There were a lot of candidates. Until I sat down to write, I didn't realize how many bad/mediocre movies have received Best Pictures. The only problem was narrowing the list to 10. So, to cut down the candidates, I excluded pre-1934 and post-1990 movies. First, the pre-1934 movies were products of their time and can't be judged by today's standards. Secondly, post 1990 for the most part suck. Including them would mean all ten slots would be filled by the likes of Crash, Shakespeare In Love, American Beauty, etc.
1. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) She's a rich Jewish lady of the South, high-toned, spoiled, stubborn to a fault, He's a black illiterate chauffeur, wise, patient and in need of a job. And me, I was bored silly.
2. Around the World in 80 Days (1956) This endless, bloated, tedious travelogue was sheer torture. Maybe its better on the big screen but I doubt it.
3. Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Gregory Peck takes on anti-semitism in this 1947 snooze fest. Another sermon from Hollywood in movie form. Its very serious and responsible, they just forgot the "entertainment" part. Peck pretends to be Jewish in the film - and does about well as you'd expect. Later, Peck played a Nazi in "THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL". What range! Is there any role Peck couldn't play?
4. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)- The only thing I dislike more than the Circus, is movies about the Circus.
5. You Can't Take it with You (1938) Painfully long and unfunny Capra comedy. With Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur. Love all three - but not in this movie.I came to laugh but fell asleep instead. Full of Capra corn, hokey, and slow. I'd write more but I couldn't finish it.
6. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) A TV Movie of the week.
7. Midnight Cowboy (1969) Imagine "Dumb and Dumber" as an X-rated drama and you have "Midnight Cowboy". Voight and Hoffman are wasted in this unbelievable story about two men in 1969 NYC. One's a naive male prostitute the other his sickly friend. Both struggle to survive on the streets of New York City. Both are incredibly stupid.
8. All the King's Men (1949) From Robert Penn Warren's pretentious, boring novel about a fictional Huey Long comes this pretentious, boring movie about a fictional Huey Long. Like George Wallace, Long was someone everyone in elite America disliked. So of course Hollywood had to make a "brave" - but low budget - movie attacking him. Lots of hokum about "power corrupts." The plot is predictable, Crawford is arrogant and full of bluster. and everyone else is boring or charmless. BTW, the real Huey Long could charm the birds off the trees and had some good ideas as well as some bad ones.
9. Life of Emile Zola (1937)- Another boring, 1930s prestige pictures put out by WB and rewarded with an Oscar. Frankly, I didn't know much about Zola before watching this and now - I've decided to stop while I'm ahead. Dreyfus, Zola, it all seems as unimportant and Boring as the 1858 Tariff debate. Muni fills the screen with his usual brand of owlish importance and wears a beard.
10. Terms of Endearment (1983) Manipulative, shallow, chick flick. Like Kramer v Kramer, it reminded me of a Lifetime TV movie of the week. Jack and Shirley overact shamelessly. Maybe, I wasn't the target audience for this film.
Honorable Mention: Rocky, Rain Man, Silence of the Lambs, Dances with Wolves, Tom Jones, Mrs. Miniver, West Side Story.
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