Shawshank Redemption tops the list? Look, it was definitely a great movie, but it simply wasn't as good as Pulp Fiction or Forest Gump. Maybe S.R. should have been released another year in which it could compete a little better.

clancifer: Shawshank Redemption tops the list? Look, it was definitely a great movie, but it simply wasn't as good as Pulp Fiction or Forest Gump. Maybe S.R. should have been released another year in which it could compete a little better.

It should have won best picture, easily. It's on of the best movies ever.

Star Wars lost to goddamn Annie Hall.

Because there's nothing more thrilling than a Woody Allen relationship flick.

Movies don't win by popularity. You know who else didn't win by popularity...

I'd say there are more than 10 films that have won Oscars that didn't deserve to. It's not like the Oscars are an objective mark of quality.

What about Porky's?

Goodfellas only won an Oscar for Joe Pesci as a Supporting Actor. For Best Picture it was beaten out by Dances with Wolves (please, Wolves wasn't better than Goodfellas). That Godfather Part III was nominated was weak in itself. Easily the worst in the Godfather trilogy, and the Illuminati storyline along with a leathery George Hamilton was bad for the film.

I am shocked, SHOCKED that The Shawstank Redemption topped an online poll! If they hadn't limited the poll to ten choices, I am sure "2 Girls 1 Cup" would have at least made the top twenty.

Over 3,000 people voted for the poll online.

There's also the question of what they were up against. Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump are tough competitors... not that that explains Annie Hall

6,000 movie elitists get to pick the awards and people are surprised at the results?

Shawshank yes. 6th Sense...maybe for Wahlburg's performance only. Psycho yes. I haven't seen the others.

Pulp Fiction and Shawshank are easily two of the top few movies of all time, each with completely different aims/styles/strengths/weaknesses.

It's a damn shame they both couldn't both win - hell, when I see some of the dreck that wins some years, it makes me shake my head.

are you breaking the first two rules of Fight Club?!

I'm surprised Saving Private Ryan didn't make the list. Talk about robbed.

Add"There Will Be Blood" to the list if it doesn't win this year. (ranked 23d on imdb top movies with >20k votes!)

Now we need a list of top 10 movies which shouldn't have won.

*cough cough "The Departed" cough Best Picture 2006 cough *

Fight Club?? WTF????

THIS

Marcia Brady's Ex-Boyfriend: are you breaking the first two rules of Fight Club?!

THIS!!!!!!

/you do not talk about fight club!

No Goodfellas?

Also, L.A. Confidential lost to Titanic. I don't know about the rest of you, but that's when I gave up on the oscars.

Star Wars
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Pulp Fiction
Goodfellas

The oscars, all of these pageants, are a joke. It's not the best candidate that wins, it's the one with the best connections.

Forrest Gump won that year because it grossed over $300 million. Shawshank lost because it had a weird title. It's one of those movies that didn't gain a following until video, and people started telling their friends, "I know, the title sounds weird...but you gotta watch this." I remember I had to see Shawshank in the theater, by myself, because nobody wanted to see another "depressing prison movie."

1994 was the best "Best Picture" year in recent memory. In my opinion, this is their rank...from "best" to "worst."

Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
Forrest Gump
Quiz Show
Four Weddings and a Funeral

1997 was a comparable year. It was another great "Best Picture" year where the wrong film won the Best Picture Oscar. Again, the award wasn't based on merit...it was based on box office gross, and the fact that the film was still at the forefront of the voters' minds.

L.A. Confidential
Good Will Hunting
As Good As It Gets
Titanic
The Full Monty

Titanic was surely a technological achievement, but it was also trite and overwrought.

My number one oscar snub was Jim Carrey's performance in Man on the Moon.

Sixth Sense? You have got to be kidding me.

One category the Oscars absolutely blow every year is documentaries. Try and think of the 5 best docs you've ever seen and I guarantee you they didn't win.

I think Oscars should be awarded ten years after the fact, and then we'd all say that Shawshank was better than Forrest Gump (which was pretty damn good, it should be said).

DarthBrooks: Star Wars lost to goddamn Annie Hall.

Because there's nothing more thrilling than a Woody Allen relationship flick.

This.

If you ever needed a single incident to point to to show just how nonsensical and disconnected from reality these awards are, this.

Also, I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea why everyone raves so much about Fight Club. I thought it was pretty "meh". I mean, it wasn't BAD, but... I didn't think it was as good as some people seem to think. Dunno.

On this topic, all discussions should begin and end with the movie from which this image was taken.

Wasn't even nominated...and people still talk about the issues presented here as if it came out last week.

/"Driving Miss Daisy" won...
//are you farking kidding me?!?

Shawshank has defiantly aged better then Forest Gump. It also gains from being one of those movies that you stop and watch no matter how many times you have seen it.

