If you had to pick the ONE worst Oscar winning performance, who would it be?

Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman.

Thread closed.

Halle Berry for Monster's Ball!

Mary Pickford in Coquette is pretty lousy too.

Helen's competition were all actress I like but still not that strong a year. Maureen would have been my second choice.

Karen Black – Five Easy Pieces as Rayette Dipesto

Lee Grant – The Landlord as Joyce Enders

Sally Kellerman – MASH as Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan

Maureen Stapleton – Airport as Inez Guerrero

Nicolas Cage, "Leaving Las Vegas"

Dustin Hoffman, "Rain Man"

R5 best thing Cage has ever done. Great performance. Never knew what he was going to next. Not easy to play an alcoholic.

Do next^^^

Mira Sorvino owns this thread

That R1 was to make up for the Academy's mistake of not choosing him for The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico.

Jane Fonda in...that movie she was in that shouldn't've won in 1979.

How soon we forget Marisa Tomei.

Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful. Awful performance in a stupid film.

Cher for Moonstruck

Cher was great in Moonstruck and I liked Pacino in Scent, too. Have to agree with R13. Benigni and that horrible movie.

Two for one film -

Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson for As Good as It Gets

Mary Pickford in "Coquette" wins hands down, but then I'd give it to Grace Kelly in "The Country Girl."

The weird thing is that both Pickford and Kelly were capable of giving superb performances, but in both cases they were too far out of their lanes.(This is especially sad in Kelly's case, because potentially the wife in "The Country Girl" is such an excellent role--it was said to be Uta Hagen's greatest part other than Martha n "Virginia Woolf".) Both were being given the Oscar because they were being rewarded for other reasons, though: Pickford was the biggest female star in Hollywood in the 20s, and Hollywood was trying to signal their relief she had made the transition to sound okay (actually she didn't, and quit the biz soon after); Kelly was engaged to Prince Rainier and would stop making films (as everyone knew), and Hollywood wanted to congratulate itself for picking a winner.

Natalie Portman for Black Swan (Portman makes Ali MacGraw out to be Sarah Bernhardt).

POOP for Shakespeare in Love.

Art Carney in "Harry and Tonto"

Eddie Redmayne for The Theory Of Everything.

He played a famous, disabled guy on his last legs ( no pun intended) and the Academy Award committee gave Redmayne/Hawking the sympathy vote in the form of an Oscar.

Celeste Holm in Gentleman's Agreement. Just because she was a lifelong cunt.

R17 Kelly met Rainer AFTER winning her Oscar. Kelly had studio support, which Judy Garland (the runner up no doubt) didn’t have. Plus Garland still had a bad rep in Hollywood which cost her more votes.

Jose Ferrer in Cyrano. I've tried to watch it and I just can't get through it.

I can't even tell if it's a good performance or not.

Marlon Brando for "The Godfather". He deserved his first Oscar, but not for the supporting performance he delivered here.

Don Ameche for Cocoon.

Lee Grant Shampoo.

That girl with the Italian name in the Woody Allen film. Lee Grant wasn't actually bad like this one...Mira Sorvino I think she's called.

Judy Dench Shakespeare in Love

R24, I'm not sure how you can say one of the most instantly iconic, imitated, quoted, and beloved performances of all time is the WORST.

Marisa Tomei was great. Comedic performances don't get rewarded enough.

My vote: Renee Zelwegger for playing Foghorn Leghorn in a wig.

Another vote for Gwyneth Paltrow.

I applaud OP’s leading choice. Helen Hayes is cutesy and cloying in a simple role that demanded little other than being an adorable little old lady, and I did not adore her.

Meanwhile, in the same fucking movie, Maureen Stapleton wrings out more pathos from her character than the script even intended.

I’ve always thought it was as if she wandered into the wrong movie because a glossy but wooden end-stage Ross Hunter melodrama really was more welcoming to the collection of cliches embodied in Helen Hayes’ character and performance.

I think Marisa Tomei’s performance is one of the greatest comedic performances captured on film. My vote here would go to Reese Witherspoon.

Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking

Beatrice Straight- Network. You blink and you missed her.

R33 agreed. Tomei gets a bad rap. It’s still lol funny after 25 years whenever she’s on screen. MCV would be much less without her. Plus she proved her detractors wrong and got two more Oscar nominations.

WOW! r4, Sally or Karen deserved that award.

Tatum O'Neal - Paper Moon

Judy Dench and Susan Sarandon were both fantastic in those movies. You can't be serious.

Elizabeth Taylor definitely got the sympathy vote/Oscar for Butterfield 8. She had been deathly ill (as usual) and was limping around with a tracheotomy.

Ta da! A tragedy will do it every time.

Taylor can thank the pneumonia for the Oscar. Without it, Deborah Kerr or Shirley MacLaine would’ve pulled off a win.

Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump

jennifer lawrence reese witherspoon sandra bullock

emma stone

R42 FG hasn’t aged well. Good choice in the lead actor category.

Every actor who got one for playing disabled. . Hanks. Hoffman. Redmayne.

