And the Oscar Goes To...Not These Films

Over at The Film Experience, my fellow contributors and I had another one of our nifty monthly polls. In light of all the fall Film Festivals giving us our first look at Oscar hopefuls (Telluride wrapped up this weekend, the Venice Film Fest wraps up on Saturday, overlapping Toronto which starts tomorrow, and the NYFF starts on September 27 where I'll actually be seeing some films including the Gala Tribute to Cate Blanchett! Man, I'm exhausted just typing all that. That's a lot of festivals. I almost forgot what I was trying to say) this month's poll focused on those films that looked so hopeful on paper or early in the season then went on to disappoint come Oscar time. We bring you the 10 Biggest Awards Season Flops.

The rules were that the film couldn't have received more than 2 nominations and could not have been nominated for Best Picture nor could it have won in any category (which means Nine was not eligible. It received 4 nominations, you guys!) As my own personal rule, I also decided to not include films that were nominated in the acting categories or Director. I found that the films usually fall into two types: Good to great movies that for some reason or other never caught on with voters and films with Oscar buzz that ended up being huge stinkers.

Only 4 from my personal ballot made the list, so I'm sure there were a lot of votes spread out from various films. I had a tough time with my list as usually if a film loses their awards buzz I'll have forgotten it as quickly as an Academy member forgets releases from the early part of the year. I'm surprised by the inclusion of Bobby on the list as I felt like it never had any sort of real potential, awards-wise (Golden Globe nomination, I hear you say. The Tourist and Burlesque, I answer you). I'm also saddened by the spots held by The Crucible and Into the Wild as I really loved those movies at the time and wish they had gotten more Oscar lovin'. Anyway, here is my list:

1. J. Edgar (2011)

2. Beloved (1998)

3. Australia (2008)

4. Zodiac (2007) (which I did the write up for on TFE)

5. The Ides of March (2011)

6. Man on the Moon (1999)

7. All the King's Men (2006)

8. The Ice Storm (1997)

9. Love and Other Drugs (2010)

10. Bright Star (2009)

In conclusion, I leave you with the number one biggest flop as chosen collectively by Team Experience (and it just so happens to have been my choice for #1 as well). A couple years old, but still damn funny:

One of these days, Leo. One of these days...