It’s that time of year again. I don’t mean the holiday season (even though it is always nice), I mean Oscar season. Every year, many will always have a favorite in the race they’ll be rooting for to go all the way. Just like how parents always want what’s best for their kids. If they win, their fans will jump for joy. If they lose, their fans will be gravely disappointed. Although the topic of this discussion is about how Oscars shouldn’t matter that much when it comes to a film’s legacy.

​Sure, there are several Best Picture winners that have stood the test of time such as Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, and The Godfather. Yet there are others that many don’t remember fondly anymore. While campaigning for The Brutalist earlier this year, Guy Pearce told The Hollywood Reporter, “There’s been other performances that have won or not won and I’ve gone ‘Oh really?. I don’t know because I thought that performance was just incredible compared to that one or so.’” He later added that “Someone was talking the other day, they’re saying ‘They should do a retrospective Oscars.’”

I’m not someone who judges winners based on how they’ve aged. I mainly judge them on the overall quality. Especially given how at the time of a film’s initial release, no one can predict how people will remember it in the following years. With that being said, what I’m about to do is list off examples where a movie that is now considered a classic came out the same year as another which won Best Picture, but isn’t talked about as much these days. Starting with...

1941's Citizen Kane

After achieving great success with the Mercury Theatre as well as a controversial radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds in 1938, Orson Welles signed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures to not only make a movie, but one where he was given complete freedom to develop his own story, use his own cast and crew, and have final cut privilege. Welles ended up writing the screenplay in collaboration with Herman J. Mankiewicz (who was the subject of David Fincher’s 2020 Oscar-winning biopic, Mank) while he also produced, directed, and starred. This project was the first film to have been scored by Bernard Herrmann, who would later become known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock. It was also edited by Robert Wise, who would later become a successful director, going on to win Oscars for 1961's West Side Story and 1965's The Sound of Music.

To this day, Citizen Kane is viewed as a masterpiece, with many people calling it one of the greatest movies ever made, if not, the greatest. Although upon release, it was respected by critics, but flopped at the box office and was plagued with controversy. William Randolph Hearst was so enraged when he heard about it that he banned any advertising, reviewing, or mentioning of the film in his papers. Citizen Kane received 9 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture). It only ended up winning Best Original Screenplay, although Hearst supporters who were in the audience yelled "BOO!" when that happened. Meanwhile, Best Picture that year went to...

Adapted from Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel of the same name, How Green Was My Valley also took home Oscars for Best Director (John Ford), Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best Art Direction-Black & White, and Best Cinematography-Black & White. This is a movie I do genuinely like. It’s certainly endured as a classic in its own right, especially among John Ford's legendary filmography. It has mainly gotten unfairly maligned because of the fact that it won Best Picture in the year that it did. Similar to how people view The King’s Speech and CODA’s victories in their respective years. Meanwhile, Citizen Kane has since gone on to be seen by more people and received a major re-evaluation. While it would've been great had it won Best Picture, the fact that it lost hasn't done any damage to its legacy.

​1952's Singin' in the Rain

Producer Arthur Freed first conceived the idea of a movie musical based on the back catalogs of songs written by him and Nacio Herb Brown. Since many of the songs were written during the transition from silent films to "talkies," screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green decided that was when the film should take place. After finishing An American in Paris, Freed suggested Gene Kelly should read the script. Both Kelly and Stanley Donen responded so enthusiastically to it, that they both signed on as directors with the former also set to star.

To this day, Singin' in the Rain is not only widely regarded as one of the best Hollywood musicals of all time (if not, the very best), but also one of the greatest movies ever made. Although upon release, it was only a modest commercial hit, grossing over $7.2 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $2.54 million. It also only received 2 Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Jean Hagen) and Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, but won none. Many people believe that the film's underperformance was based on An American in Paris' success from the year before, where Academy members at the time apparently felt "Gene Kelly musicals are taken care of. Moving on.” Meanwhile, the Best Picture winner that year was...

The Greatest Show on Earth also took home only one Oscar in the now-retired category of Best Motion Picture Story. In fact, it was the last Best Picture winner to pull off winning 2 awards overall until Spotlight did just that 63 years later. Despite being impeccably designed, this movie itself is far from being "The Greatest Show on Earth." There is very little of an actual plot going on, it's just a bunch of vignettes, and I never felt invested in what's happening on screen. Throughout the much longer than necessary runtime, I just couldn't wait for the film to be over. At least Cecil B. DeMille was able to follow-up this with the masterpiece that is The Ten Commandments. In retrospect, awarding The Greatest Show on Earth Best Picture while not even nominating Singin’ in the Rain has to be one of the biggest sins in Oscar history, if not, the biggest. At least the latter has endured more than just fine without a win.

1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial​

The concept for this film was based on an imaginary friend Steven Spielberg created after his parents divorced. Despite coming out in an era when family friendly films weren’t considered profitable, E.T. became an instant commercial hit. It dethroned 1977’s Star Wars as the highest-grossing movie of all time at the worldwide box office. Not to mention that critics and audiences of all ages were immediately won over. E.T. has continued to endure as not only one of Steven Spielberg’s most beloved films (if not, his most beloved), but also as one of the greatest movies of all time. Meanwhile, the second highest-grossing release of that year was…

Tootsie

In the early 1970s, Don McGuire wrote a stage play about an unemployed male actor who cross-dresses in order to find jobs titled Would I Lie to You?. It was shopped around Hollywood for several years until it came to the attention of actor/comedian Buddy Hackett in 1978. With interest in playing the talent agent, he showed the script to film executive Robert Evans. Yet production delays prevented that version from getting produced. Eventually, a revised version found its way to Dustin Hoffman, who obtained complete creative control after signing on. The finished product has continued to endure as one of the greatest comedies of all time.

