Actors/Actresses who won Oscars for the wrong films

Jessica Lange winning for Tootsie and not for Frances.

Meryl Streep winning for the Iron Lady and not for The Devil Wears Prada.

Humphrey Bogart winning for [italic]the African Queen[/italic] instead of [italic]Casablana[/italic] or [italic]the Maltese Falcon[/italic]

William Holden winning for Stalag 17 instead of Sunset Blvd.

Julianne Moore should’ve won for Far From Heaven instead of Still Alice.

OP and was better in Donnie Brasco for which he wasn't even nominated.

Gwyneth Paltrow winning for Shakespeare in Love instead of for… absolutely nothing.

Natalie Portman for Jackie not Black Swan.

R6 I thought she was great in Two Lovers.

Denzel Washington should’ve won for Malcolm X instead of Training Day.

Bette Davis owns this thread.

She should have won for All About Eve, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Now Voyager and Of Human Bondage. Not for that GWTW wanna-be tripe Jezebel and the even worse and totally forgettable Dangerous.

Colin Firth for The King’s Speech instead of A Single Man.

Firth did win for The King's Speech. Nominated for A Single Man, but did not win.

I think Jimmy Stewart would be on this list-- perhaps Mr Smith instead of Philadelphia Story.

Russell Crowe, too, should have won for The Insider, not Gladiator.

So many examples.

Julianne Moore, yes. But she should have won Supporting for Boogie Nights.

Kim fucking Basinger getting the Oscar that year for LA Confidential was a travesty.

These are interesting

R6 & R8 I think Paltrow is essentially a low-talent cunt, who if not for nepotism, wouldn't have done remotely as well as she did. However: I DO like her in "The Talented Mr. Ripley". But that character is quite a bit like her as a person.

Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind instead of The Reader.

Sidney Poitier gave so many greater performances than Lillies of the Field.

Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8, instead of for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Nicole Kidman should’ve won for To Die For or Moulin Rouge! instead of The Hours.

Nicole Kidman for The Others.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Gwyneth Paltrow. I know its an unpopular opinion here but she deserved her Oscar. The only other nominee that year who was close was Cate Blanchett, who gave a good performance but no different than you'd see on Masterpiece Theater. Paltrow's performance was in the same category as Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. She lit up the screen but never lived up to the promise the aforementioned Hepburns did.

*it's

Diane Keaton for Looking for Mr. Goodbar instead of Annie Hall (same year; only nominated for AH).

Ellen Burstyn for Requiem for a Dream instead of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Maybe she should have won both and maybe another for The Exorcist.

R15, she's even better in the Royal Tennebaums, similar character.

I hate her in everything else.

Bing Crosby should have won for "The Country Girl", and not "Going My Way".

R20 Wtf did you smoke? Fernanda Montenegro was nominated that year.

Gene Hackman for The Chamber and not Unforgiven.

For Julianne Moore I would also say The Hours and not Nicole.

[quote]Fernanda Montenegro was nominated that year

And? It was a very good performance. Not enough to transcend the fact Central Station was a foreign film and most Americans had never heard of her.

Whoopi Goldberg in "The Color Purple" instead of "Ghost."

Russell Crowe for "A Beautiful Mind" instead of "Gladiator."

R23, I would've given Burstyn an Oscar for [italic]Resurrection[/italic].

And Benicio del Toro should've won for [italic]the Usual Suspects[italic].

Al Pacino really owns this thread. He deserved to win for ANY performance other than Scent of a Woman, lord.

Joaquin Phoenix should’ve won for The Master. Leonardo DiCaprio should’ve won for The Wolf of Wall Street.

Brie Larson’s Oscar would’ve been more deserving if she had won for Short Term 12.

Lupita Nyong’o should’ve won an Oscar for Us (for which she wasn’t even nominated) instead of 12 Years a Slave.

Julie Andrews shoulda won for The Sound of Music rather than Mary Poppins. One-note in MP, she's absolutely dazzling in TSOM.

Unfortunately, that would mean taking away Julie Christie's Oscar for Darling, and I'm loathe to do that.

