Some of the best movies of all time have, of course, won the Oscar for Best Picture. There are a whole bunch of movies that really had no business even being nominated, at least in my opinion. This list is full of movies that might not be terrible movies, but they don’t deserve to be among the greatest ever recognized. Some of the movies on this list even won! So here I go, risking the wrath of the internet with my list of the worst movies nominated for Best Picture.
Vice (2018)
I think Vice got nominated because there are two really wonderful performances from Christian Bale as Dick Chaney and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush. The movie, written and directed by Adam McKay, is actually a good movie, don’t get me wrong, but Best Picture good? I’m not sure. Bush wasn’t popular in Hollywood at the time, so it was also a political choice, in my opinion.
Sandra Bullock is great, as is the rest of the cast, but the movie feels more like a TV movie of the week than a Best Picture nominee.
Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Munich makes it that much more confounding.
Hugh Jackman, but it’s impossible not to compare to the stage version of the musical, which I love, and I’m always going to ding it for that. It’s not fair, I know, but it’s how I feel. Maybe one day I’ll come around on this version.
James Cameron makes a bunch more, because they are worth the effort, they just aren’t Best Picture worthy.
Steven Spielberg. He is, without question, the best director of my lifetime. Even his weakest movies are usually very watchable. War Horse is the rare exception, and for some reason, it was nominated for Best Picture.
Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy would be completely forgotten these days. I do remember liking it at one time, but subsequent rewatches have left me feeling flat. It beat out a few great movies to win the Best Picture Oscar, too: Born On The Fourth Of July, Field of Dreams, Dead Poets Society, and My Left Foot
Pulp Fiction? The Shawshank Redemption? Quiz Show? Those were all released in 1994, and Shakespeare in Love beat them all at the Oscars. That’s not the movie’s fault, but facts are facts, and Shakespeare in Love was far from the best movie of that year.
Finding Neverland (2004)
I’m frankly shocked that Finding Neverland was a popular as it was, and that it’s endured in that popularity by its many fans. It’s not for me. Johnny Depp was my favorite actor at the time, so maybe I was too excited for this and felt let down, but I didn’t connect with this movie at all.
Don’t Look Up (2021)
I actually really like Don’t Look Up, but I was really surprised that it was nominated for Best Picture. The performances are great, the script is snarky and dark (two things I love), and the movie is really well done. This is just a case of feel for me. It doesn’t feel like a Best Picture nominee, though this was one of the hardest to include, for what that is worth.