Films sometimes take time to become properly appreciated. There are some that are either box office failures and/or poorly received by critics that have sincebecome re-evaluated and seen as modern classics. And then there are the interesting cases: films that achieved both box office and critical success, yet were not successful in achieving the most coveted prize in the film industry – the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Sometimes, the film that is chosen as that year’s Best Picture is often either inferior to the one that’s more popular with critics and audiences, or is the right choice for the era but falls out of favor as time marches on. This is not to say the films that won Best Picture instead are necessarily bad. Just that, compared to what else was nominated that year,they either didn’t match the hype or have fallen by the wayside in favor of the nominated choices. And those unaware of the reasoning behind those choices can look back later on and wonder, “What were they thinking?”
10‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994)
Lost to ‘Forrest Gump’
The film that cementedQuentin Tarantinoas one of Hollywood’s most iconic directors,Pulp Fictionis one of the definitive action crime dramedies. Telling a series of interconnected stories out of order inspired by classic pulp magazine stories, Pulp Fiction primarily focuses on hitmen Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta), corrupt prizefighter Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and the people they interact with in their less than legal lives, friends, enemies and lovers alike.
In some respects,Forrest Gump, a drama about a simple-minded man living through some of the 20th century’s most defining moments, is a more obvious choice for the film to win Best Picture, but the fact thatPulp Fictionwon the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival makes the distinction somewhat more prominent. In spite of its deliberately pulpy aesthetic, it still hasideas about humanity in those on the outer edges of what we call the human race.
Pulp Fiction
9‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991)
Lost to ‘The Silence of the Lambs’
The first ever animated film nominated for Best Picture,Beauty and the Beastis a Disney masterpiece. Belle (Paige O’Hara) is the most beautiful girl in town, but she’s still somewhat of an outcast due to her interest in books. When her father is captured by a hideous Beast (Robby Benson) in a castle,Belle volunteers to take his place. But in a tale as old as time, Belle and the Beast begin to bond with each other, eventually falling in love with each other.
Beauty and the Beastmade headlines for its nomination, and when it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, it seemed likely it was going to win. Unfortunately, a reported trend of the Oscars disrespecting animation as kids’ stuff started when it promptly lost to the horror crime dramaThe Silence of the Lambs. To be clear,The Silence of the Lambsis a great horror film andone of the best movies ever made,but who knows how film history could have been impacted ifBeauty and the Beastwon instead?
Beauty and the Beast
8’The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
Lost to ‘Gone With the Wind’
On a dreary farm in Kansas, young girl Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) dreams of finding more beyond her backyard. But her wish is granted in the freakiest way possible when a tornado carries her house away with her and her dog inside.Landing in the colorful, magical Land of Oz, Dorothy must seek the aid of the land’s fabled Wizard (Frank Morgan) to get back home. Bringing a brainless Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a heartless Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) along for the ride, they run afoul of talking trees, flying monkeys, and a terrifying Wicked Witch (Margaret Hamilton).
Contrary to popular belief,The Wizard of Ozwas a hit during its day but was overshadowed by MGM’s other big hit of the year –Gone with the Wind, a Civil War romance drama. WhileGone with the Windis still a highly-regarded film, its divisive politics and lack of resonance withmost modern audiences have kept it from having the same pedigree asThe Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz
7’E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1982)
Lost to ‘Gandhi’
PossiblySteven Spielberg’s most acclaimed film,E.T. The Extra-Terrestrialstill endures as a classic despite its Best Picture loss. Lonely 10-year-old Elliot Taylor (Henry Thomas) has just made a new friend. He’s lost, he’s totally alone, and he’s three million light-years from home. Elliot and the creature, dubbed E.T. by him and his siblings, begin to bond as they figure out a way for E.T. to contact his home planet and avoid the wrath of government agents seeking to dissect and experiment on him.
Given that it was the highest-grossing film of all timefor a while after its release, this led many to expect E.T. to win the Best Picture Oscar, only for it to lose toGandhi, a biopic about the titular civil rights leader. EvenGandhi’s director,Richard Attenborough, would repeatedly express later in life that he thought E.T. should have won both Best Picture and Best Director.
6‘Sunset Boulevard’ (1950)
Lost to ‘All About Eve’
Sunset Boulevardis a film noir that tells the dark side of Hollywood stardom. Struggling writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) winds up in the home of fading silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Stuck in the past in almost every way, Norma has been planning her comeback in a project that’s in desperate need of a script editor. Joe complies and is roped into a tempestuous working, and later one-sided romantic, relationship. When he tries to escape her web, Norma unwittingly puts the final coffin in her career for good.
