Although we enjoy the Academy Awards every year, we always walk away with a sour taste in our mouths. Today I will continue my series on the Oscar winners. I will share my thoughts on who won, who should’ve won and who should’ve been nominated.
The first race I am going to tackle is the 2011 Best Picture race.
Here were the 9 films nominated for Best Picture.
- The Artist
- The Tree of Life
- The Help
- The Descendants
- Hugo
- Midnight in Paris
- Moneyball
- War Horse
- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Who Won?
An egomaniacal film star develops a relationship with a young dancer against the backdrop of Hollywood’s silent era.
The Artist was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and the film took home 5 Oscar Trophies including Best Actor, Best Direction and Best Picture.
Who Should Have Won?: Moneyball
‘Moneyball’ was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and the film went home empty-handed. I still believe this was my favorite Brad Pitt’s performance (prior to Ad Astra and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). Billy Beane’s story was an intriguing one, one of which was filled with obstacles that were laid out rather well within the film and showcased a side of baseball we had never seen before.
This film was hands down the best of the films nominated and should have won.
Who Should Have Been Nominated? Drive
The best part about Drive is the fact that the trailer gives you a thrill-ride but what they don’t showcase is the beautiful story it tells. Drive was hands down the best film of 2011 and nothing was even remotely close. I think the Academy was afraid to take a chance on such a visceral film. Drive received one Academy Award nomination for Sound Editing (which it should have won) and it is truly sad.
To me, one of the most beautiful things this film did was utilize the jacket. Driver (Gosling) didn’t wear the jacket unless he was turning into the vicious, stone-cold killer. Gosling gave a chilling performance that lacked the recognition that it deserved. I would dare anyone to watch this film and tell me that it’s not good because I would tell you that you just don’t like art.
Drive is truly a remarkable film that the Academy missed the boat on.
Who would you have picked as the winner? And what film was missing from being nominated?
Family, Faith, Film and Football.
