The 5 most controversial Oscars Best Picture wins of all time, including Shakespeare in Love
The Academy Awards have honored plenty of deserving films with the Best Picture Oscar over the years, although some of the wins have left us more confused than congratulatory.
As you look back on the history of the Oscars, you can see a year like 2010, where David Fincher’s titanic The Social Network lost out on Best Picture to Tom Hooper’s historical drama The King’s Speech as a year where the Academy fumbled an all-time achievement for a movie of the moment with (the dreaded Harvey Weinstein campaign machine behind it).
There are plenty more moments like this where all-time great films have gotten the shaft for whatever reason to lesser winners, but five in the award show’s history stand out.
We’ve gathered what we think are the five most notorious Best Picture wins in the show’s history, from the upset that defined what a Best Picture controversy could look like to one as recently awarded as 2019. Let’s dive in and see which films give people the most frustration as controversial picks.