Sunset Boulevardwas a bold film in its day, confronting the egregious aging and beauty standards held byan industry content to chew up talent and spit them out. WhileGloria Swansonearned a much-deserved Oscar for her tragically villainous role, the film itself lost out toAll About Eve. Ironically, that film tells a similar tale of an aging actress dealing with the fallout of her career, albeit as the heroic victim of a crazed fan.
Sunset Boulevard
5‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)
Lost to ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’
Taking the setting ofJoseph Conrad’s seminal bookHeart of Darknessand re-setting it in the Vietnam War,Apocalypse Nowtells a story of violence, war, and the darkness in the hearts of men. Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent to kill Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a colonel who has gone insane and started a cult in the jungles of Cambodia. The closer he gets to his target, the more he begins to understand Kurtz’s disturbing philosophy andthe cost of all the horrors they’ve both seen.
WhileApocalypse Nowdidn’t win Best Picture, given the absolute hell thatFrancis Ford Coppolaand the company went through just to get this film finished, it’s safe to say that the acclaim, awards, and Palme d’Or were more than enough for it to claim victory as the film for the year. That’s not to say the completion wasn’t a tough match either –Kramer vs. Krameris still an excellent movie that tackles divorce in a nuanced manner, butApocalypse Nowis still the definitive Vietnam film.
Apocalypse Now
4‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’ (1964)
Lost to ‘My Fair Lady’
Directed and written byStanley Kubrick,Dr. Strangeloveis a plot formulated like a series of dominoes. It’s all set into motion when a crazy U.S. general decides to launch an attack on the Soviet Union because they are supposedly polluting the water. Realizing this could lead to the start of a nuclear wall, the President (Peter Sellers) brings in his chief aides, including ex-Nazi scientific officer Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), to see what they can do about the situation.
Dr. Strangeloveis a hilarious and terrifying glimpse at exactly what could be happeningin the room with the buttons that could destroy the world. Given the heavy subject matter, it’s not a complete surprise to know that it lost to the film adaptation of the beloved Broadway showMy Fair Lady, a light musical about a woman receiving elocution lessons in Edwardian London. ButDr. Strangelovehas aged somewhat stronger, withits themes and plotline being startlingly relevant.
No Fighting in the War Room Or: ‘Dr Strangelove’ and the Nuclear Threat
3‘Citizen Kane’ (1941)
Lost to How ‘Green Was My Valley’
Hard to believe that what many call the greatest film ever made did not, in fact, win Best Picture, isn’t it?Citizen Kanetells the life story of Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), told by the people who knew him the best. Each person paints a slightly different portrait of the man, from a great American citizen, a generous friend, a terrible husband, anda man forever searching for something he lost a long time ago.
Citizen Kanereceived a positive response from critics even at the time of its release, but the film’s failure to break even, partly due toWilliam Randolph Hearst’s mission to suppress the film’s promotion, may have contributed to its loss to the period family dramaHow Green Was My Valley. Thankfully,Citizen Kane’s legacy has endured to the point whereif somebody doesn’t put it on a Best Movies Ever Made list, then they’re clearly doing something wrong.
Citizen Kane
2‘BlacKkKlansman’ (2018)
Lost to ‘Green Book’
Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first black cop hired into the Colorado Police Force. One day, while working in the records room, he decides to begin a Herculean task: infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan and disrupt it from the inside out. Teaming up with Jewish officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), Stallworth poses as a white man, corresponding with many Klan members – including grand wizard David Duke (Topher Grace).
Based on an insanely true story,BlacKkKlansmanis a satirical comedy that nonetheless takes the threat of white supremacy seriously, which makes it all the more ironic that it lost toGreen Book, a movie about a white bouncer driving a black musician through the 1960s south. While bothGreen BookandBlacKkKlansmantackle racism, the latter got much better reactions for itschallenging story, more nuanced take on the subject matter, and more respectful treatment of the historical facts.
BlacKkKlansman
1‘Goodfellas’ (1990)
Lost to ‘Dances With Wolves’
Perhaps the most iconic film ofMartin Scorcesse’s career,Goodfellasis one of the definitive gangster movies. Based loosely on the book Wiseguy, the film tells the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a man enamored with the gangster lifestyle. We see his rise through the crime underworld, his work with associates Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), and his eventual downfall and doomed fate of being forced to end his career and live as a ‘schnook’.
Goodfellasis a gritty yet undoubtedly stylish gangster movie, but it couldn’t quite manage to convince the Academy voters to give it the winning shot.Dances with Wolvesmay have gone home with the award that night, but Goodfellas has become far more well-regarded amongst general audiences and critics, in no small part due to its inventive cinematography, genre-defining performances, andhonest depiction of what the lives of some morally unscrupulous people inevitably leads to.