I love Liz in Butterfield 8!

She didn’t deserve the Oscar, but I don’t think the performance deserves its reputation as so awful.

But Deborah Kerr ended up never winning an Oscar, which is such a fucking shame.

And Melina Mercouri was nominated that year as well.

R20 Whatever he was excellent in that film and was better than Keaton and other nominees

Emma Stone

Casey Affleck, Goop, Goldie Hawn, Richard Dreyfus.

Jennifer Lwrence

Brie Larson

DiCaprio

Jolie

Forrest Gump is a flaming abortion of a movie and Tom Hanks is just awful in it.

But can you imagine Bill Murray or Chevy Chase as Gump?

Or Travolta? I might have set a fire in the theater bathroom if I’d had to sit through that.

Ohhh look at all the snobs. Everyone is picking comedic performances. Fuck you, it's harder to make some one laugh than cry.

Denzel Washington for Training Day. His performance was meh and if he had not won, Julia Roberts would not have had her idiotic, self-indulgent "I love my life" moment.

Natalie Portman

Jennifer Lawrence!

Another vote for Helen Hayes. Hands down.

Charlize Theron

46, you missed Daniel Day Lewis and his left foot.

There are ones like Paul Newman in The Color of Money where he wasn't really great but it was clearly a makeup for a long career without a win. Those don't bother me. Al Pacino was like this too.

Odd how people complain that comedy is never recognized then when it is with Cher and Marisa Tomei people complain.

I've always thought Jolie's performance in Girl, Interrupted was showy and hammy. I thought Brittany Murphy was much more deserving.

"And I am telling you... I'M the worst actress to ever win!"

Though Brie is far more annoying, granted.

Emma Stone in La La Land

Oh, look at the learning disability on proud display at r55.

What the fuck are you on about? Marisa Tomei’s name was floated and then there was a pile-on of defenders.

It’s the only broad comedic performance named in the thread, and I agree that it’s held up, and she’s given solid performances ever since.

Mira Sorvino’s was quasi-comedy, and I’d put that down as quite undeserved.

Tatum O’Neal gave a funny, moving performance in Paper Moon, but she’s not really an actress. Madeline Kahn in the same film would have been the better choice.

Cher in Moonstuck? It’s not my favorite performance, but it’s good, better than Mask, at any rate.

Comedy is hard to reward when up against the serious and even grim because it makes the award seen superficial, which puts a great comic performance at a disadvantage. But it’s no easier to create.

Halle Berry is all over this thread. She's not a very talented actress and her performance was a joke.

Jolie

Sevigny, Morton and Collette were great and they always are they are great actors. Jolie was the worst in the category.

Frances McDormand for Fargo . Emily Watson deserved it.

Frances McDormand for 3 Billboards . Sally Hawkins deserved it.

Jennifer Lawrence, ‘Silver Linings Playbook.’ A weak actress miscast in a not-great role. She also has a face that should never be shot close-up.

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Katharine Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

She gave an okay performance, but an Oscar? It was a popular movie about the race issue at the time PLUS Spencer Tracy who she was allegedly involved with had recently died.

Even she admitted that she got the Oscar because of Spencer (who was also nominated but didn't win).

Juliette Binoche

Every Harvey Weinstein Girl who has won the Oscars

Christoph Waltz for Django!

Gary Oldman

that ugly woman from I Yonya

Viola Davis and every other category fraud winner

R72 I always wondered how close Tracy got to beating Rod Steiger for best actor. If they gave it to Hepburn, I bet the margin Tracy lost to Steiger was by very few votes.

Pickford in “Coquette” is probably the worst as a technical performance, but Benigni beats her in offensiveness.

But let’s keep mentioning winners from the past two or three years anyway!

Nicole flopman

"Beatrice Straight- Network. You blink and you missed her."

But even in that nanosecond, she's brilliant.

I think Daniel Day Lewis is great in My Left Foot...but the Oscar should have gone to the kid who played the younger version of his character. He was brilliant.

Has no one nominated Anna Paquin for The Piano?

That old hambone Paul Muni is pretty insufferable in pretty much everything, but I'm still casting my vote for Helen Hayes.

Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls". Woof.

And if Tracy had won, R79, it would have been a travesty. Steiger was superb in the role, with a performance that has held up beautifully over time.

"Forrest Gump is a flaming abortion of a movie and Tom Hanks is just awful in it."

Oh, my darling r54, you made me snort chardonnay through my nose.

Steiger was respectable but IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT is one the lamest movies EVER to win a BP Oscar.

R66 I think Gene Wilder’s performance in Young Frankenstein was Oscar-worthy, and it’s a shame he wasn’t even nominated, but then he would have been up against Pacino and Nicholson that year.

Pick an M, any M, any M at all.

Alicia Vikander was annoying category fraud and nothing really special in the work. I think men just thought she was hot from the robot movie she did the same year.

R90 dear Glennie, we need to get you an honorary Oscar. It’s clear you’ll never beat anyone in competition for one.

