I have seen every Best Picture winner since 1970 except Out of Africa, and I would have to say this, other than Shakespeare in Love, might be the worst. It was beautifully shot and well acted but other than that it was nothing special.
My top five worst Best Picture winners since 1970:
1. Shakespeare in Love 2. The Last Emperor 3. The Hurt Locker 4. Driving Miss Daisy 5. Chariots of Fire
Thoughts are... the subject matters of these movies are probably not in your realm of interest, therefore you think they're bad films because you were "bored." You're not objective. The Last Emperor was a captivating film in both matter and execution.
Shakespeare in Love is an excellent movie. I am glad it defeated Saving Private Ryan. It is either Shakespeare or (my choice) The Thin Red Line. Saving Private Ryan is a piece of crap.
Hmm, you're going to get a biased opinion from me. I can't think of a single "Oscar winning" film I have enjoyed since The Last Emperor. I'm not even joking here. I'm kind of stunned that any of the films from 1990-2015 were actually nominated, that's how lousy I thought they were.
Oscar bait films are like biting into a Big Mac. I know we expect it to taste good, but if I want a really good burger there are many better alternatives.
The one problem I've always had with this film was the English dubbing. If they had shot it as a Chinese language film and used subtitles, it would be slightly more elevated in my eyes.
These are the films I thought legitimately deserved an Oscar nomination. Everything else was nonsense feel good fluff.
Sideways Lost in Translation Mystic River Master and Commander of the Far Side of the World There Will be Blood Her Birdman The Artist
Everything else on the Best picture list from 1990-2015 has been total schlock that I wouldn't wipe my ass with.
*notable mention is Life is Beautiful, but again the dubbing makes it an inferior film. Why were people so afraid to use subtitles? The dubbing is so ridiculous that it takes you out of the film.
1. You watches the dubbed version of Life is Beautiful? Really? Bc I own a subtitled version and its awesome. 2. For me, Schindler's List and No Country For Old Men should be on that list as well.
I saw the film shortly after it came out, and then not again until maybe 6 years ago (when it popped up on TCM's 31 days of Oscar). I forgot just how riveting it was. It came on late one Sunday night and I stayed up despite an early work schedule in the morning.