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Lists of fun facts and differing opinions about Hollywood's biggest, most self-congratulatory night.

Oscars

It's a Wonderful Life

Often, time will serve as the best indicator of greatness. Sure, there are award ceremonies, big box office, and rave reviews to indicate whether a film is worthy of praise or not. But the true test is to judge a movie ten, twenty, thirty, forty years down the line. Are people talking about the film in terms of being a classic? Does the story hold up? Is it a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/what-movies-can-you-watch-over-and-over-again--v1" target="_blank">rewatchable film</a>?&nbsp;How about the direction, cinematography, acting? Sometimes, the most deserving films don’t win awards. Heck, sometimes the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-movies-of-all-time" target="_blank">best films of all time</a>&nbsp;aren’t even nominated. This is a list of 28 great movies that didn’t win a single Academy Award.Oscar snubs happen every year, but it’s still hard to believe that masterpieces like The Shining, Singin’ in the Rain, and Do the Right Thing did not win a single Academy Award. The Shining is often cited as the greatest horror film ever made. Singin’ in the Rain is #1 on the<a href="http://www.afi.com/100Years/musicals.aspx" target="_blank"> American Film Institute’s list</a> of the Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time. And Spike Lee’s joint Do the Right Thing is considered one of the most seminal films on race relations in the history of cinema.We can now see the greatness and power of those films. However, The Shining did not receive a single Academy Award nomination, Singin' in the Rain did not receive a nod for Best Picture in 1953, and neither did Do the Right Thing in 1989.This list is not about who should have won at the Oscars. Whether or not we think that The Shawshank Redemption should have beat Forrest Gump in the Best Picture category in 1995 is irrelevant. This list is simply pointing out that these (mostly) time-tested movies that people still discuss and put on “best of” lists did not earn a single Academy Award in any category.Maybe they got robbed, maybe they really were just second best that year. Either way, some of the films that made this list will shock you. Be sure to make your voice heard by voting up the best films that deserved to win at least one Oscar.

Reese Witherspoon

Bad actors who have won Oscars, in any category, as determined by the votes and selections of Ranker users. This list contains <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-film-actors-and-actresses-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">actors and actresses</a> who, despite winning the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-actors-to-win-best-actor-oscar/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Academy Award for Best Actor</a>, Best Actress, or either of the Best Supporting categories, are still unworthy, either for the specific performance that one or just in general career terms. They are weak actors who nevertheless have been overpraised by peers, critics and the general public alike.A number of actors have won Oscars, only to then have their careers taper off quickly. Adrien Brody won the Academy Award for Best Actor at age 29 in 2003 for the film &quot;The Pianist&quot; (becoming the youngest actor to ever win an Oscar in the category), and has - in the interim - failed to appear in a large number of popular or award-contending films (with a few notable exceptions.) F. Murray Abraham, as well, saw his roles begin to dry up after winning the Academy Award for the role of Salieri in &quot;Amadeus.&quot;Who are the worst actors and actresses who nevertheless have received American acting's highest honor? Who are the worst actors to win Oscars? Help decide by voting for your picks below and adding suggestions that aren't currently featured.

The actor is everything in film. Sure, the writer provides the words, and the director supplies the vision, but it&#39;s the actor who represents the characters and brings them to life. A bad acting performance can completely mar the best of dialogue, just as a superior performance can lift the most lifeless of words. We cherish the film actor, we revel in their celebrity, and often bathe in their beauty. However, there can only be one Academy Award winner for each category every year. This is a list of those other roles that weren&#39;t recognized, the best performances that did not win an Oscar.

This list is not about who should have won. No one is here to argue that Bradley Cooper should have beat out Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor in 2015. We&#39;re not taking anything away from Redmayne&#39;s brilliant depiction of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. But the fact that Cooper gave such an outstanding performance in American Sniper must be recognized. That&#39;s what this list is truly about. Call it Ranker&rsquo;s list for acting redemption.

Some of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-film-actors-and-actresses-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">actors and actresses</a> on this list, were not even nominated for Oscars. Their performance, for whatever reason, was not recognized by the finicky members of the Academy. Perhaps, it was because of genre bias? Both comedy and horror films rarely get the recognition they deserve. For example, most film buffs think that Jack Nicholson should have received a nod for his terrifying performance in The Shining and who can argue that Dustin Hoffman didn&#39;t turn in a perfect performance in Tootsie?

