Saturday, September 25, 2021

Alternate Oscars: 2015

Ted 2 turns out to be my answer to a meme floating around the internet a couple of years ago — name a movie you like released since 2000 that scored less than 50% (i.e., was panned by most critics) on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer.

This turned out to be much tougher than I anticipated, largely because I rarely bother to see movies that have been critically panned. I counted only thirty-nine movies with a "splat" rating that I've even seen — forget liked — and only twelve of those in the theater. What can I tell you? I never go to a movie on its opening weekend, I pay attention to the critical buzz, and I trust my gut when I see the preview. It's like those commercials for Cici's Pizza — if it looks bad when people are being paid to make it look good, it's probably terrible.

Anyway, of those movies, Ted 2 is the only one that almost made my annual top ten. Sure, it stars a foul-mouthed, dope-smoking teddy bear, but it has some clever things to say about what it means to be a human being, and the dangers of treating some of those beings as less human than others. If its brilliant second act hadn't been done in by an utterly inane third, I would have nominated it for best picture. Check it out.



My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. Best animated feature winners are noted with an @. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Alternate Oscars: 2014

A combination of personal favorites and consensus picks ...

Note: while I have set up the polls so that you can only vote once for picture, director and the four acting categories, you may click on multiple answers in the Special Award poll.


My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. Best animated feature winners are noted with an @. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.