These are the worst films that won an Oscar - Part 1

In the best film category, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere At Once, The Fabelmans, Tar, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking are nominated.

Geoffrey Macnab, an independent journalist, has named the worst films to ever win Hollywood's most prestigious prize.

According to Geoffrey, the selection is made by important members of the film industry, but their selections might be perplexing at times.

It's rare for a Best Picture winner to come as a complete surprise, but numerous films have won the award when they shouldn't have, according to Geoffrey. These are, in his opinion, the worst Oscar-winning films.

 The Life of Emile Zola

He claims that the biographical picture of Emil Zola, which won best film at the 1937 Academy Awards, is uninteresting. 

"It is a solid and worthy work, with an outstanding performance by Paul Muni as the French novelist. The idea, however, that it is one of the 'few truly great films of all time', as its publicity suggested, is patently idiotic," writes Geoffrey.

Rocky

He claims that Rocky was an unjustified Best Picture victory and that there were better pictures that year.

"The problem with his victory was not so much the film itself, but the other nominees that were rejected in his favor. Taxi Driver, All the President's Men and Network certainly had more rights to the statuette that year," writes the text of the Independent.

Around the World in 80 Days

"This was a good big-budget travelogue, but you can't help but suspect that the Oscar for Best Picture had more to do with the marketing skills of its producer, Mike Todd, than any brilliance in the filmmaking. It was directed by England's Michael Anderson, previously best known for The Dam Busters, and featured David Niven as an intrepid traveler who bets he can travel around the world in just over two months," writes Geoffrey.

Crash

The journalist's explanation of why Crash is on this list reads: "Paul Haggis' Crash is a decent and well-intentioned study of the consequences of racism and violence in contemporary LA. It was independently made and had a large cast, all of whom gave heartfelt performances.

However, Robert Altman covered a similar theme better in Short Cuts, and the feeling remains that Crash won Best Picture because some Academy voters were determined not to give the Oscar to the gay-themed contemporary western Brokeback Mountain."

Chicago

"You rarely win an Oscar without a strong marketing campaign. Now-disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein knew the secrets of getting Academy voters on his side better than anyone else in the business. Whether it was Blitz's approach to advertising in the trade press or the timing of the awards show, or whether it was the way he kept the film's stars in the media or his relentless wooing of Academy members, he was arguably as important to the Oscar success of the musical Chicago as any of the creative talents behind it."

Post by Bryan C.