Historically Bad Calls by Industry Awards (Oscars, Grammys, etc)

[Iron Maiden]

Considering "Butterfly" was only made because her husband was really, really rich and wanted his wife to be a movie star, maybe he bought some votes for her, too.

Bingo....it really showed what a sham the Golden Globes were at that time. Their reputation has improved over the years but it is still not taken as seriously as the Oscars, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, etc. It's well attended because I've read they give a great party as part of the show.

[Iron Maiden]

Marisa Tomei getting an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny is still perplexing. Besides, she's been a better supporting actress in movies like The Wrestler, just for one. Chaplin, Untamed Heart, Lincoln Lawyer...


I mean, the knock on the Oscars has always been that they give out "the make-up Oscar", where they give an older actor an Oscar for a role late in the career as an apology of sorts for missing when they didn't win at a time when they deserved to. And meanwhile, they slight someone else more deserving who's younger, only to give them a "make-up Oscar" for letting the veteran take one over them earlier.

Case in point, Cecil B. DeMille didn't win for "The Ten Commandments" and lost to "Around the World in 80 Days" so somehow years later, "The Greatest Show on Earth" won.

Also, I have no idea who Harvey Weinstein must have threatened to kill (a lot of people, I'd wager) to get "Shakespeare in Love" to win over "Saving Private Ryan". I like the former, but it can't hold a candle to the latter. The Normandy scene ALONE, for goodness sake.

I can see you disputing the Greatest Show on Earth Winning but your chronology is wrong. That film was release in 1952, the Ten Commandments in 1956 and Around the World in 80 days was a Michael Todd production with director being Michael Anderson and released in 1956. That one was a real snore fest IMO. Years ago when I was a kid my older sisters treated me to that film with a trip on the train to Chicago to see it in the Michael Todd theater (which was still owned for many years afterward by his widow Elizabeth Taylor). I have never watched that film it it's entirety since. It is only entertaining feature would be to scan through it and see some of the numerous cameos.

The Greatest Show on Earth is at least more watchable but still not a great film. Betty Hutton was certainly an energetic performer but that's about it. BTW, it loosely is based on a tragic circus train accident that occurred very near where I grew up neck of the woods in 1918. The death toll was 86 circus performers and workers (Emmet Kelley Sr. was a survivor)

While browsing through other disputed winners, I will add in here one I came across: Titanic over L.A. Confidential

[Swamp Thing 2099]

Kevin Spacey beating Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor.

One performance has aged like fine wine. The other has aged like a corpse.

[From The Shadows]

For the Oscars... a lot comes down to personal taste, and sometimes story does matter. I personally think Sissy Spacek was better than Halle Berry that year, but Sissy had already won AND no black actress had ever won Best Actress in it's history. So I get in some cases it's not just about 'performance vs. performance'; which is understandable. A lot comes down to opinion too, there are decisions I disagree with, but that doesn't make them "WTF" moments. They were good enough to nominate, for example.

The few I can think of:
- Crash winning over Brokeback Mountain is the ultimate 'bad call'.
- Melissa Leo winning for the Fighter (in general) is a bizarre choice; I don't remember her in it (Amy Adams was much better and in it much more). But add in she won over Helena Bonham-Carter for the King's Speech, that I cannot understand.


It... wasn't about the guy??? It was about Emma Stone. Though I do agree, his character was not very good.


See, I understand that one. Not only do I enjoy Shakespeare in Love much more, but I get for an entertainment industry, it just connects with them so much more.

Rod Steiger didn't hide his disappointment when Shakespear in Love won over SPR.

Another one that used get mentioned a lot was Whoopi Goldberg winning for Ghost and Julia Roberts winning over Ellen Burstyn. I think losing to Erin Brokovich was the worst travesty ever. And I enjoyed the performance.

[Papa Moai]

Marisa Tomei getting an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny is still perplexing. Besides, she's been a better supporting actress in movies like The Wrestler, just for one. Chaplin, Untamed Heart, Lincoln Lawyer...

I think an argument could be made that a big part of why Tomei's Oscar feels weird is that the Academy doesn't usually reward comedic acting. I mean, in all fairness, it is pretty memorable role in a genuinely good movie.

[Mister Mets]

Hitchcock was not even nominated for Best Director for North by Northwest or Vertigo.

Scorsese was not nominated for Best Director for Taxi Driver.

The Dark Knight's failure to get nominated for Best Director or Best Picture probably led to the Academy changing the number of nominations.

I think an argument could be made that a big part of why Tomei's Oscar feels weird is that the Academy doesn't usually reward comedic acting. I mean, in all fairness, it is pretty memorable role in a genuinely good movie.

