1. Gladiator (2000)

Among the weakest movies ever to score Oscar's Best Picture statuette, director Ridley Scott operates fine with plot driven vehicles and science fiction (Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down) But he can't develop characters that anyone can care about--he only sketches in outlines and relies on cliche. I ended up rooting more for Commodus than Russell Crowe's character since the evil emporer was far more interesting.

2. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Another movie I should have only seen once but made the mistake of watching a screener DVD copy with director Ron Howard's commentary... and came away detesting the film even more. Opie ranks among the most generic and ordinary directors in the industry--competent but without imagination. So hearing him BRAG about how clever he was in "tricking" the audience with visuals and point of view just irritated the hell out of me (especially since I caught the visual cues the first time through). Opie just ain't THAT smart, nor did this film deserve its  statuette.

3. English Patient, The (1996)

Did anything happen during this movie's 7 hour run time? I suffered through a theatrical screening once and have no desire to watch it again to see what I missed. I was rooting for a Coen brothers victory that year--have watched Fargo at least 20 times and know most of the lines.

4. Shrek (2001)

Never cared that much for the original, but find it even harder to forgive Dreamworks for crafting two horrid sequels.

5. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Why this was even nominated while the Academy failed to Do the Right Thing and recognize Spike Lee's insightful study of urban racism constitutes one of their all time snubs.

6. Dances with Wolves (1990)

Even though I lived on the Navajo reservation at the time and many of my friends and neighbors championed its Oscar glory that year, I was rooting for the FAR superior Goodfellas. Cosner's self-serving "Lawrence of Dakota" epic was way too patronizing for my taste and never destined to stand the test of time.

7. Forrest Gump (1994)

Cloying and manipulative, I just find the film irritating. It's just not original. Even the "clever" scenes of inserting Forrest into historic archive footage isn't new--Woody Allen performed the same trick over a decade earlier in Zelig.

8. Out of Africa (1985)

I remember watching this Redford-Streep film about colonial Kenya--and that time passed very slowly. But don't remember much else nor do I care to relive the boredom. .

9. Tsotsie (2005)

Deliberately playing for the heartstrings doesn't automatically turn me off, but this narrative just struck me as unreal....so I could never get into it.

10. Food, Inc.

Not a horrible movie, but Paul Haggis crafts a mediocre and predictable script that preaches WAY too much about the obvious. Among the most wretched examples is the one that uses the film's title as its central metaphor:

_{In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.}

I'm not expecting the 2010 winners to crack this list. Most of the buzz indicates that much better quality films will be among the winners. Although inevitable snubs are certain to take place, it seems that the Academy has elevated its critical taste the past few years