Judi Dench won for Shakespeare in Love, but not Mrs. Brown or Notes on a Scandal

If Grace Kelly HAD to win an Oscar it should’ve been for Rear Window.

Gloria Grahame’s Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful is puzzling. She gave so many better performances than that.

Melissa Leo won forThe Fighter, when she was so much better in Frozen River

Christian Bale didn't merit an Oscar for The Fighter, but he did for Empire Of The Sun

Laura Dern should have won for The Master, rather than Marriage Story

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman should have won for Shawshank Redemption instead of those dreary Clint Eastwood movies.

And Renee Zellweger was not deserving of an award for Cold Mountain but did merit one for Bridget Jones' Diary or Nurse Betty.

Cher winning for Moonstruck, when she should have won for Mask.

[quote]I'm loathe to do that.

Oh, dear.

R33 is spot-on. Leo is just incredible in WOLF as is Joaquin in THE MASTER. Those guys are great actors in the right roles, wow. (Esp Joaquin--I think he's always good.)

R44 The fact they won for films like The Revenant and Joker is proof the Oscars are a joke.

Kiki Dunst will probably be nominated (or win) this year for The Power of the Dog instead of being rewarded for Melancholia. The performance of her career.

R24 Yes! I love that movie and saw it in the cinema three or so times. And she really is very good in it.

Gary Oldman for unnominated Sid & Nancy, instead of The Darkest Hour

Joaquin Phoenix for The Master, instead of Joker

Jeff Bridges for unnominated The Big Lebowski instead of Crazy Heart

Forest Whitaker for unnominated Bird instead of The Last King of Scotland

Russell Crowe for the Insider, instead of Gladiator.

Julianne Moore for Far From Heaven, instead of Still Alice

Reese Witherspoon for unnominated Election, instead of Walk the Line

Nicole Kidman for unnominated To Die For AND for unnominated The Others, instead of The Hours

Christopher Plummer for The Insider instead of (or maybe in addition to) Beginners

Alan Arkin for unnominated The Slums of Beverly Hills instead of Little Miss Sunshine

Jim Broadbent for Moulin Rouge! instead of Iris in 2001

Benicio del Toro for The Usual Suspects instead of Traffic

Viola Davis for Doubt instead of Fences (where she should have been in lead!)

Alicia Vikander for Ex Machina instead of The Danish Girl (where should have been in lead!) in the same year

Cate Blanchett for The Talented Mr. Ripley instead of The Aviator

Renee Zellweger for unnominated Jerry Maguire instead of Cold Mountain

Jennifer Connelly for unnominated Requiem for a Dream instead of A Beautiful Mind

Rarely do actors get Oscars for the movies that they are really remembered for...

[Quote] The fact they won for films like The Revenant and Joker is proof the Oscars are a joke.

Proof that box office does, in fact, play a role at the Oscars.

[quote] "Unfortunately, that would mean taking away Julie Christie's Oscar for Darling, and I'm loathe to do that."

I really liked her in "Away From Her", but no way was she going to win against Marion Cotillard. She has other noms, but I think "Darling" and "Away From Her" are the best of the group.

R48 really went after it! She's been TAKING NOTES!

Meryl Streep should have won for The Devil Wears Prada instead of for Iron Lady.

R53 Oh, really? (R1)

Ha! I didn't read the entire thread R54. My bad.

Jodie Foster should have won for Nell and not The Silence Of The Lambs.

You’ve got to be kidding R20. Blanchett was extraordinary as Elizabeth I

[quote]Jodie Foster should have won for Nell and not The Silence Of The Lambs.

OMFG are you serious?? Nell was probably the most embarrassing performance of Foster's career. What a horrible movie and a laughable performance.

"Tay inna wan"

I wish Heath Ledger had won for BBM.

R58 Nell is only good if you look at is a comedy.

[quote]Blanchett was extraordinary as Elizabeth I

No. She was fine. I like her a lot. But it was nothing special.

I actually think Blanchett is better in the sequel to Elizabeth. (that I command the wind moment alone was deserving.)

Jane Fonda was brilliant in Klute but Coming Home was just an all is forgiven win for Vietnam and her blacklisting due to it.

All her other nominations plus Agnes of God (not even nominated) were better.