Yeah, it's hardly an egregious loss from a quality perspective.

Rod Steiger didn't hide his disappointment when Shakespear in Love won over SPR.

Another one that used get mentioned a lot was Whoopi Goldberg winning for Ghost and Julia Roberts winning over Ellen Burstyn. I think losing to Erin Brokovich was the worst travesty ever. And I enjoyed the performance.

I thought Whoopi was expected to win for Ghost, partly because she had lost for A Color Purple to Geraldine Page.

[Iron Maiden]

Hitchcock was not even nominated for Best Director for North by Northwest or Vertigo.

Scorsese was not nominated for Best Director for Taxi Driver.

The Dark Knight's failure to get nominated for Best Director or Best Picture probably led to the Academy changing the number of nominations.


Yeah, it's hardly an egregious loss from a quality perspective.

I thought Whoopi was expected to win for Ghost, partly because she had lost for A Color Purple to Geraldine Page.

Yeah, I thought the Whoopi Oscar for Ghost was maybe an example of a "make up" Oscar given when their best performance was in another film they were nominated for but lost.

[Papa Moai]

I always find myself annoyed by Al Pacino's win for Scent of a Woman. That's pretty much the film where he decided he could earn a living by just shouting a lot. He has had good performances since then, but he has also played a caricature of himself. And Scent of a Woman feels like the first film where he did that.

[PaulBullion]

Just remembered the shenanigans when in 2014, they nominated a cringy hymn from a Christian movie nobody had seen, and then actually disqualified it when the astroturfing behind the nomination came out.


They did not nominate a replacement, as if Lenny Kravitz and Gladys Knight hadn't cranked out an absolute classic for "The Butler" that year.

[maninthemacintosh1606]

Marisa Tomei getting an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny is still perplexing. Besides, she's been a better supporting actress in movies like The Wrestler, just for one. Chaplin, Untamed Heart, Lincoln Lawyer...


I mean, the knock on the Oscars has always been that they give out "the make-up Oscar", where they give an older actor an Oscar for a role late in the career as an apology of sorts for missing when they didn't win at a time when they deserved to. And meanwhile, they slight someone else more deserving who's younger, only to give them a "make-up Oscar" for letting the veteran take one over them earlier.

Case in point, Cecil B. DeMille didn't win for "The Ten Commandments" and lost to "Around the World in 80 Days" so somehow years later, "The Greatest Show on Earth" won.

Also, I have no idea who Harvey Weinstein must have threatened to kill (a lot of people, I'd wager) to get "Shakespeare in Love" to win over "Saving Private Ryan". I like the former, but it can't hold a candle to the latter. The Normandy scene ALONE, for goodness sake.

The Wrestler was 2008, My Cousin Vinny was 1992. I don't think they had any foreknowledge that she would have a supporting role in a movie 16 years later that would be even better than her supporting role in My Cousin Vinny.

[maninthemacintosh1606]

I always find myself annoyed by Al Pacino's win for Scent of a Woman. That's pretty much the film where he decided he could earn a living by just shouting a lot. He has had good performances since then, but he has also played a caricature of himself. And Scent of a Woman feels like the first film where he did that.

I know this sounds like I am being a dick but I genuinely, sincerely have never liked any Al Pacino performances. Even in his most acclaimed roles I found him to be kind of obnoxious - mediocre at best... I think he is out right atrocious in Scent of a Woman. But I think his performance in Scarface is probably the worst (not including his later roles where he isn't even trying). No wait... His acting in Heat is worse than Scarface. I cannot fathom how anyone likes that movie, it is a cringey so-bad-it-is-good film, surely.

[maninthemacintosh1606]

- Melissa Leo winning for the Fighter (in general) is a bizarre choice; I don't remember her in it (Amy Adams was much better and in it much more). But add in she won over Helena Bonham-Carter for the King's Speech, that I cannot understand.

Melissa Leo is awesome and The King's Speech is an awful film, so this is one time I'm happy that the academy made a bizarre choice. In fact, it is one time I feel any emotion whatsoever when it comes to the Oscars. In fact, it is one time I feel any emotion whatsoever. I'm going to go and stick my head in the oven now.

[Timothy Hunter]

Jethro Tull is my favorite metal band

[maninthemacintosh1606]

Jethro Tull is my favorite metal band

Really don't mind if you sit this one out.

[JackDaw]

Jethro Tull is my favorite metal band

I like them.

I went to quite a few Fairport Convention performances..their bass player Dave Pegg played for Jethro Tull as well. Always remember him saying the Jethro Tull soundchecks were terrifying...he said he spent as much time checking blood wasn’t coming out of his ears as playing.