lots of looking slightly off-camera, in a very wistful way. It has its moments, and Ed Harris is magnificent, but it felt a lot like the Lifetime Movie Network made it. My nominees: Minority Report, Adaptation., Catch Me If You Can


I don't have any major qualms with nominees in 2000 or 2001, but just for fun, here's a comparison of what they were, and what mine would be (in bold):

2001


Winner: A Beautiful Mind                                         Winner: Moulin Rouge!
Gosford Park                                                            Monsters Inc.
In The Bedroom                                                        In the Bedroom
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring                             LOTR
Moulin Rouge!                                                           The Man Who Wasn't There




2000


Winner: Gladiator                                  Winner: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Chocolat                                                             O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon                         Billy Elliot
Erin Brockovich                                                  Memento
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