At the Golden Globes, E.T. won Best Motion Picture-Drama while Tootsie won Best Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical. Going into the Oscars, the former had 9 nominations while the latter had 10. Many thought Best Picture was between both films. Yet the big winner that night was...

Gandhi also took home Oscars for Best Director (Richard Attenborough), Best Actor (Ben Kingsley), Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. Watching the movie itself from beginning to end in one sitting is quite a commitment. Yet the whole thing is very impeccably mounted. In the legendary actor’s breakout role, Ben Kingsley gives quite a wise performance as the title character. Sadly, the story still feels relevant to what’s going on in the world today. Overall, it’s a pretty solid film. Despite being the big winner on Oscar night, Attenborough admitted afterwards that going into the ceremony, he not only thought E.T. was going to win, but he also thought it would’ve been the rightful winner. Regarding the latter, I couldn’t agree with him more. Although E.T. and Tootsie have both gone on to do just fine without winning Best Picture.

1990's Goodfellas

Adapted from Nicholas Pileggi's 1985 nonfiction book, Wiseguy. After making a name for himself with mafia films, Martin Scorsese didn’t intend to do another one. Yet when he saw a review of the book during production of The Color of Money, he gave it a read and thought it was the most honest portrayal of gangsters he had ever come across at that point. By the time he was finished, Scorsese immediately knew the approach he wanted to take.

Upon release, Goodfellas was met with widespread critical acclaim. It also went on to be named the year's best film by various critics' groups. To this day, it’s widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential movies of all time. Although commercially, it didn’t make a ton of money at the worldwide box office. It only grossed over $47.1 million on a $25 million production budget. Goodfellas went on to receive 6 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture). Yet it only ended up walking away with Best Supporting Actor for Joe Pesci’s performance as Tommy DeVito. The big winner that night was...

Adapted from Michael Blake’s 1988 novel of the same name, Dances with Wolves also took home Oscars for Best Director (Kevin Costner), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound. This was actually the second of three instances where Scorsese lost out to an actor-turned-director. The first was for Raging Bull in 1980 to Robert Redford for Ordinary People and the third was for The Aviator in 2004 to Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby. I actually did attempt to watch Dances with Wolves once when I was in high school, but couldn’t finish it. Several years later, I caught the whole thing from start to finish, and found it to be quite a chore to sit through. Nowadays, the only people who really talk about this movie are those who make fun of the original Avatar from James Cameron for being a science fiction knockoff. Meanwhile, way more people not only remember Goodfellas, but remember it very fondly. The latter may arguably be a more important thing to win.

​2005's Brokeback Mountain

Adapted from Annie Proulx’s 1997 short story of the same name. Screenwriter Diana Ossana first discovered it just days after it was first published in The New Yorker. She immediately convinced her writing partner Larry McMurtry to give it a read, which he thought was a “masterpiece.” When the two of them asked Proulx if they could adapt Brokeback Mountain into a screenplay, she agreed despite doubting that the story would work as a film. Following a challenging and nonstop process of getting a director and production company to make it, Focus Features eventually optioned the rights. At Ossana’s request, CEO James Schamus showed the script to Ang Lee. Despite wanting to retire following his experiences making Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk, this tempted him to get back into filmmaking.

When Brokeback Mountain came out, it earned such widespread critical acclaim. On a production budget of $14 million, it made over $179.1 million at the worldwide box office. The film itself not only topped the best of the year lists from critics, but it also won a great majority of Best Picture prizes from many awards groups. Now, it’s fondly remembered as one of the greatest movies of the 21st century. At the Oscars, it had 8 nominations, and won 3 accolades (including Best Director). With all of that in mind, you’d think it also won Best Picture, right? Yet in one of the biggest shockers in the history of the Academy Awards, Jack Nicholson announced that the biggest prize of the night went to...

Crash also took home Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Since then, its Best Picture win over Brokeback Mountain has been seen as "one of the most notorious [decisions] in modern Academy history." Rankings by several publications and critics have even called it one of the worst or most controversial winners of all time. Critics have also accused the Academy of homophobia, as evidenced by how several voters reportedly never bothered watching Brokeback Mountain because of its content. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Crash, but I remember not really minding it as a movie. Although I am well aware of all the criticisms it’s received for its depiction of race relations as simplistic and unsubtle. Despite Roger Ebert defending the Best Picture win, director Paul Haggis would later admit that even he didn’t think Crash deserved the prize. Luckily, Brokeback Mountain has still endured as an American classic anyway. Michelle Williams also agrees with that.

So the lesson to be learned here is don’t view the Oscars as “the be-all end-all” for a film’s legacy. If your favorite in the race ends up winning, good for you. If it only winds up with a nomination, at least be glad enough about that. If it doesn’t get nominated, try your best not to be too disappointed. The movie itself will still live on (at least in your mind) anyway.