We’re giving away a signed poster by Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons & Damien Chazelle, along with the Whiplash soundtrack to celebrate the film being released in theaters. The giveaway is open only to US residents and no PO boxes. But if you don’t live here and you’d like to share your First Oscar Surprise please feel free to do so. We can select and ship only to US residents, however.
Whiplash is a wonderfully written, acted and directed knockout of a film that is likely to be an Oscar surprise to most. Damien Chazelle could be nominated for Best Director or Best Adapted Screenplay and JK Simmons is currently predicted to win in Best Supporting Actor.
To enter, please share with us your first and/or most memorable Oscar surprise. For me it will always be when Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won on the same night when everyone was predicting “only one black actor” to win, either Berry or Washington. I remember being among the very few who predicted both and thus, I screamed so loudly I made my then three year old daughter cry. The other great surprise for me was when The Departed won. I’d been wanting to see Martin Scorsese win an Oscar since I started my site back in 1999. I’d watched as Gangs of New York and The Aviator got oh so close. I watched as Harvey Weinstein got Robert Wise to advocate for Marty but then get smacked down for it by the Academy. I watched as Clint Eastwood strolled into the room with Million Dollar Baby and won the whole thing. Sure, The Aviator was always going to be a tough sell for the Academy. As ambitious as it was, they didn’t “like” it.
The Oscar Best Picture can be defined as the one movie you can sit anyone down in front of — the mailman, the maid, the daughter, the son, the mistress, the hairdresser, the 1%er, the homeless guy — and they will at least get it, if not love it. That’s your Oscar movie. And you can find it by looking at two things. 1) Cinemascore (unfortunately) and 2) the negative rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Sure, there are always exceptions – like Crash or A Beautiful Mind but The Departed had everything a Best Picture winner needs. I knew it immediately and the best part of it was: no one else did. Or hardly anyone. They were all downgrading it — so by the time the DGA rolled around and Scorsese finally won…?
Thing is, some directors are better off never winning Oscars. In fact, for them to be able to appeal to Oscar voters (or Cinemascore for that matter) they have to create general audience entertainment. For them to do that they would have to stop being the auteurs, the creators, the daring artists in a business designed for entertainment. But Scorsese did it – just barely – with The Departed. Though there are dumbass internet people who are too stupid to be allowed anywhere near a keyboard writing inane articles that downgrade films like Pulp Fiction or The Departed, pay attention to them at your own peril. Is nothing sacred?
Those are my two Oscar surprises. How about you? Enter in the comments and we will select a winner by the end of the day.
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
Throughout this awesome pattern of things you actually secure an A just for effort and hard work. Where you actually confused me ended up being on all the specifics. You know, people say, the devil is in the details… And that could not be much more true right here. Having said that, permit me inform you what exactly did do the job. Your article (parts of it) is actually highly convincing and this is most likely the reason why I am taking the effort to comment. I do not really make it a regular habit of doing that. Next, while I can certainly notice a jumps in reason you make, I am definitely not sure of exactly how you appear to unite the ideas which in turn help to make the conclusion. For right now I will yield to your position however trust in the future you connect the facts much better.
Nike Air Max 90 homme Blanc Bleu Noir France Boutique http://www.etudiant-gea85.fr/nike-air-max-90-homme-blanc-bleu-noir-france-boutique-p-199.html
1999 was the first time I followed the Oscars. I knew nothing about the race, but was pretty sure Annette Bening couldn’t lose for American Beauty.
Having not seen Boys Don’t Cry, I was pleasantly surprised when then-unknown to me Hilary Swank won instead.
I knew nothing to little of precursors back then, so I’m not sure if it was a real upset or if real Oscarwatchers would have seen it coming but, to looking back, Bening & Swank each had a Globe, Bening had nabbed SAG & American Beauty had all the buzz, so I guess it’s fair to call it an upset win.
American Beauty just felt like – and still does – the next film to take the full Top 5. It still kind of feels like it did until I remember it didn’t. It’s impossible to begrudge Swank that win though.
Another big surprise, honestly, was Kate Winslet competing in lead rather than supporting for The Reader, effectively snubbing her for Revolutionary Road, which I loved.
For me it was the year Johnny Depp was nominated for an Oscar. I was in middle school at the time. Up until that point I was kinda obsessed with the Oscars and spending maybe two months thinking about who would win and who wouldn’t compare to now when I devote a majority of the year caring about the movies and in an even bigger rush to make sure I see as many films as possible. But for me that year was a turning point. I remember sitting during lunch and potential in English as well as band classes argueing the point why Johnny Depp didn’t deserve to win the Oscar and why Sean Penn deserved to win. I remembered making so many people angry at the mere thought of precious Johnny losing. The biggest suripse was that come award night Iwas right. It was the major turning point for me with being right but for most Oscar watches though it probably wasn’t really a suripse as compare to how it was for me.