Let us know in the comments section if we missed any of your favorite big screen performances that failed to take home an Academy Award and be sure to vote up the performances below you think should be recognized for their outstanding quality, despite not winning on Oscar night.

Popular Opinion

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

All of the best <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/every-oscar-winning-film-ever/drake-bird?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Oscar winning movies</a> that won the Oscar for Best Picture. Currently, there are 92&nbsp;movies that have won the highly coveted Best Picture Academy Award, and they are all here for you to vote and rank from best to worst. The annual Academy Awards ceremony brings the world together in celebration of the best films of the year, and this list of all the movies that have won the Best Picture Academy Award is here in celebration of decades of quality filmmaking.

With 92&nbsp;years of votable film history behind us, there are plenty of classic movies vying for the honor of being called the greatest film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. From the movies that win critical acclaim across generational divides (The Godfather, Schindler&#39;s List), to the feel-good movies with great casts (Forrest Gump, The Artist), to controversial Best Picture Oscar winners (The Hurt Locker, Crash), this list of the films that won a Best Picture Oscar is here to separate the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-movies-of-all-time">best movies of all time</a> from the ones that were maybe the best of the year they won.

What is the best movie that ever won the Best Picture Oscar? What is the worst movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture? Vote on these Best Picture winners,&nbsp;and maybe you&#39;ll find out! If there&#39;s an Oscar winner for Best Picture that you didn&#39;t like, vote it down and let other moviegoers know it wasn&#39;t worthy of film&#39;s top honor.

Jack Nicholson

Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors the very best in film - at least as they see it. It seems each year these nominations are wildly contended by viewers and critics alike. Critical darlings and fan favorites slip trough the cracks and make for some crazy Oscar snubs come award season - and this Oscar snub list has them all.Naturally some Oscars snubs are far worst than others, and we also have the benefit of hindsight, but can you believe Citizen Kane didn't win Best Picture? Neither did Shawshank Redemption. 2001: A Space Odyssey wasn't even nominated and neither was The Shining or Do the Right Thing. Then there are the poor actors, actresses, and directors who work hard, turn in excellent performances, and campaign for Oscar gold only to never to make the cut. Academy Award snubs are a matter of opinion, but some just can't be ignored.This isn't to say each of these snubs should have definitely won that year, but the films, actors, and directors listed here definitely deserved a nomination. Jack Nicholson in The Shining&nbsp;probably shouldn't have beaten Robert De Niro in Raging Bull&nbsp;for 1970's Best Actor award, but he certainly should have been on the ballot. These are the biggest Oscar snubs of all time! Vote up the people and films you feel were wrongfully snubbed by the Academy, or deserved to win if they did garner a nomination.

Awards

Kevin Spacey

Every year the Academy evaluates a year's worth of brilliant performances and picks what they believe to be the best of the best, nominating these for the most prestigious acting awards in cinema: the Oscars. This in itself is an honor - just to be nominated for an Academy Award. But only one person can win each year, and the men listed here have all taken home Oscar gold for Best Actor in a Leading Role - so which Best Actor Oscar winners are the best?Of the leading men <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-have-egots/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">who have won</a> Best Actor, who is the best&nbsp;Best Actor?! Do you think it's a classic choice like Marlon Brando? Clark Gable? Humphrey Bogart? Is it a more recent recipient like Philip Seymour Hoffman? Sean Penn? Jack Nicholson?With so many options choosing the best is hard, but that's where you come in. Vote up the very best actors of all the Best Actor Academy Award winners below!

Tatum O'Neal

Has anyone won an Oscar for their first film role? Winning <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/child-actors-nominated-for-oscars/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">an Academy Award</a> is a huge lifetime achievement. It's hard enough being cast in a movie, much less being cast in a film with the pedigree and brilliance to win an Oscar. Even then, you still have to be so fantastic in your debut that you blow all the other actors that year out of the water. No pressure.But even with all the cards stacked against them there are many&nbsp;<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-won-oscars-for-the-wrong-film/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">actors who won Oscars</a> for debut films. Sometimes they are young and go on to have flourishing careers (Anna Paquin, who won when she was 11 years old), sometimes they are <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-when-they-were-25/joswo?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">in their prime</a> and still go on to have flourishing careers (Julie Andrews was 29 in Mary Poppins). Still other times they come into acting later in life (Haing S. Ngor was 44 when he made his debut) and knock it out of the park.These are the&nbsp;actors who won Oscars for their first movie - those who delivered such incredible performances from the outset that they couldn't possibly be ignored. Vote up the best actors who won Academy Awards for their film debuts and see who comes out on top among these award-winning stars.

