The Snubby Awards: 2002 Oscars

It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if another was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award!



This time we'll be taking a look at the 2002 Oscars, which was a great selection of movies.  This is one of my favorite years overall and definitely my favorite of the years with only five nominees.  The nominees were: Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Moulin Rouge! with the winner being A Beautiful Mind.  Did A Beautiful Mind deserve to win or did another movie get snubbed?  Let's find out!


#5. A Beautiful Mind



Yes, I think the Best Picture winner from the 2002 Oscars is the weakest of the nominees.  This movie was a wild ride and definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.  I was way more engaged than I was expecting and Russell Crow does an awesome job playing John Nash, a brilliant mathematician that suffers from schizophrenia.  I'm not a big fan of biopics and this was definitely suffers from some of the tropes that annoy me with that genre and it isn't super accurate, but this is still a great movie and totally worthy of being nominated for Best Picture, but another film was indeed snubbed.

 9/10: Great 


#4. Gosford Park



This is a classic murder mystery set at a large British estate.  It has a massive cast with a clear class divide between the wealthy guests and "the help."  I love a good murder mystery and Gosford Park checks a lot of the right boxes for me.  However, this may be the least likable cast of characters ever assembled.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially considering the subject matter, but it would have been nice to have somebody to like.  As I mentioned, the cast is huge.  I feel like I need a chart to figure out who is who, but I bet this movie would be even better on the rewatch.


9/10: Great 


#3. In the Bedroom



This movie takes place in a small town in Maine and follows a young man and his parents as he starts dating a single mother.  This is a movie where you don't want to know much going into it.  The acting is absolutely incredible and we are taken on one hell of a ride with these characters.  This is the type of movie that hits you hard and after you finish watching it, you need to go outside and contemplate life for awhile.  I do think there are a few scenes where we cut away just as things are getting really interesting.  That's part of the point of the movie, but I was occasionally frustrated that we didn't get to see more.

9/10: Great


And now for the Final 2 in no particular order.


The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring



I don't know what more there is to say.  This is my all-time favorite movie trilogy and this one takes that perfect first step.  Every time I finish watching Fellowship, I always think to myself, "Man, is this the best of the series?"  Then I get to Return of the King and remember why that one is my favorite, but it's close.  I love every second of this movie and it makes me want to go on an adventure.  As far as the fantasy genre goes, this is as good as it gets.

10/10: Amazing 


Moulin Rouge!



This is the biggest competition any of the Lord of the Rings movies have had.  I love Moulin Rouge! and I think it's my favorite musical.  The movie follows the doomed romance between a writer and a courtesan.  I had seen the first minute of the movie once in high school and it's very gloomy and melodramatic.  I wasn't interested at all.  When I finally watched this movie in full for the first time, I was blown away by how insane, over-the-top, and fun it is.  This movie is a visual feast that's so much fun to watch.  The characters are wonderful, the music is amazing, and the world of Moulin Rouge! is simply gorgeous.  I love this movie.  I really do and choosing between this and Fellowship is one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in the entire run of the Snubby Awards.

10/10: Amazing 


And the Snubby Award goes to...!



The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring!  It was a tough call, but Fellowship of the Ring, like the rest of the series, is one of my all-time favorite movies.  Any other year, Moulin Rouge! would have won.  Alas, all I can do is give it my strongest honorable mention.  The Snubby goes Fellowship, but both of these movies were snubbed.



Next time we'll be looking at the 2023 Oscars.  Did Everything Everywhere All at Once deserve to win or did another movie get snubbed?  Stay tuned!  

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