The mission statement of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is to "recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences, inspire imagination, and connect the world through the medium of motion pictures."
In giving out the Oscars every year, they often fail.
This year's nominations has its own problems, but it's far from the only time the Academy messed up. Year after year, the Academy rewards mediocrity in its ranks. It's still struggling to shed the reputation that it prefers middlebrow, inspiring dramas over all else.
Here are 21 times the Academy gave out Oscars to movies that were completely undeserving.
"The Greatest Show on Earth" was a misguided attempt to reward Cecil B. DeMille.
Sometimes the academy rewards filmmakers who they feel are overdue.
In 1953, Cecil B. DeMille had been cranking out epic after epic. As a producer and director, he reshaped Hollywood into a massive commercial enterprise. But he hadn't won a competitive Academy Award.
So, the theory goes, "The Greatest Show on Earth" was awarded the best picture prize to make up for all the times he didn't win it in the years before.
They should have waited a few more years. "The Greatest Show on Earth" is an overlong slog about a circus. Four years later, DeMille made one of his best movies, "The Ten Commandments," which lost the Oscar to another awful best picture winner, "Around the World in 80 Days." It's a massive failure all around.
People are still mad about "Crash" winning best picture.
In the 21st century, the worst best picture winner is, without a doubt, 2004's "Crash." It's a weepy, unconvincing drama about how racism is bad. It has the elegance of New York City's transportation system and, somehow, also won Oscars for editing and screenplay.
Even Paul Haggis, the movie's director, thought it didn't deserve the award.
"Was it the best film of the year? I don’t think so,"he told Hitfix in 2015. "There were great films that year. 'Good Night, and Good Luck' — amazing film. 'Capote' — terrific film. Ang Lee’s 'Brokeback Mountain,' great film. And Spielberg’s 'Munich.' I mean please, what a year."
The Bigfoot creature in "Harry and the Hendersons" looks awful.
The makeup category has a weird history of awarding terrible movies with admittedly good makeup, like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Suicide Squad."
But in "Harry and the Hendersons," the makeup isn't even good! The Sasquatch creature in the middle of the family comedy looks like vomit.
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