Register  |   Log In  |  
Sign up to our weekly newsletter    
Search   
Empire Magazine and iPad
Follow Me on Pinterest
Empire
Trending On Empire
Two free posters with Empire magazine
Subscribe: Get Dead Island: Riptide
Empire's Soundtrack Celebration
90 Years Of Warner Bros.
Your chance to win a Blu-ray every day!
Cannes Film Festival 2013
News, photos and more from the Croisette
Feature
22 Incredibly Shocking Oscars Injustices
We attempt to right those Oscar wrongs

Christopher Nolan fans might disagree, but the Academy has done a pretty top-notch job of picking the strongest candidates to slug it out at the Kodak this February – but it hasn’t always done quite as well with its picks. In fact, there’ve been years when the runners and riders seemed to be picked via some kind of elaborate game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Think about the giddy adventure of Raiders Of The Lost Ark losing out to Chariots Of Fire which, stirring as it was, was really just a two-hour long reason to go for a jog. Not to mention Alfred Hitchcock never winning a single Academy Award. Not one. Then there’s It’s A Wonderful Life getting pipped by The Best Years Of Our Lives, Apocalypse Now taking a slow-mo sword swipe from Kramer Vs. Kramer, and Citizen Kane losing to, erm... we forget. But those are minor injustices compared to some of the other kahunas we’ve identified and, in our own small way, rectified.

WORDS PHIL DE SEMLYEN
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
  1 of 22 Next
22 Incredibly Shocking Oscars Injustices | Best Actor (1999)
Best Actor (1999)

Who should have won: Edward Norton (American History X)

Who won: Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful)

Much as we’d love to imagine Edward Norton bunny-hopping over the seats of dignitaries in a blizzard of arm-swinging zaniness, he had to slump back in his chair and watch Roberto Benigni do the honours when Helen Hunt read out the Best Actor winner back in 1999. Both boasted their share of Nazis – the ultimate Oscar catnip – but Life Is Beautiful won the hearts and minds of the Academy in a way that American History X, with its brute force and kerb-stamp intensity, couldn’t hope to emulate. Single-minded in a way that doesn’t always play well in Hollywood, Norton’s very public fallout and lawsuit with director Tony Kaye didn’t help his cause either. Still, his ferocious, seething skinhead Derek Vinyard should have put the gentle buffoonery of Guido Orefice onto the pavement.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
 
1 of 22
Next

Have Your Say
Register or login now to let us know what you think.

Your Comments

1
Munich a "lesser Spielberg"? I seem to remember your review describing it as Spielberg operating at his peak. Don't worry, I appreciate that there is more than one Empire writer. It's just that I absolutely adore Munich and I consider it one of his best. So, needless to say, I would've given it the main prizes, however Brokeback Mountain would have been a worthy winner and GNAGL was excellent as well. Absolutely ridiculous that Crash won over all of them. Even the not-nominated comic book classics that year like Sin City and A History Of Violence were waaaaay better. More

Posted by Mr Gittes on Friday April 5, 2013, 14:07

2 goodfellas!!
Martin scorsese should've won the Oscar for "Goddfellas" i think. He also didn't accept the Oscar when he had made "Raging Bull" More

Posted by movielover28 on Thursday February 23, 2012, 19:29

3 Shawshank!
Shawshank should have got best picture at the 67th Awards. Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction are both brilliant but Shawshank is EPIC! More

Posted by guysalisbury on Friday February 17, 2012, 09:48

4 RE: 22 Incredibly Shocking Oscars Injustices
How about The best visual effects win for The Golden Compuss when Transformers should of won they were first rate effects. More

Posted by NCC1701A on Monday March 14, 2011, 14:37

5 Kramer vs Kramer vs Apocalypse Now
Describing Kramer vs Kramer as a "courtroom drama" only serves to demonstrate that whoever wrote this copy hasn't actually seen the film. The award was for best director, not "most complicated production", "most gruelling shoot", or "most impressive film". Robert Benton's work on Kramer vs Kramer was nothing short of astonishing. The Academy didn't get that one wrong at all. More

