The wrong choices were made here:
2000, 73rd awards: Gladiator won over Erin Brockovich
1999, 72nd awards: American Beauty won over Cider House Rules
1996, 69th awards: The English Patient won over Fargo
1995, 68th awards: Braveheart won over anything else

I wish I could see all the movies from each year instead of the candidates. I'm sure there were some better/controversial ones not even in the running.

But let's go back a few decades, for fun.

1936, 9th awards: The Great Ziegfeld won over Dodsworth
1939, 12th awards: GWTW won over Wizard of Oz (but that year had sooooo many great flicks, like The Women)
1940, 13th awards: Rebecca won over The Philadelphia Story
1941, 14th awards: How Green Was My Valley won over The Little Foxes (thought I was going to say Citizen Kane, huh?)
1944, 17th awards: Going My Way won over Double Indemnity

I could go on and on. This is fun!

"Braveheart" is a funny issue. For some people, they dislike the film because of Mel Gibson, and his many intemperate remarks. Thus, his films are viewed by many in the same way that many now view Woody Allen after the revelation of his relationship with his step-daughter. Others simply don't like the film. I'm personally OK with the film, but I respect either view. That, however, is not what is so odd, in retrospect.

Braveheart won over the following field:

Apollo 13
Babe
Il Postino: The Postman
Sense and Sensibility

Here are films that failed to be nominated for Best Picture that year:

Leaving Las Vegas
Dead Man Walking
Mighty Aphrodite
Toy Story


Braveheart's strongest competitor at the time was probably Apollo 13, although I recall there was a sizable outcry for Babe to get the award. One could make the argument that Braveheart won because it did not actually face the strongest films of that Oscar year. Truth be told, I'd assert that Toy Story should have won -- both for it's highly original story, and for the way it revolutionized animated film.

For me, Gibson's implosion has been sad. I remember him in the golden age of Australian cinema in the late 70s /early 80s in films like Mad Max and Gallipoli. I still love watching The Road Warrior, but my favorite Gibson film is Peter Weir's "The Year of Living Dangerously." (with Sigourney Weaver and an incredible performance by Linda Hunt).

Acting, passable
Story, complete fantasy
Costumes, utter nonsense

Couldn't agree more on 1996. Fargo is a modern classic. The English Patient is the quintessential yawner.

1940, Rebecca rightfully won over The Philadelphia Story, one of the most overrated movies in the history of film (despite a killer cast).

The biggest travesty on your list -- 1944. Going My Way over Double Indemnity. Really? Really?!

Just one man's opinion. Well, except for the 1944 one. That's just flat out wrong.

Going My Way. We'll just have to disagree about Rebecca/The Philadelphia Story.

One of my top ten.

1946 - It's a Wonderful Life instead of The Best Years of Our Lives
1950 - I love All About Eve, but Sunset Boulevard was better
1952 - High Noon instead of the Greatest Show on Earth
1956 - The King and I, Friendly Persuasion or Giant instead of Around the World in 80 Days
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia was great, but it's too bad it didn't tie with To Kill A Mockingbird
1964 - Dr Strangelove instead of My Fair Lady
1967 - Another exceptional year. In the Heat of the Night won, but it was up against Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Spencer Tracy's last film)
1968 - Oliver! won against Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Romeo & Juliet and Rachel, Rachel
1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer won (seriously?) - It should have gone to Apocalypse Now, or even All That Jazz or Breaking Away
1980 - Ordinary People won, and it is excellent, but Raging Bull should have won
1981 - Chariots of Fire won, but it should have been Atlantic City (sublime) or Raiders of the Lost Ark
1985 - Out of Africa won, but great scenery and soundtrack aren't enough IMHO. I would have given it to Witness
1987 - The Last Emperor got it, but SNAP OUT OF IT, it should have gone to Moonstruck
1990 - Goodfellas definitely
1994 - Forrest Gump was really just the Tom Hanks show. I would have chosen The Shawshank Redemption or Pulp Fiction.
1996 - Fargo, dontcha know
1997 - Yup L.A. Confidential was da bomb
2005 - Crash won, which I liked but I would have chosen Good Night and Good Luck or Munich
2006 - The Departed won, but I didn't see it. I would have loved for Little Miss Sunshine to win
2010 -The Kings Speech was very good, but I would have chosen 127 Hours
2011 - I didn't see The Artist, but I would have loved for The Descendants to have won.

I sort of liked The Kings Speech, but it was tainted in that he was awarded (in the flick) courage for prodding people into war. "Oh, what bravery he showed." "Oh, the life of a royal is so, so difficult." More elitist glorification.