Both movies are top 5 of all time in my book.

Fight Club number 2? Really? *shrugs*

r1niceboy: I think Oscars should be awarded ten years after the fact, and then we'd all say that Shawshank was better than Forrest Gump (which was pretty damn good, it should be said).

Second.

Vertigo, but I'm not sure that was even nominated

Showgirls and Plan 9 from Outer Space

/snubbed

The 6th sense?
Fight Club?
While fight club was pretty good, I don't think it was best picture caliber, and the 6th sense was crap.

I can see the argument for Blade Runner to win, but I can also see the argument for why it didn't win.

The biggest robbery was Goodfellas. Shawshank redemption was a great film, but it had some great competition too. The list doesn't take into account of the films they were up against. When you see that shawshank lost to Forrest Gump, its understandable even if you don't agree with it. When you that Goodfellas lost to Dances with Wolves, it makes you want to drive nails into your desk with your forehead.

Atomic_Cockroach: Also, L.A. Confidential lost to Titanic. I don't know about the rest of you, but that's when I gave up on the oscars.

Am I the only straight man who actually liked Titanic? Seems everywhere people decry the movie, yet I haven't found anything particularly distasteful about it. Sure, it evokes a lot of feminine imagery, yet that's more than outweighed by the excellent visuals and a rather fetching actress.

On the other side of the debate: Billy Jack!

Atomic_Cockroach: that's when I gave up on the oscars.

When Mary Shelleys' Frankenstein didn't win best make-up.
His damn scars heal over time, and it lost to Braveheart.

I don't think Oscars really matter. The bottom line is how good the film is and how much money it makes at the box office and later DVD sales.

When I buy a car, I don't care if it won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award or not. I buy it because I like it. If I like a movie, I buy the DVD. The only thing an Oscar is good for is bragging rights and as a bargaining chip for actors for future salaries.
The Oscar ceremony is nothing more than Hollywood insiders patting each other on the back. I'm glad Rob Reiner did not get an Oscar !

Annie Hall > Star Wars. Great film, been copied and ripped off so many times it's sick. Same is said with Star Wars, but as I get older the more I understand Annie Hall. Star Wars is a relic of my memory. Pulp Fiction losing was when I gave up on the Oscars. Dare I say Canes is the one to really watch? Might be my age.

There's no way "Fight Club" or "The Sixth Sense" should have even been nominated.

How about movies that won a Best Picture that SHOULDN'T have? I'll start: GLADIATOR

Ebenator: Vertigo, but I'm not sure that was even nominated

It was, but "Gigi" won that year.

Okay yeah, that's highway robbery. They must've been during the time that Hitch was on the outs in Hollywood.

What about 1998? That was the year when Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan? Shakespeare was maybe the third or fourth best movie nominated for best picture that year.

r1niceboy: Forrest Gump (which was pretty damn good, it should be said).

I wanted to kill everyone in the theater after sitting through that piece of shiat.

Atomic_Cockroach
I'm surprised Saving Private Ryan didn't make the list. Talk about robbed.

It did win for Director, Cinematography, Sound and Sound Editing. It just was robbed for Best Picture. The movies on the list didn't win anything.

Melchior: Fight Club?
While fight club was pretty good, I don't think it was best picture caliber

Dude, they managed to make a big budget star-studded Hollywood movie about friendly terrorists that turned a solid profit. They deserve some kind of prize.

molineskytown: Ebenator: Vertigo, but I'm not sure that was even nominated

It was, but "Gigi" won that year.

Okay yeah, that's highway robbery. They must've been during the time that Hitch was on the outs in Hollywood.

As far as I know, Rebecca was the only Hitchcock movie to win best picture

molineskytown: It was, but "Gigi" won that year.

Oops,I take it back. Wasn't even nominated.

Horrible...horrible.

While I'm on it...(the years indicate year released, not ceremony year)

1996: Fargo should have won over The English Patient.

Atomic_Cockroach: I'm surprised Saving Private Ryan didn't make the list. Talk about robbed.

THIS.

DarthBrooks: Star Wars lost to goddamn Annie Hall.

Because there's nothing more thrilling than a Woody Allen relationship flick.


Since when is 'thrilling' the main criterion for an Oscar?

Yakk: Shawshank ... also gains from being one of those movies that you stop and watch no matter how many times you have seen it.

Agreed. And you always watch until the end.

Sixth Sense just wasn't Oscar-worthy, IMHO. Blade Runner was pretty non-fun in the original release with the voice-over. And I finally got around to watching Strangelove recently. It was good, but not nearly what I expected from all the hype.

Honestly, I see movies/actors who win accolades at the different film festivals as more of a "must-watch" than the Oscars. Oscars are more like Grammys these days; of-the-moment and having no lasting meaning.