If you want comedy, Michael Keaton should have been nominated for "Night Shift" although he would never have won over Henry Fonda.

R93 two different years. NS was 1982. OGP was 1981.

R34 and R69 clearly have agendas.

She might be a political nincompoop, but Sarandon absolutely deserved to win for DMW, R34.

And McDormand WAS "Fargo," and was equally brilliant in "Three Billboards," R69.

Several Oscar-winning performances come to mind ....

I love Celeste Holm, but I don't think she deserved the Oscar for GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT (1947) she should have won for either COME TO THE STABLE (1949) or ALL ABOUT EVE (1950).

Joan Fontaine should not have won her Oscar for SUSPICION.(1941) She should have won it for REBECCA (1940). The only reason Ginger Rogers won for KITTY FOYLE (1940) was the fact that she kept RKO solvent in the 1930s

Deborah Kerr should have won for THE SUNDOWNERS in 1960, not Elizabeth Taylor for BUtterfield-8

I re-watched WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956). Dorothy Malone's performance is pure champ; Mercedes McCambridge should have won for GIANT (1956)

Rod Steiger should won for THE PAWNBROKER (1965), the Oscar for IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) was compensation. Lee Marvin winning for CAT BALLOU in '65 is probably the greatest upset in Academy Awards history.

I could never figure how Gloria Grahame won for THE BAD & THE BEAUTIFUL (1952(; she gives the worst performance in the film, even Lana Turner acts better than Grahame

Joanne Woodward for THREE FACES OF EVE (1957). Meh ... another case of someone winning because his/her character has a disability

Michael Keaton actually got some attention as a possible nominee for Best Supporting Actor for Night Shift.

Emma Stone and Julia Fucking Roberts

I never understand how Lee Marvin won for Cat Ballou.

It's all in the competition. Emma Stone was ok in La La Land. Not necesarrily Oscar material but there was nobody else to vote for really. I guess Isabelle Huppert has had a great career but Elle really wasn't that great of a performance.

Geoffrey Rush in Shine.

The young actor who played the younger version was 90% of the movie.

Rush is in, like ten minutes at the end.

And he SUCKS.

Jane Fonda for Coming Home is a good one. I peroidically rewatch that wondering what I'm missing. I never find anything. I guess it was a forgiveness thing for Vietnam or something.

Her Oscar for Klute is well deserved (one of the Best wins ever actually) and I like her in Julia and The Morning After too.)

Was Marlee Matlin good in Children of a Lesser God?

[quote] even Lana Turner acts better than Grahame

No, you simply can't go that far. That's just not at all plausible that anyone sane would ever, ever actually believe that.

But I do agree Gloria Grahame should not have won for The Bad and the Beautiful.

Myoshyi Umecki is a strange one. I guess it was a diversity win. When I saw the movie I was like that's it?

R99 I think all the drama nominees split the vote. Plus Marvin came up in the ranks and paid his dues in Hollywood. It might’ve been one of those years that more voters saw Cat Ballou than the other nominees too.

The actual answer to Op's question is : Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1955 -- Nina Foch (Executive Suite).

Nina competently plays the executive secretary to a corporation board of directors, but she doesn't DO a damn thing with the role. Any contemporary professional could have done as much.

You can't say that about either Helen Hayes or Maureen Stapleton in Airport. Helen played the sly passive aggressive old lady to the hilt. And as mentioned above Maureen's pain while apologizing to the injured passengers felt real and tragic.

R105 she was great in it. Red Buttons won also for playing her husband. Heartbreaking performances.

she didn't win r107

Mo’nique owns this thread.

R110 - I must disagree with you on that. That performance was a burst of brilliance.

I recently rewatched that scene she has with Mariah Carey and she explains why she not only allowed the abuse of Precious (by the boyfriend) to continue but why *she* abused her as well. It is so raw, chilling, and REAL.

Starts at 0:59 at the link.

Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, especially since she beat Ellen Burstyn.

To R96 and others who (rightfully) wonder why Gloria Grahame, an interesting actress in other films, won for her nothing of a performance in TBatB - it's the Shirley Fonda syndrome. Fonda candidly revealed in the '70s that she was the one going to Academy screening of the nominated ones with a girlfriend and she was the one filling the ballots instead of Henry. And she was definitely not the only one. So, actresses playing neglected show biz wives had a built in advantage - Beatrice Straight (who was good in her very limited role in Network) is probably the luckiest one to be benefited, but this is also a good explanation for the large showing of actresses playing long suffering, supportive spouses as nominees and winners over the years, from Luise Rainer (twice) to Jenifer Connelly, from Grace Kelly to Reese Witherspoon.

Grahmme was also in four films that year so that probably helped.

I stand corrected on Nina Foch. Nominated yes, won no. I remembered it wrong.

Helen Hunt is a bad one if for no reason that she goes in and out of her accent. That was a major film. Didn't they have a dialect coach for her? It wasn't the best of years though. None of the other performers really stood out to me. I guess Judi Dench was good if you like those sort of masterpiece theater British royalty type things.