The year 2004 Oscar best actor award. Johnny Depp vs Sean Penn.
Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker winning over Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts in 1989.
Adrien Brody for The Pianist. I thought DD-L had it in the bag.
I must say that the win for Original Song for “It’s Hard out here for a Pimp” by Three 6 Mafia from the film Hustle &Flow was so incrediby refreshing. Who would’ve anticipated that 2 rap songs would win for Best Song within the span of a few years(this was after Eminem had won in 2003)? And to see how jubilant the winners were when they won, wearing their very un-Oscars clothing… wow,so energizing and inspiring. It’s a shame Oscar rarely thinks outside the box to reward movies and individuals who otherwise don’t have the support and recognition of the mainstream,majority-white Hollywood film industry.Jon Stewart couldn’t handle this win!
Biggest Oscar surprise?
1973 BEST ACTRESS
Nominees were Barbra Streisand, Marsha Mason, Joanne Woodward, Ellen Burstyn and Glenda Jackson.
And who did they pick? Glenda Jackson in a mediocre performance in a not-so-funny “comedy”: “A Touch of Class”
The drop-jawed look on Ellen Burstyn’s face when Susan Hayward announced the winner is a priceless AMPAS what-the-fuck! moment.
Everyone thought Woodward (or Burstyn) would get it that year. In my opinion, Burstyn should have easily won for “The Exorcist”. With repeated viewings, you realize what a truly stunning performance EB delivered. I’ve seen “A Touch of Class” twice. It’s really one of the most irritating, non-funny and outdated of comedies. Don’t get me wrong. I love Glenda Jackson. But not in this movie. She phoned in her performance. It wasn’t anything special. I think Jackson herself was a bit embarrassed about having received it for this movie.
My biggest surprise was in 2012 when Meryl beat Viola. I heard rumblings but thought that Viola had it wrapped up (1st black actress since Halle, BP nom for The Help, won SAG, won BFCA, tons of goodwill, Meryl was stumping for her, a bit). When Firth read Meryls name … I literaly gasped. I couldnt believe it. I love Meryl, but I really assumed it was Violas.
My first surprise was in 2000 when Marcia Gay Harden won for Pollock. I was young enough that I remember thinking “who the hell is Marcia Gay Harden?!”
Things have changed
Anna Paquin for The Piano beating Holly Hunter for The Firm AND Winona Ryder for The Age of Innocence.
My first real Oscar surprise came the night of The Departed and Martin Scorsese’s big Oscar wins. While those two were somewhat surprising given the stiff competition that year, for me the biggest surprise of the night came with Little Miss Sunshine’s Alan Arkin winning Best Supporting Actor over the season-long front runner Eddie Murphy for his alternately electrifying and soulful performance in Dreamgirls. That victory cemented in my mind the ideas that nobody really knows anything, and that anything can happen on Oscar night, even if you’re the de-facto head of the pack. That lesson has been learned well many times over in the past 7 years.
First Oscar surprise: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” winning Best Score over “Gladiator”.
Most memorable: Pedro Almodovar, Hayao Miyazaki, Adrien Brody & Roman Polanski all winning on Oscar Night 2003.
That, and Nicole also winning this year, made 2002 the year I got hooked with the Oscars.
My latest surprise would be last year’s “Monsieur Hublot” winning Animated Short over Disney’s “Get a Horse!”.
I’ve been literally petrified for the last 84 years since I found out about NAPOLEON not getting nominated.
My biggest surprise for me was when Marisa Tomei won Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinnie. Not that it wasn’t a good performance. It was just that her name was she was a relative unknown. And the film was an atypical film to receive nomination, especially that year. She was rarely mentioned by the pontificators leading up to that year’s ceremonies. She was up against some English heavyweights. But she pulled the upset. And helped my sister win our family’s Oscar pool.
And damn you, autocorrect.
1996 was my first Oscar® year; I was 13. In my small Mississippi town, there was no movie theatre. In this “Year of the Independents,” I was clueless about the bulk of the nominees. However, I knew who Lauren Bacall was, & I knew that “old people” we’re supposed to win these things. Right off the bat, I knew this new hobby would always take me somewhere I had least expected to be.
When SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE beat SAVING PRIVATE RYAN for BP. I was in shock and although I’ve come to understand and love SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE a lot more over the years it was a monumental shock to me then. Literally knocked the wind out of me.
Ben – did you try asking Ms. Stone privately?
The King’s Speech winning over The Social Network. A surprise that wasn’t pleasant for me
The last time I entered a contest on this blog I won – it was for a Quentin Tarantino Collection – and I never even got the prize sent to me despite sending my address 🙁
One of my all time favorite Oscar surprise was when Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for La Vie En Rose. I remember the Best Actress category was really early on the show and I thought: “oh the Academy wants to give now the Oscar to Julie Christie”, so when Forest Whitaker opened the enveloped and said: “and the Oscars goes to… Marion Cotillard”, I couldn’t be happier! Don’t get me wrong, Julie Christie was flawless on Away From Her and I’d already assumed that she would win the Oscar, but my top choice for Best Actress that year was always Marion Cotillard after seeing La Vie En Rose and as today I’m still happy that the Academy made the right choice.
