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American Beauty the worst Best Picture winner ? How about The Greatest Show on Earth, Around the World in 80 Days, or Ordinary People? — Scott Rollins

So I take it, Scott, that your question to me is, Are you nuts? I come back to Oscar wrongs because so many have written in to (1) defend American Beauty; (2) dispute my (obviously) hyperbolic statement about its indisputable worstness; and (3) suggest more worthy candidates, like Dances With Wolves, Forrest Gump, Chicago, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Cimarron, and Shakespeare in Love. I picked American Beauty because I thought it enjoyed doling out condescending doses of droll American despair, styled to look cool. But, see, that's the Oscars right there: Awards aren't about bests, they're about loud opinions. I'd have no problem switching votes and going after Dances With Wolves or Shakespeare in Love. Just leave Ordinary People out of it!

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