Ha! Love your Moonstruck assertion! And definitely Giant in '56.

Have to disagree with your 1985 choice. Although Witness was good, I think Back to the Future should have been nominated and won. Or The Color Purple.

I love Colin Firth and I'll watch him the phone book, but he won the Oscar for Best Actor and that should have been enough. I think other films were better on their merits besides the acting.

Witness was just so original to me. I guess that's what I liked about it. I liked the Color Purple, but I felt it dragged a bit towards the end. Isn't it funny that Danny Glover played a bad guy in both movies?!

In some ways, this is the deep flaw of the Oscars. You really don't know what the "Best Picture" is until years later. BYOOL was ultra-topical and won on that basis.




Both great films. Hard to choose.

GSOE is a cute look at Ringling Bros. and all -- but over High Noon???? Not so much.



I go "King & I " on this one. "Giant" is 1/2 of a great film. The second half drags, and has some wretched dialogue. The first half is brilliant.



Again, hard year to choose.



Both are great films. On balance, Strangelove probably should have won.




That said, I think the Academy gets that year right.




I've never understood the backlash against "Oliver!", which is a very well done musical with a stellar cast. That said, "Lion in Winter" is brilliant.




Any would have been better picks. My personal choice would be "Breaking Away"



Agreed



Definitely Raiders.



Agree 100%



I was always surprised that "Fatal Attraction" didn't win.



It's a tough year. "Awakenings" is also a helluva film. I personally like "Dances With Wolves" and I like "Goodfellas".



I like Hanks, and I liked "Gump", but this is another example of you-really-don't-know-for-five-years. I think if that list was voted today, "The Shawshank Redemption" would win, and it wouldn't be close.


Either "Fargo" or "Shine"


I'd have voted for "Good Will Hunting"


I liked "Crash". I was stunned that "Cinderella man" wasn't even nominated. That would have been my pick.



You can make an argument for "Little Miss Sunshine". Others have asserted that "Pan's Labyrinth", "Dreamgirls", or "An Inconvenient Truth" (which did win best documentary) -- none of which were nominated for Best Picture -- should have won.



OBkid1 passionately argues that "The Social Network" should have won. I'd have voted for "Toy Story 3"




I wanted "Moneyball" Mrs. OBD and OBkid 1 wanted "The Help"

was that the lead character in the story was the white writer. It's kind of like 12 Years a Slave being from the point of view of the massas.

The issue I had about The Social Network was they did absolutely nothing with new media. It was just a straightforward little guy vs. the world. They should have at least done some special effects that made it more into computer world. I liked Moneyball, I just liked The Descendants better.

I agree with the choice of In the Heat of the Night in 1967. I also feel that Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was drivel, despite the presence of Tracy/Hepburn

Breaking Away gets my selection for 1979. I couldn't have said it better myself -- Kramer vs. Kramer... seriously?

1994 -- Shawshank Redemption not only should have won, IMO it was best picture of the decade

1996 -- Yep, Fargo.

Finally, a general observation and comment. In many instances, you chose the "more entertaining" movie over the "more artistic" movie (e.g., 1987). I'm in complete agreement with you. Chariots of Fire may have been a cinematic masterpiece, but no way in hell would I endure sitting thru it a second time. This (for me) automatically disqualifies it from Best Picture contention. Best Cinematography? Absolutely. Best Picture? No farkin' way!

One of the greatest films ever.

Stephen King's best movie from story?

"Get busy livin'...or get busy dyin'."

A pointless remake of any number of silent movies.

Going in to "The Artist", I assumed the filmmaker was going to use the limitations imposed by necessity in the Silent Era to do something original. Nope.

Why use limitations? They told a story employing a cliff-hanging device that could have only worked in a silent picture. It works as a homage to those earlier films, but stands on its own.

The Pianist instead of Chicago.

The Pianist ~did~ win Best Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, but still...
It was 100x the film Chicago was, and i ~liked~ Chicago.

attention-deficit-disorder-speed editing drove me nuts. It interfered with the story and great music.

I can't watch Chicago for all the reasons you listed.

Every time I see Adrien Brody all I want to do is feed him a sack of cheeseburgers and a few dozen shakes.

All are good movies. I go with Dances with Wolves wins over Goodfellas

It wasn't even nominated! It was named best picture of all time in the 2012 British Film Institute's Sight & Sound critics' poll.

Lost Horizon over The Life of Emile Zola (1938)

and why didn't Alfred Hitchcock ever win?