Robin Williams: Good Will Hunting, and not The Fisher King or Dead Poets Society

Jeff Bridges: Crazy Heart, and not for The Big Lebowski or The Contender

Susan Sarandon: Dead Man Walking, and not for Atlantic City

Whoopi Goldberg: Ghost, and not for The Color Purple (but her Ghost win was a great thing for comedies at the Oscars)

Tom Hanks: Forrest Gump, and not for Saving Private Ryan (His Oscar for Philadelphia was deserved, but his Forrest Gump performance is likely to be "problematic" within a generation)

Dustin Hoffman: Rain Man, and not for Tootsie (Same reason as Hanks and FG)

Anne Bancroft: The Miracle Worker, and not for The Graduate

Russell Crowe: Gladiatior, and not for A Beautiful Mind

Shirley MacLaine: Terms of Endearment, and not for The Apartment (but Terms was an amazing performance)

Joan Fontaine for Rebecca and not for Suspicion

William Holden for Sunset Blvd and not for Stalag 17

Sidney Poitier for The Defiant Ones and not for Lilies of the Field

Does this mean there had to be a "right" film?

Not bloody likely.

Luis Rainer

"The Good Earth" instead of "The Great Ziegfeld"

"The Great Ziegfeld" instead of "The Good Earth"

MIa Farrow for... for...

Oh.

Never mind.

Henry Fonda -on Golden pond

Russell Crowe for "The Insider" instead of "The Gladiator"

Penelope Cruz for "Volver" instead of "Vicky, Crisina, Barcelona."

Melissa Leo for "Frozen River" instead of "The Fighter."

Lots of these show they give makeup awards. Russell Crowe won for Gladiator because he lost for The Insider. Leo won for The Revenant because he lost for Wolf of Wall Street etc.

Joan Crawford should have won for "Sudden Fear", not "Mildred Pierce".

R73 "And it was Gloria Swanson who was robbed in 1950, not YOU, bitch!"

This thread confirms that the Oscars are an idiotic horse race.

Some knowledgeable man here said they lost their value around 1970 but I forgot why.

I can think of three very wrongly awarded Oscars.

Michelle Pfeiffer never won, but she might've beat out Brenda Fricker in 1990 if they had put her in Supporting for her role in "The Fabulous Baker Boys." No way could she have beaten Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy," even though that movie was basically "Green Book" for Boomers.

Then again, Hollywood loves a story about a sick fuck (or a sick fuck's mother), so Brenda's Oscar wasn't going anywhere.

In what world is Pfeiffer supporting in The Fabulous Baker Boys????

R78 The same world where Timothy Hutton is supporting in Ordinary People.

r79, and that was incorrect.

This thread keeps showing me there's a new post but I keep seeing R79. I suspect there's an 80th response and I have that poster blocked.

That is all.

Gee, thanks, cunt at R81.

R81 does our Virtue-Signalling for us. We must praise R81.

Russell Crowe sang so awfully on the Oscars and you can hear him the loudest over all the others in the choral moments. They should have turned his mike down.

You barely hear AnnE in her final moment (I think she's singing Epoinie's line there.)

Jeremy Irons should have won for Dead Ringers instead of Reversal Of Fortune.

I hate The Piano so I'd say Holly Hunter should have won for Broadcast News (though Cher is great and Glenn is legendary that same year so I'd put her in third.)

Beatrice Straight won for "Network," and wasn't even nominated for her work as the drunken ghost-chaser in "Poltergeist."

Just kidding. She was fantastic in "Network."

[quote] Al Pacino winning for Scent of a Woman instead of Dog Day Afternoon or The Godfather Part II is an obvious example.

So true. Especially for Godfather Part II. Hell, he should have another for Heat or Donnie Brasco.

Bardem- dont get me wrong he was great in NCFOM but he was even better in Before Night Falls

Russel Crowe for Gladiator and not A Beautiful mind

Amazing this thread is so long without one of the most egregious examples:

Paul Newman for the Color of Money when he lost for Cool Hand Luke and Hud and The Verdict and The Hustler....

Cliff Robertson for Charly instead of Peter O'Toole for A Lion In Winter.