OSCAR SNUBS: Who I Think Should Have Won 2010 - 2025

Every year, I watch the Oscars. For me, along with the Super Bowl and the Tony Awards, the Oscars are a must-watch event. I don't know why. On the inside, the value of a movie isn't about how many nominations it gets during the awards season. It's about how it makes you feel. That is art is about. 

Also, I know that the Oscars are not about what movie is actually the better movie. It's about how well the movie campaigns for itself. Production companies spend millions of dollars to ensure that their film gets on "the shortlist". 

Still, every year I find myself watching and waiting in anticipation to see which movie gets the awards, and every year I find myself getting worked up about the films that won versus the ones that didn't. With the exception of a few, I have always been disappointed in what the Academy chooses as their winner, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the category of Best Picture.

And with that, here is a list of the Best Picture winners from the past 15 years, compared to the movie that I feel deserved to win that year. FWIW: This list is just one actor's opinion, and not meant to garner any hate from you all. If you don't like my list, then make your own.

2025

• Winner - Anora
• My Pick - Conclave

Reason: While I enjoyed watching Anora, I felt it to be a very odd choice for the Academy. To me, Conclave really had everything: excellent cinematography, an intense story, and all-around excellent performances by the entire cast.

2024

• Winner - Oppenheimer
• My Pick - Oppenheimer

Reason: I am the biggest Christopher Nolan fan. However, I think he should have won far earlier in his career (Inception, Interstellar). I don't think Oppenheimer is his greatest film. However, for that year, I think it truly was the best film of the year, and I'm glad it won.

2023

• Winner - Everything Everywhere All At Once
• My Pick - All Quiet on the Western Front

Reason: When it got time to the actual Oscars, it became clear that EEAAO was going to win just based on everyone's opinion. However, I felt that on the whole, AQOTWF was actually a more well-rounded film that deserved more recognition than it got. I know it was a foreign film, and it was a remake, but it was astonishing.

2022

• Winner - CODA
• My Pick - West Side Story

Reason: I'm sorry, but I just wasn't that enthralled with CODA. It was a beautiful story, and I'm very happy that Troy Kotsur won. However, Steven Spielberg's West Side Story was the best movie that year. Maybe I'm a tad bit biased because of my theatre background, and with West Side Story being my all-time favorite musical, but I just didn't get the same feeling walking out of CODA that I did walking out of West Side Story.

2021

• Winner - Nomadland
• My Pick - Judas and the Black Messiah

Reason: This one really made me mad. No offense to Chloe Zhao (director) or to Frances McDormand, but this entire year was a bunch of disappointments: Chadwick Boseman not winning for Best Actor, and Nomadland winning Best Picture. 

2020

• Winner - Parasite
• My Pick - 1917

Reason: I know that everyone was incredibly happy for Parasite given the cultural significance of it being a South Korean foreign film winning. However, I felt the single-shot format of 1917 was genius, and made for a better film that year.

2019

• Winner - Green Book
• My Pick - BlacKkKlansman

Reason: If there was ever a year where I wholeheartedly disagreed with the pick for Best Picture, it was this year. I mean, I don't think anyone is going to jump on and defend Green Book. Also, if there was ever a year where they were going to give Spike Lee the Oscar he so desperately deserves, then it should've been this year with BlacKkKlansman.

2018

• Winner - The Shape of Water
• My Pick - Get Out

Reason: The Shape of Water was decent, but if we are talking about the best movie of that year, that was Get Out. I know that the Academy has a weird thing when it comes to the horror genre, but regardless of the genre, this was the best movie of that year. 

2017

• Winner - Moonlight
• My Pick - Lion

Reason: You might've thought that I was going to say La La Land given the whole controversy that year, but my pick that year was Lion. HOT TAKE: I didn't really like Moonlight. 

2016

• Winner - Spotlight
• My Pick - Mad Max: Fury Road

Reason: As a Bostonian myself, I lived through the Spotlight scandal. In fact, I was an alter server while all of those stories came pouring out. So, I appreciated Spotlight for what it was. However, I felt like it was the safe choice that year, funny enough. Overall, Mad Max: Fury Road was a cinematic masterpiece. It was a beautiful movie, and swept all of the visual effects awards that year. 

2015

• Winner - Birdman
• My Pick - Whiplash or The Grand Budapest Hotel

Reason: I really enjoyed Birdman. I thought Keaton was phenomenal, and everyone else was also incredible. However, if you were to ask me about the movies that year that I still think about 11 years later, it would be Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Especially for the latter, I felt like this film was Wes Anderson's magnum opus. 

2014

• Winner - 12 Years A Slave
• My Pick - 12 Years A Slave

Reason: This was one of the only years where I genuinely agreed with the Academy's pick. In fact, if they didn't give it to 12 Years A Slave, I think I would've broke my television in anger.

2013

• Winner - Argo
• My Pick - Life of Pi

Reason: I am genuinely happy that Argo won. I thought it was a fantastic movie. However, again, I feel like the Academy doesn't see films on the whole for how breathtaking they are. Life of Pi was not only well performed, but the visuals were beautiful. Also, they gave almost every other award to Life of Pi that year, it felt weird not to give Best Picture to them.

2012

• Winner - The Artist
• My Pick - The Artist

Reason: Weak year.

2011

• Winner - The King's Speech
• My Pick - Inception

Reason: Again, Inception was a masterpiece of filmmaking by Nolan. I think about this movie so much. Ask me how often I think about The King's Speech.

2010

• Winner - The Hurt Locker
• My Pick - Inglourious Basterds

Reason: I remember the whole world was really happy that Kathryn Bigelow won that year, and was not only rooting for this movie to win, but especially for her ex-husband's movie to lose (James Cameron for Avatar. Yuck). However, if you were to ask me about which movie that year was all-around the better movie, I would have to give it to Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. 

Tell me what your thoughts are in the comments.