Sarandon's character had no story arc in Dead Man Walking. The majority of her time on screen was spent simply talking to Sean Penn's character. Sarandon's win for this was nothing more than a "we owe you one" award.

Goop who won over CATE BLANCHETT for Shakespeare in Love. Shameful.

I don’t think Sarandon is the worst, but her win is emblematic of the Academy awarding a character and a film as much as a performance: A virtuous nun with the same center-liberal politics as most of the voters.

Elisabeth Shue and Sharon Stone both played Vegas hookers and were also nominated that year. They gave very different but excellent performances in very different films. Either one should have won over Sarandon.

Cate Blanchett was the very best thing about Elizabeth (Geoffrey Rush being a close second). But Paltrow was actually fine in Shakespeare In Love - it’s in no way a bad performance and the film is better than Elizabeth. However, she wasn’t a patch on Fernando Montenegra.

AnnE for Les Miserables. Sally Filed deserved it.

Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. Weak year, I would go with Cate Blanchett.

R95 Where did I say McDormand was bad? Emily Watson was better than her and so was Sally Hawkins

Sandra Bullock

Catherine Zeta Jones

Kate Winslet

How have we gotten this far without Kim Basinger in "LA Confidential"??

R126 you’re right! I think she won over Gloria Stuart because she had added sympathy over losing the Boxing Helena lawsuit with the actors branch of the Academy.

Tim Robbins is up there.

Cher was a great & deserved winner....totally charming. I've seen "Moonstruck" many many times. I also liked Tomei beating all the British gals - that was wonderfully deserved. Worst winner: Renee Zellweger (someone called her Foghorn Leghorn above). Terrible. Another awful choices was Roberto Begnini (sp) beating Ian McCellen in "Gods & Monsters" in 1998. Even though Goldie Hawn did not deserve an Oscar in 1969 for "Cactus Flower" - glad she won; frothy & fun....she held her own in a movie with Ingrid Bergman and Walter Matthau.

R120 You don't win Oscars for for not being completely awful, you should win for being outstanding, and she was just ok. Kate is on another planet. SIL was a pile of boring crap, at least Elizabeth was fun to watch.

Brie Larson for a dull performance in a dull film. I have no idea how that happened. Cher was fine in Moonstruck but the win was clearly based on her not getting a nomination for MASK where she was fucking brilliant and voters felt that she deserved recognition so they voted for her for Moonstruck.

Emma Stone

1940 Best Actor & Actress...woefully undeserving, both of them.

Cher didn’t deserve to win-Glenn Close was fucking robbed. And to make matters worse she got robbed again the following year when they gave Best Actress to Jodie Foster in THE ACCUSED. Miss Close was nothing less than magnificent in DANGEROUS LIAISONS. Jodie was her usual wooden self.

I can’t fucking stand Travolta or anything about him, so it pains me to admit I will forever be pissed that Tom Hanks beat him for Best Actor with the cringey Forrest Gump. Pulp Fiction is the only film I ever liked Travolta in and I never thought he got the credit he deserved for it.

Happy I'm not the only one who is baffled at the praise for Brie Larson's wan work in "Room". I didn't even see desperation. An actor with the goods like Emma Stone could've brought that role to life.

As I look at these comments I think of all the actors who truly deserved an Oscar and never got one: Thelma Ritter, Claude Rains, Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum, Doris Day, Judy Davis, John Huston( for acting), Orson Welles( for acting), Eli Wallach, Natalie Wood, and Gong Li.

Any of the starlets who've recently won - Jennifer Lawrence (should have been the old French lady), Brie Larson (weak year but would have given it to Charlotte Rampling), Emma Stone (Isabelle Huppert) or Natalie Portman (Annette Bening).

I just hope they don't continue the trend by award that ginger from Ireland and her awful Scottish accent as Mary, Lousy Queen of Scots. I can see Glen finally getting her due this year.

"Tatum O’Neal gave a funny, moving performance in Paper Moon, but she’s not really an actress. Madeline Kahn in the same film would have been the better choice."

Yet Tatum's performance was more well-rounded and had more notes than the brilliant Kahn's. It doesn't matter how it got there, that performance is one for the ages.

Winslet has been nominated too many times. She certainly wasn't top 5 for wither Iris or The Reader.

I can't stand Tom Hanks. He's humble about the talent he doesn't even have.

Ok I’ll give it to Monique she was great in that clip. Just like being in a NYC welfare office and yeah Mariah held her own. I just can’t watch this movie it’s too depressing and I’m on Enough meds.

R131 - My only beef with Tatum in Paper Moon is that she mouths her father's lines a few times (clearly anticipating her next line in the dialogue) and it totally takes me out of the "world" being created. I know she was only 9 or 10 so it's forgivable, but it BUGS me every time I think about her winning for that movie.

I obsessively watch "reactions" on stage, TV, and film for that. Always have.