There are a number of ways in which a film could be classified as &quot;Oscar bait,&quot; and not all <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/pretty-good-oscar-bait-movies/jonathan-sherman?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Oscar bait movies</a> are the same, but there are some qualities that you can plainly see are tailor-made for film&#39;s highest awards. For starters, Oscar bait movies are released in the winter, which is the season where the nominating committee will decide what earns a nomination (so they&#39;re fresh in the committee members&#39; minds). With this list of Oscar bait films, you&#39;ll find plenty of movies - both good and bad - that are specifically trying to bait the committee and voters into picking them.

What many consider to be the &quot;original&quot; Oscar bait movie, <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/deer-hunter-behind-the-scenes-stories/skyler-hanrath?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">The Deer Hunter</a>, used the Academy Awards as a way to market the movie. They were having a difficult time getting people to watch, but they found that, after getting an award nomination, the average moviegoer was more inclined to come to the movie in a more open frame of mind. This practice has now become standard business practice for films like Shakespeare in Love and Seven Pounds, which had differing levels of success. Of course, some Oscar bait movies <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/oscar-bait-movies-that-failed/anncasano" target="_blank">utterly fail to bait any Oscars</a>.

So take a look at this list of films that were (probably) made just to win someone an Oscar and upvote the most blatant Academy Awards bait offenders, whether you liked the movie or not.

Al Pacino

Sometimes, the Academy sets out to right an Oscar mistake, finally giving top awards to the most deserving of actors and directors... but not for their best work. Which stars have won Academy Awards, but a few years too late? For actors and directors who've made it big in Hollywood, there's no award like <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/child-actors-nominated-for-oscars/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">an Academy Award</a>. No accolade is more prestigious than the Oscar: it is the high water mark of a career and no actor is the same after a win or even a nomination. Unfortunately sometimes the Academy gets it wrong.This occasionally results in make up Oscars - honoring the great work of top actors or directors, for a film that maybe wasn't their best outing. Other times, the Academy might give a farewell Oscar to an iconic actor who is retiring and hasn't yet won. From Scorsese to Elizabeth Taylor, the Oscars have honored some questionable films and roles, in an effort to make the Oscar dreams of film legends finally come true.Whatever the case these are the actors and directors who won an Oscar... but for the wrong film. Vote up the directors and&nbsp;actors who should've won Oscars for other films in their bodies of work, but got consolation Oscars instead.

The Academy Awards are cinema’s most prestigious prize. Although there are moments of humor, the ceremony is typically a buttoned-up, serious affair. An Oscar can change the entire life for a winning actor, or generate millions of extra dollars at the box office for a motion picture. However, you have to remember that the ceremony is live, and even though the people attending are mostly superstar Hollywood celebrities, they're still human. Here are the best Oscar moments of all time.These Oscar moments consist of a little bit of everything. If you’re looking for a list that concentrates on just the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-oscar-acceptance-speeches-of-all-time/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best acceptance speeches</a>, you'll find that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-oscar-acceptance-speeches-of-all-time/the-wrap">here</a>. Of course, there are a few memorable speeches included, no Oscar list would be complete without a mention of Sally Field, and how much everyone likes her.This list also celebrates the awkward moments. Remember when John Travolta called Idina Menzel, &quot;Adele Dazeem&quot;? How about when poor Frank Capra walked up to the stage when Frank Lloyd was actually the winner?There are special Oscar moments on this list as well. From the wonderful time when John Wayne got to say his own kind of farewell to his colleagues and fans before passing away a few months later, to when Woody Allen made his lone appearance at the Oscars to pay tribute to his native New York six months after 9/11. There are also the unforgettable outfits - thank you Cher and Bj&ouml;rk for being true fashion statement makers. Make your voice heard, vote up the most memorable Oscar moments of all time.

Curses

Love doesn&#39;t always mean happily-ever-after, especially in Hollywood. There seems to be an Oscar love curse that&nbsp;primarily plagues <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-actresses-in-film-history" target="_blank">Best Actress</a> winners. It&#39;s impossible to find logic in any alleged curse, let alone one that only seems to impact&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-oscar-winning-performance/ranker-film" target="_blank">Academy Award</a>-feted actresses.

