30 Oscar losers that should have been Oscar winners

30 Oscar losers who should have won

Seriously though, I love the Academy Awards. I love that we have a day of the year where we get to just celebrate all the amazing films that have been made. But the Academy has a habit of making some really terrible decisions.

They frequently over-reward the work of straight white men (#OscarsSoWhite). They have a real penchant for over-rewarding movies about Hollywood rather than movies about real issues and/or real people (#LaLaLandWhat’sGood?). And sometimes they just make totally baffling calls for no apparent reason (#ShakespeareInLoveWonWhat???).

Almost every year, there’s going to be at least one bad call. Some years, several. And while I love most of the nominated films I’ve seen this year, I am not optimistic about the right choices being made. I know that, in response to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the Academy has added more women and people of color. But it’s still overwhelmingly white and male. And with the nominations of multiple men who abuse women, I can’t say I’m confident in the Academy yet. I mean, why would I be, when we have decades of proof of the Academy’s wrongness?

Let’s look back on the most egregious errors of the Academy. Whether it’s Best Picture, Best Actor, or Best Original Song, I’ll be here to explain to you why the Academy picked the wrong winner (in my humble yet totally right opinion). So let’s hearken back to 30 mistakes of the past before we witness the likely mistakes of the future.