I've never noticed that r143. Do you remember specific scenes? (I watch the movie frequently)

That Kim fucking Basinger won just shows what an embarrassing piece of wood Gloria Stuart was in Titanic. If Olivia deHavilland had rightly played the part, she would have waltzed off with her third Oscar. And just for the record, Cher for Moonstruck was the most warmly received and feel good win in Oscar history.

Cher had a lot going for her when she won. She was pretty much first runnerup for Silkwood, then she got overlooked for Mask but still attended the ceremony to present Supporting Actor to Don Ameche, plus in 1987 she had three big films Witches of Eastwick, Suspect and then Moonstruck. She was on a roll.

May I have your progeny, r143?

Jennifer Jones winning the Oscar for The Song Of Bernadette is questionable. It was her first big starring role and she was being groomed by powerful film executive David O. Selznick. She had an affair with Selznick and divorced her husband in order to marry Selznick. Her performance was credible but somewhat maudlin and one dimensional. Religious movies were very popular back then and with the backing of Selznick she almost couldn't lose - and she didn't.

The greek woman who won BSA in For Whom The Bell Tolls. She looked like Borgnine In drag.

R1 has my vote.

Tom Cruise should’ve won for Born on the 4th of July over Daniel Day-Lewis for My Left Foot.

Peter O'toole should have won all the Oscars!

I hope Glenn wins in 2019. I’m sure she’ll be nominated but it would be sad to see her lose to another subpar performance.

All the talk above about cher, Tatum O'Neill, even Kim Basinger. Even if you disagree with their winning and think there were better choices, they're performances were in no way bad!

On the other hand, I second (or third) Roberto Benigni. Cringing.

Russell Crowe as Best Actor for Gladiator. Really??? Was Steve Reeves unavailable for the role?

Whatever Oscar (nom) was given to Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp.

Goop wasn't that bad in Shakespeare in Love, I think they gave the Oscar for her performance in Hard Eight and Flesh and Bone. You never get the Oscar for the performance you deserve it for.

Whoever said Natalie Portman in Black Swan is spot on.

Nicole Kidman for "The Hours".

Boring movie, weak performance, embarrassing acceptance speech.

R157, She won by a nose.

If I have to pick one, I'm choosing Cuba Gooding, Jr. What the hell was that?

The rest: Kim Basinger, Roberto Benigni, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Stone, Tom Hanks (both times), Helen Hunt, Jennifer Lawrence.

[quote]If I have to pick one, I'm choosing Cuba Gooding, Jr. What the hell was that?

James Woods was nominated that year. It could have been worse.

Another vote for Cher in "Moonstruck".

Glenn Close was robbed.

Too many times the Oscar goes to the role and whoever happened to get that role.

Emma stone in la la land.

Hallie Berry was perfect in Monsters Ball.

Ed Begley, Sweet Bird of Youth

Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie

Jason Robards, All the President's Men (not bad, just doesn't nothing; similar to his win for Julia)

Agree with R164. I was happy Berry won for that final scene alone on the back porch where she decides not to pursue what she has just discovered and just accept this man's love. I was so dreading a big fight and makeup and instead it was all in her face. I loved that film.

R165, all three of those performances were fantastic.

[quote]Mo’nique owns this thread.

Do shut it.

goop

Russel Crowe

Snap out of it!

Russell Crowe won for Gladiator because he had lost the year before for The Insider.

Cuba Gooding won because the year before there had been an #oscars so white type protest.

In retrospect, George Chakiris (whatever happened to him) and Rita Moreno should not have won supporting Oscars for West Story. Montgomery Clift and Judy Garland should have won for Judgment at Nuremburg

Sorry, I find both Clift and Garland's performances hammy and histrionic. I'm surprised that Kramer didn't rein them in and demand something more credible since everyone else (Schell, Tracy, Dietrich) hits their marks.

Isn't there anybody else other than Clift or Chikaris? I once read Chikaris won an Oscar for "being able to dance while wearing a red shirt."

The other nominees were Peter Falk Pocket Full of Miracles and Jackie Gleason and George C., Scott for The Hustler.

I never saw those two films.

R176, had Maximilian Schell been rightly placed in the supporting category, he would have been an acceptable choice, enabling the the best actor trophy to go to Newman for The Hustler, the way it should.

Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins. Okay, it was a consolation Oscar but nonetheless.

I liked her work in "The Americanization of Emily," released the same year as Mary Poppins.

LaLa Land. All of it.

R145 - was Olivia ever in contention to play the role of old Rose in Titanic, or is it just wishful thinking? In any case, I agree with your post 100%.

[quote]Cher didn’t deserve to win-Glenn Close was fucking robbed. And to make matters worse she got robbed again the following year when they gave Best Actress to Jodie Foster in THE ACCUSED. Miss Close was nothing less than magnificent in DANGEROUS LIAISONS. Jodie was her usual wooden self.

I agree that Jodie Foster was overrated for THE ACCUSED. But I think they wanted to acknowledge the issue of date rape, which was topical at the time.

I think the Oscar should have gone to Sigourney Weaver for GORILLAS IN THE MIST.

Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God

Marlee Matlin

Julianne Moore

Another vote for Hanks in Forrest Gump. A hammy, overly sentimental performance in an awful movie. Travolta should have won and The Shawshank Redemption should have won best picture.

He was better in Philadelphia but he only won because it was a "brave" performance in a "brave" film. Hopkins should have won for The Remains of the Day. I loved him in Silence of the Lambs but he was brilliant in Remains.

I saw Silver Linings Playbook, but nothing about Jennifer Lawrence's performance was memorable. Had it starred different people and had a different director, it could have been a Hallmark movie.

Gary Oldman

Jennifer Lawrence's win was basically because they didn't know who else to give it to. Jessica Chastain was in a controversial film that people felt supported torture in Cuba plus she was kind of stoic in it. Naomi Watts in The Impossible was just functional and wasn't even that big of a role. Quvandjetie Wallis or however you spell it was a child and Emanuelle Riva was a french actress they never heard of and probably didn't watch the movie. She had a big publicity push but it was too late in the voting process.

Lawrence had given a popular performance in Winter's Bone and made them a lot of money with Hunger Games movies so they gave it to her.

[quote]Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins. Okay, it was a consolation Oscar but nonetheless.

Ann Bancroft in "The Pumpkin Eater" , anyone even heard of that film? Kim Stanley..."Seance on a Wet Afternoon" ditto, Sophia Sophia Loren in an Italian comedy "Marriage Italian Style" or Debbie Reynolds in a so so musical.

And yet fitly years later her performance and the movie are still iconic and universally loved. Watch people tear Emily Blunt apart for daring to tackle the part.

Anne

Richard Dreyfus in “The Goodbye Girl”. It was a hammy, overwrought performance.

I like Sandra Bullock a lot but an Oscar for “The Blind Side?” Gimme a break. She was far more worthy in “Gravity” but no one was beating Cate that year.

Whoever said Rita Moreno is a complete moron

Agree 100% on Sandra Bullock. What was the big stretch here? Her blonde Texas hair? The accent? Sassy line delivery? This could’ve been a TV movie of the week from the 80s. This wouldn’t win an Emmy Award in the limited series / movie category. That has turned into the REAL best actress race with worthy performances and fierce competition. Just think of the year Reese and Nicole from Big Little Lies were up against Jessica and Susan in Feud.

Jennifer Lawrence..she won her Oscar as a ‘well done’ for being such a big box office draw. It’s the most ‘meh’ Oscar winning role ever and the one mentioned most times in this thread so she wins this title. If only Naomi Watts role was slightly bigger she would’ve walked away with the (much overdue) hardware. To the poster who said she was just ‘functional’ in this role, you clearly don’t kno exceptional acting.

Denzil Washington always has that same dead stare. He doesn't know how to emote with his eyes.

Naomi Watts should have received an Oscar for Mulholland Drive.

If you're an actress and have to 'ugly it up', you've got a good chance of winning.

Geoffrey Rush should have been Best Supporting Actor, at best.

Hepburn On Golden Pond wins hands down.

Goopster wins this hands down.

Whoopi's win was one of those delayed wins.....she deserved it lock, stock and barrel for Color Purple, but got it for Ghost, in a role that Any Black Woman could have done, and done as well.

What "exceptional acting", R194 ? The character Naomi Watts was playing was in a coma for most of the duration of her film.

Tom Hanks Philadelphia. He was awful.

God, "The Impossible" was one of the worst nominations ever, right down to its silly title. And Naomi almost convincingly played Wet.

I still say her "Mulholland Drive" performance was a lucky accident since she didn't know she was playing a double life when first shot as a TV pilot. Her lousy sweet persona was given depth when they went and shot the evil stuff later and added it in. (Love the movie though).

Hepburn didn’t give a damn about winning Oscars. (Or she claimed she didn’t care.) When she received the “On Golden Pond” Oscar, it was placed in a paper bag, and stored in cupboard. Years later, it was still there in the paper bag.

R205, she was interviewed, I think on Cavett, and she said the reason she never went to the Oscar ceremonies when she was nominated was because she was scared she was going to lose.

Hepburn also said she was very proud to have won all of them but she didn't display them because she felt it was part of her past and she wanted to look forwards.

Even for its time, [italic]Airport[/italic] seemed more like a Movie of the Week than a theatrical release.

R177, But then we wouldn't have this moment.

Jean Dujardin for The Artist...completely forgotten 5 years later

Well, of course there's Luise Rainer in 1937, who won Best Actress for having one scene on the phone.....by that measure, every single gay man deserves a carload of Oscars.

Jennifer Lawrence

Emma Stone

Penelope Cruz

Catherine Zeta Jones

Lupita

Allison Janney

Sam Rockwell category fraud

Viola Davis category fraud

Alicia Vikander category fraud

Seems as though if an actor/tress shows up and puts their heart and soul into it, they get an Oscar nom.

Previously, putting your heart and soul into it was known as "acting."