Are curses a cosmic way to achieve balance as if the universe creates a yin and yang approach to fortune? Achieve success in one area and simultaneously&nbsp;lose ground in another? Or, is the Academy Awards actress curse just a superstition or mere coincidence? After all, Hollywood does seem to have a higher-than-average divorce and breakup rate. While there is no scientific manner to prove that such a curse exists, these <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-actresses-to-win-oscar-for-best-actress/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Best Actress winners</a>&nbsp;seem to justify the notion.&nbsp;

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

It’s hard to make a movie. Wait, no, that’s an understatement. It’s almost impossible. Even if you&nbsp;have a perfect script, there are almost infinite unquantifiable&nbsp;forces working against you,&nbsp;screwing up your vision, from problems with cast and crew to permit issues, weather, financing, and endless post-production delays. It’s a wonder any film is ever completed, let alone good enough to win an award. Hell, even if you manage to make an awards-worthy film, you have to make creative choices to get to the finish line. Such choices may include cutting cumbersome exposition, or simply throwing the audience into a world of absolutes, devoid of&nbsp;exposition. Despite the&nbsp;accolades, there are plenty of unexplained things in Oscar winning movies, a lot of which boil down to lapses in logic. Characters disappear or&nbsp;know things&nbsp;they shouldn’t, and sometimes, well, <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/things-movies-get-wrong-about-vietnam-war/christopher-myers">stuff just happens</a>.Academy Award movies with unexplained plot points aren’t new;&nbsp;they’ve been around since the little golden statues were first handed out. While it stands to reason&nbsp;Academy Award winners&nbsp;that probably didn’t deserve it would have purposeless scenes&nbsp;or characters who could suddenly <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKvMgETJxecC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=sequence+structure+paul+usc+screenwriting&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjCiL6ziJ3RAhWJgFQKHcrcDGEQ6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">connect the A and B plots</a>, a lot of&nbsp;Oscar winning films with unexplained moments are considered to be among&nbsp;the best&nbsp;ever made. So <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/scifi-movies-with-unexplained-moments/jacob-shelton">why are they so confusing</a>?

Maximus Decimus Meridius

Over the years, there have been so many <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-actors?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">great actors</a> and actresses <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-have-egots/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">who have won</a> Oscars for portraying classic characters. Some of these best actor Oscar performances were for roles based on real people, while others were based on fictional characters.Who are some of the best characters to win an Oscar? Randle Patrick McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest made our list. Jack Nicholson won a Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of this not-so-crazy patient in 1975. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was based on the 1962 <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/ken-kesey-books-and-stories-and-written-works/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Ken Kesey book</a> of the same name. Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of Vito Corleone in the film The Godfather also made our list. Brando took home the Best Actor Oscar in 1972.Several Best Actress performances also made this list. Julia Robert's portrayal of Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name, earned her an Oscar for Best Actress in 2000. Other Best Actress roles that are featured on this list include Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) from Black Swan and Clarice Starling (Jody Foster) from The&nbsp;Silence of the Lambs. Halle Berry was the first African American woman to win an Oscar for her performance as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball. &nbsp;Which best actor Oscar-winning performance is your favorite? Vote up your favorite role, and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section.

A complete list of all Oscar-winning movies, with all the&nbsp;films that&nbsp;ever won and the number of Academy Awards that each of the winners&nbsp;took home. If a movie is on this list, then rest-assured, it is one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-movies-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best films ever made</a>. Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes Hollywood filmmakers for various achievements within the industry. Some years, a small handful of highly-recognized films sweep a majority of the awards&mdash;think Titanic&nbsp;and The English Patient&mdash;but other years, the awards are spread out and several films win one or two Oscars in various categories.&nbsp;The number of Oscars that any given film wins has to do with how good the film is, but can also be determined by luck, release date, the mood of the Academy members, and the quality of the other films that were released that year.

This list of Academy Award winning movies is ordered by the number of statues each of these films brought home, so you can easily glance and see which films have won the most awards. It also lists the awards each film won&nbsp;and highlights those awards which are most coveted, the so-called Big Five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.&nbsp;Only three movies in history have won all of the Big Five Academy Awards.&nbsp;These films are The Silence of the Lambs (1991), One Flew Over the Cuckoo&#39;s Nest (1975), and It Happened One Night (1931). Based on their successes, these films should be at the top at any film buff&#39;s must-see list.