Posted by byronbache on Saturday February 26, 2011, 04:34

6 1999: "The Insider" scandal...
Sorry,but what about the great Michael Mann ??Oh yes he's just a "minor" director: "last of the mohicans","collateral","public enemies","heat"...and his masterpiece,"the insider".In 1999, "American Beauty" had scandalously stolen all the statues that "the insider" deserved.It's for me the bigest scandal in Oscars history so far. The victory of "Titanic" over "L.A. Confidential" comes in second. The fact that "Seven" has received only the Editing Oscar comes in 3rd. More

Posted by tylerseven on Wednesday February 23, 2011, 12:00

7 The Oscars are mostly a farse
The reality is that the Oscars are not given out to whom deserves them, but to who's politically relevant at the time, or who's due one after all these years. Take Morgan Freeman: He was given one for million dollar baby because they owed him one for Shawshank. Or Hitchcock who never won a Oscar probably because he just made thrillers, and they're not "deep". (even though he rewrote Freud with his work) Let's face it: If you're an ethnic, disabled midget, with learning difficulties you might as well prepare your speech now. What annoys me the most is that the Oscar don't usually go to the best films, but to the ones that tick the most political boxes. A film about croutons and their interaction with soup should beat a film about apartheid if it's a better film. Nuff said. More

Posted by David Hirst on Monday February 21, 2011, 21:57

8 Judi Dench
You mention that Judi Dench's run time is a little too skinny for the Oscar? What about Beatrice Straight's performance as Louise Schumacher in Network? Just over five minutes = best supporting gong. More

Posted by Lord Byron Pitt on Wednesday February 16, 2011, 17:58

9
I agree with most from the list and especially the blasphemous non-recognition of Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick for their masterpieces or just for pure direction. Even though any awards should not be considered as a sure-fire metric standard for measuring up a quality of a movie still they are a way of recognizing the genius from any field, movies or not. But if I do take it that way, Oscars surely did some injustices by IGNORING... 1. The Maltese Falcon 2. Pacino (for any of the seven roles he was nominated for instead of the one he actually won for) 3. Dressed To Kill (1980) for at least some nominations 4. Denzel Washington (Cry Freedom, Crimson Tide), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Kevin Spacey (SE7EN), Tom Hanks (Cast Away) - (How could they miss that one ??!!!), Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Sergio Leone, Robert Altman and his creations, especially M*A*S*H (1970). Also SE7EN(1995), L. A. Confidential (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), More

Posted by Amol on Monday February 14, 2011, 05:31

10 RE: Best Documentary, 78th Academy Awards
What about Tron not being included for Best Visual Effects because it was done using computers? Wow. More

Posted by JCRendle on Monday February 7, 2011, 21:35

11 RE: more Oscars injustices
One glaring omission from the oscar omissions feature was Ralph Feinnes (as Amon Goeth in Schindlers list) losing out to Tommy Lee Jones (As Sam "Shouty cop" Gerrard in The Fugitive) at the 1994 oscars. Shocking More

Posted by snaze1 on Monday February 7, 2011, 17:14


CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS
Cannes Film Festival Videblogisode #3
Featuring Justin Timberlake, Marion Cotillard, Clive Owen and Carey Mulligan!

The Biggest Doctor Who Jaw-Droppers
The Time Lord's biggest surprises over 50 years of TV

Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch: A Beginner's Guide To The Avengers 2 Newcomers
Your primer on the brother and sister joining the A-team

Clint Mansell On Making Requiem For A Dream
'Darren had to edit at night because he could get access to the studio for free then.'

Arrested Development Video Interviews
Say hello to Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Tony Hale, Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat

Empire's Favourite Music Moments
From The Pixies to Burt Bacharach via Audioslave

The 20 Soundtracks That Defined The 2000s
The sounds of a dark knight, a mischievous Parisian, a troubled family and one flying house...

Subscribe For Only £20
Get Dead Island: Riptide and six issues of Empire for only £20! Subscribe now
Steven Spielberg iPad App
Hollywood's most beloved director in this unique iPad special. Download now
Empire iPad Edition
The world's biggest movie magazine available on iPad Download now
Home  |  News  |  Blogs  |  Reviews  |  Future Films  |  Features  |  Interviews  |  Images  |  Competitions  |  Forum  |  iPad  |  Podcast  |  Magazine Contact Us  |  Empire FAQ  |  Subscribe To Empire  |  Register
© Bauer Consumer Media  |  Terms And Conditions  |  Our Data Promise To You  |  Bauer Entertainment Network
Bauer Consumer Media. Company number 1176085 (England). Registered Office: 21 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DY