I first thought of Judi Dench, but OP said "worst" performance; in Dench's case, for me it was matter of being undeserved, in that she was on-screen for like a minute. And I don't like it when they put lead roles in supporting categories (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Viola Davis). But I'm off-topic. I'll go with Charlton Heston for Ben Hur.

R144 - I haven't seen the film since I was a kid myself. At the time, I was also in the habit of rolling my eyes as Ricky Schroder mouthed other people's lines on "Silver Spoons"!

R147 - You made me smile!

R205 that was her Lion In Winter her Oscar. Her director Anthony Harvey accepted for her and brought it in the bag where it remained. Hepburn was fiercely competitive make no mistake. She never attended because she didn’t want to be in the audience as a potential loser.

Katharine Hepburn's 4 Oscars are on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. She cared about her Oscars. When she won for "On Golden Pond" - she called Jane Fonda and told her that "you will never catch up to me." She was very competitive and did not attend because she didn't want to sit there and lose. Better to act like you just don't care.

Catherine Zeta Jones

Jennifer Lawrence

Zeta-Jones was excellent. Who would you have voted for instead?

Come on, Catherine Zeta Jones deserved it for those dance moves alone -- and she was letter perfect and sexy (her last period to be that, I think). But I agree with Lawrence, though Brie is worse than all of them. Just a bland performance in a great role.

I don't understand how Cliff Roberston won for Charley beating Peter O'Toole for The Lion in Winter.

K Hepburn was such a fraud!

Zeta Jones wasn't even supporting she was lead #LeadIsLeadIsLead #CategoryFraud

But then Julianne Moore would've won and she had more screen time than Best Actress co-star Nicole Kidman. All strange politics.

Harvey Weinstein is responsible for 90% of category frauds wins and nominations

Agree with the poster who said Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur. He was such a ham.

nah r223. Lot's of Velma's stuff was cut from the show. Zellweger is clearly the lead and Zeta-Jones is supporting in the film. There are huge parts of the movie she isn't even in.

You're so right, R209. There's no way La Crawford would have disgraced herself by presenting an Oscar to a best SUPPORTING actor.

I think it's taken Hollywood about 30 years to work out that Jodie Foster simply CANNOT ACT.

Jessica Lange for Blue Sky. Bad movie, hammy performance.

She should have won for Music Box.

Absolutely, r 230! Love MUSIC BOX.

Hard to believe it is the work of Joe "Showgirls" Eztherhaus or however you spell it. (Too lazy to look up).

Gary Oldman

he was awful

Halle Berry the WORST!

Why has acting gone downhill so much? If you look at some of the nominee lists in the seventies and eighties all the actors are better than the people who win nowadays.

I won’t call Halle the worst, but she’s in the running. Not since F. Murray Abraham have I seen a career go in the opposite direction post Oscars...and a portion of that is her own doing. Why would an Oscar winning actress portray a Bond girl? Then do Catwoman, and badly....? Either she’s totally stupid or her agent was out to sabotage her career. She did some really dumb things...

Halle's speech was so awkward. I remember people saying she thinks she is the new Rosa Parks.

Jodie Foster for anything. I find her so wooden and inexpressive as an actress.

Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (only because he gave the same exact performance and won for it a few years prior in Inglorious Bastards)

R203, Tom Hanks really was terrible in Philadelphia. Denzel Washington acted him off the screen without even trying. I remember the Oscar-bait scene - Hanks holding onto the IV stand doing a monologue as the camera got closer and did something dramatic. I remember thinking "Oh, this is the Oscar begging scene." He was just bad and not believable at all.

Luise Rainer's "Good'by Flo" scene in The Great Ziegfeld would have gotten her laughed off the screen today. It's appalling - the eye rolling alone. That was her schtick. She was such a ham herself, but thought of herself as an artist. I think she got the Oscar because she was still being pushed by MGM, although only a year later they gave up on her even though she had a few more movies, they weren't prestige. I saw her scenes in a couple of other movies and it's the same thing all the time. That's all she does.

MGM apparently was behind Robert Donat getting the Oscar for Good'by Mr. Chips instead of Gable for Gone with the Wind. They wanted to boost the box office for Chips, while GWTW didn't need it. Donat is a great actor, though.

I Loved Morrisa Tomai and had her pegged to win...which looking back was a huge leap of faith cos Hollywood doesn't recognise comedy over drama..I had always guessed the best supporting actress...including the fab Mercedes ruehl.. so Marrisa deserves that Oscar. 😚

Oh well, at least you got my initials right.

R240- Tom Hanks is humble about the talent that he doesn't even have.

I've only read 20-30 posts at the beginning of this thread and there is a whole lot of wrong up there.

Never mind, it was ever thus.

Why did it go wrong for F. Murray Abraham? He really was great in Amadeus. In the Whoop Goldberg Oscar thread, his announcing Geraldine Page as the winner for Best Actress is still remembered and is one of those legendary smug and cringeworthy Oscar moments. Was that the moment that sealed his fate or was it simply winning the Oscar?