To many, the Academy Award, also known as the Oscar, is considered the most prestigious award in Hollywood. The awards are given to individuals for their various roles within the production of their films. Somebody involved in all the&nbsp;films listed won an Oscar. For people who worked on these award-winning movies, the recognition is a career changer, and for a movie it can mean a surge in additional profits at the box office.

poll

What are the best Oscar-winning songs? This list includes every song that has won an Oscar for Best Song, with titles such as “My Heart Will Go On,” “Moon River,” “Let It Go,” and “Skyfall.” The category of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-oscar-winners-for-best-original-song/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Best Original Song</a> was introduced in 1934 at the 7th Academy Awards. The award is presented to the songwriters, not the performers.Movies have the ability to make us feel. They make us want to believe, be inspired, and live vicariously through the stories we see on screen. The best of these movies are often bestowed with an Academy Award nomination, and those that are <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-truly-hard-seltzer-flavors/bottoms-up?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">truly the best</a> take home the Oscar. Songs have the ability to enhance these feelings in films. They often make the movie more emotional, intense, suspenseful, or gut-wrenching. Songs tells us, as movie-goers, what to feel and when to feel it. These best Oscar-winning songs provide a kind of emotional connection that filmmakers hope people seek in entertainment. They are moving, saddening, or romantic. Vote upthe best Academy Award-winning songs below.

Best Movies

Samuel L. Jackson

There are many actors who haven&#39;t won an Oscar. For 95 percent of the acting population, there is probably a good reason they haven&#39;t taken home one of film&#39;s most prestigious honors. Only two actors per year can win either the Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor Oscars, leaving eight other nominees with nothing. And all of the other actors in the biz out in the cold.

But does the Academy always get it right? There are plenty of actors who haven&#39;t won an Oscar despite the fact that they&rsquo;ve turned in amazing performances. Whether it&rsquo;s due to stellar competition, bad luck, or an out-and-out snub, some artists have never gotten the recognition they deserve. Of course, some actors - like the great <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/underrated-gary-oldman-movie-and-tv-roles/mike-mcgranaghan" target="_blank">shapeshifter Gary Oldman</a> - do finally get recognized after years without even a nomination, let alone a win.

Johnny Depp and&nbsp;Edward Norton&nbsp;are all big draws at the box office who haven&#39;t received the same respect of the Academy that they have from audiences. While they&#39;ve all been nominated for Oscars, they&#39;ve never taken home the big prize. Other top actors without acting Oscars include Liam Neeson, Robert Downey, Jr.. Matt Damon, and Michael Fassbender. This list of Hollywood celebrities who have no&nbsp;Academy Awards also includes Black actors, like Will Smith, and famous classic stars, like Peter O&#39;Toole and Cary Grant. How these people never won an Oscar will always be a mystery!&nbsp;

There are a surprising number of big name actors who haven&#39;t won an Oscar. It&#39;s up to you to determine which of these men is the greatest.

Julie Andrews

Every year the Academy evaluates a year's worth of brilliant performances and picks what they believe to be the best of the best, nominating these for the most prestigious acting awards in cinema: the Oscars. This in itself is an honor - just to be nominated for an Academy Award. But only one person can win each year, and the women listed here have all taken home Oscar gold for Best Actress in a Leading Role - so which <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-actress-oscar-love-curse/donn-saylor?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Best Actress Oscar</a> winners are the best?Of the leading women <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-have-egots/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">who have won</a> Best Actress, who is the&nbsp;best&nbsp;Best Actress? Is it the most nominated women of all time Meryl Streep, with 15 nominations? Is it a classic actress like Katharine Hepburn (who has the most wins, with four)? What about Audrey Hepburn, or Grace Kelly? Maybe a more modern choice like Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, or Julianne Moore?With so many options choosing the best is hard, but that's where you come in. Vote up the very best actresses of all the Best Actress Academy Award winners below!

Every year, Hollywood holds its collective&nbsp;breath to find out which&nbsp;films, actors, directors, and more will be awarded for their work in the previous year at the Academy Awards. The film industry&#39;s obsession with awards and prestige led to the creation of an entire genre of films catered specifically to garnering such accolades, Oscar bait films. The glut of such pictures resulted in a bizarre class structure, at the top of which you have Oscar winning classics, at the bottom of which you have god-awful&nbsp;catastrophes like J.&nbsp;Edgar, and in the middle you have <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/pretty-good-horror-movies/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">pretty good</a> Oscar bait movies, some of which may have even won a trophy or two.&nbsp;

Mediocre Oscar bait films are&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/pretty-good-movies-about-demons-to-watch/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">okay movies</a> that failed to live up to awards season ambitions but are still worth checking out. On the far end of the spectrum are <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/oscar-bait-movies-that-failed/anncasano" target="_blank">Oscar bait movies that are rightfully forgotten</a>.

