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Editorial: A Second Opinion on Oscar Snubs

Oscar week can be a rather polarizing time of year. “Atonement” fans in the blue corner, “There Will Be Blood” fans in the red corner. This years Best Picture nominations have created such strong love and hate reactions. “Atonement” fans are throwing around words like “staggering, “glorious” and “stunning,” while naysayers (like myself) claim the film is pointless and masturbatory. “There Will Be Blood” fans call it an epic, claiming it is the new “Citizen Kane,” while others walk out of the film because they find it relentlessly boring.

In honor of the 80th Annual Polarizing Academy Awards, I would like to offer a second opinion on famous Oscar snubs.

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First of all, I must say that I whole heartedly agree with the musings in “Overrated Oscar Style” in that ‘Chicago’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ never deserved an Oscar. That being said, some of the other “overrated winners” left me a bit baffled. Rocky? Ordinary People? Two of the greatest films of all time. Here are some even bigger snubs throughout Oscar history:

(1939) ‘Gone With The Wind’ over ‘Ninotchka.’ This was the beginning of epic movies squashing better films in an Oscar race just because they were big and pretty. Watch them again. ‘Ninotchka’ will hold up forever. By the way, that same year also produced ‘Stagecoach,’ ‘Mr Smith Goes To Washington’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz.’

(1940) ‘Rebecca’ over ‘The Philadelphia Story,’ ‘The Great Dictator,’ and ‘Grapes of Wrath.’

(1951) ‘An American in Paris,’ over ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’

(1961) ‘West Side Story’ over ‘The Hustler.’

(1964) ‘My Fair Lady’ over ‘Dr. Strangelove.’

(1996) ‘The English Patient’ over ‘Fargo.’

(1997) ‘Titanic’ over any of the other nominations.

(2001) ‘A Beautiful Mind’ over any of the other nominations.

(2005) ‘Crash’ over ‘Brokeback Mountain.’

Well, that’s just a second opinion. If you don’t agree, well, that’s ok. That’s what makes writing about film possible and that’s what makes the Oscars so much fun. I’ll be in the red corner.

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