I think Halle's speech was too shrieky and high-strung. I thought Sissy Spacek deserved it for In the Bedroom. God, she was amazing, and while she's had an excellent career, she should still be getting big roles like Streep does.

Lange deserved for both Music Box and Men Don't Leave.

Abraham didn't really seem to get any traction at all from the Oscar win. If you look at his credits for the rest of the 80s there is almost nothing there.

Bullshit r204 -- Naomi gives a masterclass in the audition scene alone in Mulholland Drive - I'd rank that minute of acting up there with all the showstoppers. One of the greatest scenes about performance ever put on screen

Elizabeth Taylor

I wonder if you'd feel that way if her performance was only as sweet Betty, as originally shot. I doubt it. She got lucky that the pilot didn't get picked up and Lynch wrote all that evil stuff to frame the footage he had on his hands.

It worked out great but... still a lucky accident. (I love her at the end, though, exactly how I imagine suicide really feels).

Why do people keep insisting CZJ was lead? Is it just because Bebe Neuwirth won a Tony as Lead Actress? Velma is the antagonist in the movie, with the best songs and the best lines, but Roxie is the clear protagonist, and the film chronicles her story. And Velma does disappear for a good portion of the movie, while Roxie always remains the film’s focus.

Alicia Vikander I can understand, but insisting Zeta-Jones was really a lead seems like nonsense.

R251, I agree but since Queen Latifah was also nominated, there's a clear delineation between Matron as a supporting and Velma as a supporting.

Definitely for one of the earlier winners when acting was so melodramatic and unbelievable. Many people are misunderstanding the thread and just naming performance that "robbed", worthier nominated ones.

Dunno about the worst performance, but Halle Berry going on and on and on as if she'd discovered the cure for cancer . . .

What do people think of Mary Steenburgen in Melvin and Howard?

Sissy Spacek didn't deserve to win, all she did was play the wife. Halle was great in Monster's Ball, a deserved win. Your hate for this actress is vile.

r256 got triggered

r256 = Halle Berry still shrieking and serving the histrionics 17 years later.

[quote]I first thought of Judi Dench, but OP said "worst" performance; in Dench's case, for me it was matter of being undeserved, in that she was on-screen for like a minute.

Judi Dench admitted in her Oscar speech that she didn't think 8 minutes of screen time in "Shakespeare in Love" deserved an Oscar.

However, I think the Oscar voters wanted to reward Dench for "Mrs. Brown" the year before, which some people think she should have won for.

Gary Oldman - category fraud for best make up

R211, "Hello, Flo? . . ."

Sean Connery - The Untouchables

Helen Hunt

I thought Cate Blanchette was average in Blue Jasmine. Not even the best actress in the movie. Sally Hawkins was better. Javier Bardem did nothing surprising in “No Country...”. Ridiculous to choose Begnnini (sp?) over Ed Norton in American History X. And Chalamet’s performance was in a different league to Oldman’s prosthetic plod. Russell Crowe was fantastic in Gladiator btw.

R264 Crowe really won it for the Insider and deservedly so. Plus at the time there was a kidnapping threat against him. Washington and Crowe were robbed the year before when Spacey won. Gladiator was a terrible best pic choice. There were a few screenings that Academy members attended that Crowe showed up for that put him and the pic over the top. With the weighted ballot nowadays there is no way in hell Gladiator would win.

Halle Berry in "Monster's Ball." Here's what one critic said and it was very accurate:

"Historic though it may have been, Halle Berry's win for her mawkish performance in this execrable film is a blight by any standard. Sporting a "Hee Haw" Southern accent and given to explosive howls of misery, Berry's caricature of a woman suffering from loss is painful to behold even now, less than a decade later. Never mind that her competition that year -- Renee Zellweger for "Bridget Jones's Diary," Sissy Spacek for "In the Bedroom," Judi Dench for "Iris" and Nicole Kidman for "Moulin Rouge!" -- wasn't particularly stiff. It's tempting to think that the Academy was engaging in a bit of tokenism by giving this award to a black woman for the first time, but it seems just as plausible that they were congratulating the blindingly beautiful Berry (who, to be fair, is usually much better than she was in this film) for going topless."

Judy Dench in Philomena >>> Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

I would have given the Oscar to Judi Dench for "Notes on A Scandal" instead of Helen Mirren for "The Queen".

Only on the datlounge: Cate Blanchett is "average" but Timothee Chalamet is a genius!!!

But Judi Dench is pretty great in her few scenes in Shakespeare in Love (but yes it was a make up award as is often the case plus look at the competition: Lynn Redgrave (some liked it but some called it a cross between Edith Bunker and the bride of Frankenstein, Kathy Bates (already won), Rachel Griffiths (new, small film) and Brenda Blethyn was considered too hammy and some people objected to the nomination.)

Ed Norton wasn't even in contention that year. His nomination was a surprise. The film had come and gone from theaters without much notice and some felt it glorified gang violence.

GLADIATOR!!!!!!!

Tilda Swinton > Cate Blanket