The following&nbsp;films probably didn&#39;t win any major awards (okay, The Revenant won some big ones, but come on), but that doesn&#39;t mean they aren&#39;t decent prestige pictures. Those films that fail to win, or even get nominated&nbsp;for, awards and have no value beyond being awards bait often get lost in the crevices of time. Not all these movies deserve such a fate, as is the case with the&nbsp;so-so awards bait pictures worth watching on this list.&nbsp;

Jessica Tandy as Daisy Werthan

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issues the be-all and end-all of acting awards in the United States: the coveted Oscar. Only one man and one woman get to win the Academy Awards for leading roles every year, but which of the performances turned in by the talented and highly-praised actors below are <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-truly-hard-seltzer-flavors/bottoms-up?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">truly the best</a> of the best? This list ranks the best Oscar-winning performances by <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-film-actors-and-actresses-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">actors and actresses</a> in leading roles over the last 50 years - since 1966.These performances were (according to the Academy) the absolute best that each year had to offer. But which of those is the absolute best? Is it the iconic portrayal of Vito Corleone turned in by Marlon Brando in The Godfather? Maybe it's Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice? Or is it a more recent recipient? Maybe Julianne Moore in Still Alice&nbsp;or Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything? Use your votes to decide!Below you'll find the best leading performances since the 1966 Academy Awards - honoring <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-movies-of-1965/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">films released in 1965</a>, through to today. Vote up your the leading performances by an actor or actress you think were the best and see your picks rise to the top!

The Oscars were first televised in 1953. Ever&nbsp;since, they have been&nbsp;the preeminent&nbsp;award show in film. However, Hollywood doesn't nail it every year, and some Oscar years are simply better than others when it comes to overall quality of content. Which years were best for the Academy Awards&nbsp;was the best? Film buffs often squabble about which movies&nbsp;really&nbsp;deserved the treasured <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-things-actors-did-with-oscar-statues/kevin-jacobsen" target="_blank">Oscar statue</a>. Time affords cinema fans the opportunity to look back on all of the Academy’s decisions to see&nbsp;which films remain a relevant part of cinema history - as well as which years simply fielded the strongest groups of nominees.The most memorable Oscars feature heavyweight battles between great films and breathtaking performances. All About Eve versus Sunset Boulevard, Chinatown versus The Godfather II, and Robert DeNiro versus Jack Nicholson are just a few of the big moments. Some years were rife with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-films-not-to-win-oscars/anncasano" target="_blank">major Oscar snubs</a>&nbsp;while in other years the nominations were&nbsp;on the mark.&nbsp;What was the best year for the Oscars? Vote up the years below that had the strongest groups of nominees and vote down the years where the Academy was really stretching.

The Oscars

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Movies that won Best Picture oscars and didn't deserve them.

Most Offensive Best Picture Oscar Wins

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Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic romantic-comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a slow-witted and naïve, but good-hearted and athletically prodigious, man from Alabama who witnesses, and in some cases influences, some of the defining events of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States; more specifically, the period between Forrest's birth in 1944 and 1982. The film differs substantially from Winston Groom's novel on which it was based, including Gump's personality and several events that were depicted.
Principal photography took place in late 1993, mainly in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Extensive visual effects were used to incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and to develop other scenes. A comprehensive soundtrack was featured in the film, using music intended to pinpoint specific time periods portrayed on screen.

The English Patient

The English Patient is a 1996 romantic drama directed by Anthony Minghella from his own script based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ondaatje and produced by Saul Zaentz.
The film was released to critical acclaim, and received 12 nominations at the 69th Academy Awards, eventually winning 9, including Best Picture, Best Director for Minghella and Best Supporting Actress for Juliette Binoche.

Braveheart

Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical medieval war drama film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The story is based on Blind Harry's epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace.
The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards and won five: Best Picture, Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Director.

Gladiator

Gladiator is a 2000 American-British epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the fictional character, loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, ends his father's life and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge his family and his emperor. 