I have several. My biggest surprise would be The Color Purple getting 0 Oscars. I still think Oprah was robbed, as was Whoopi.
There are others:
Crash over Brokeback
Marisa Tomei winning
Lauren Bacall losing
Shakespeare In Love / Saving Private Ryan — This is one that I predicted. In fact 1998 is one of the few years that I was spot on.
Judy Holiday over Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, and Gloria Swanson — I wasn’t around for the 1950 ceremony, but after seeing AAE and SB a number of times I watched Born Yesterday and was surprised with her win.
Michele Pfeiffer losing to a Lifetime Movie on the Big Screen Role
Ang Lee winning for Life of Pi
I’ve only been seriously following the oscars for a little bit, since 2010, but my first big oscar shocker was at the 2011 academy awards when Hugo won the Best Visual Effects Oscar over Rise of the Planet of the Apes. There were other surprises at both the 2010 and 2011 ceremonies, but this was the first surprise where I actively thought “How the hell did that happen”.
I’m Canadian – don’t pick me. Just wanted to chime in.
Juliette Binoche! Loved her and that movie. What a surprise it was!
It’ll have to be the earliest Oscar moment I remember. Age 9, I saw a man with two Oscars and go crazy, including climbing over seats and Steven Spielberg. That, of course, was Roberto Benigni and his wins for “Life Is Beautiful.” I didn’t understand how this guy, not from America, obviously, would get so crazy over his wins compared to Judi Dench and James Coburn and Spielberg that night. It made an impression upon me.
James Coburn winning over … well, everyone else. I wanted Ed Harris to win, I wouldn’t mind Rush, Thorton or Duvall winning. At that time I didn’t know much about Coburn, only that the guy was in The Magnificent Seven. When he won I was quite pissed at him, but the fact that he won it made me watch “Affliction”. After watching the movie I realised that what back then looked like a surprise, now seemed to be the best choice they could have possibly made.
My sister and I, both Oscar-obsessed at the time, were housesitting my grandparent’s home back in 1970. When Liz Taylor opened the envelope and said, “Midnight Cowboy”, we both levitated from our chairs and let go a banshee cheer. As it was a Monday, very late East Coast time, I’m sure the elderly neighbours thought the reaper was upon them. Couldn’t believe that the likes of Don Ameche, Debbie Reynolds and Ann Millar embraced an (at the time) X-rated film.
That’ll never happen again.
My first Oscar surprise happened the second year I watched the Oscars. Jack Nicholson was expected to win Best Actor and Adrien Brody instead surprised most viewers. I was thrilled with this surprise. Adrien was incredible in The Pianist (one of my all-time favorite films). I mean come on…Jack already had three Oscars. I really got hooked on movie awards after that happened. I am sure that I would have anyway, but this ensured my excitement for award shows.
Thank you Sasha and Awards Daily for the giveaway!
I’ve been closely following the Oscars since 2001, so one of my first Oscar surprises was when Talk to Her (my favorite film of the year) was nominated for Best Director and then won Best Original Screenplay. I didn’t think it really had a chance for either, but that film was just so good the Academy had to recognize it.
Following yours and Kris Tapley’s and National Rogers’ sites for as long as I have, before oscar watching became such a thing, I have kind of learned once the groupthink sets in to not expect many surprises. Its sad that the academy gives in so easily to all the awards bodies that precede it instead of having its won distinct voice, but when I was much younger, before the cynicism seeped in there was one oscar night when Adrien Brody beat Jack Nicolson and Daniel Day Lewis. Maybe I wasn’t following the oscars as closely or astutely as I do now, but if my memory serves me the talk that year was strictly that the oscar was going to go to Jack or Daniel and at the time of the ceremony Jack had Daniel by a nose. I remember sitting there begging the academy to give it Daniel Day Lewis, I was young and impressionable and I though Bill the Butcher was one of the baddest mother fer’s I’d ever seen. He was this larger than life figure that needed to be forever immortalized with oscar gold. So there I am praying for Daniel and my mom and dad are telling me to quit getting my hopes up, that Jack is going to win and out of the blue Adrien Brody’s name is called. My god, if that wasn’t the biggest surprise I’d ever experienced on oscar night I don’t know what is. Maybe I had tunnel vision, focused on the two big guns that year, but for most other surprises they’ve at least been on my radar. I may have denied them or prayed it wouldn’t happen, but people had at least written about and debated their possibilities. Was anyone writing about Adrien Brody’s chances? I don’t know, I can’t remember but I sure as hell wasn’t reading them.
In retrospect I applaud the selection, it was daring and awarded a truly memorable performance. Really anyone in that category that year would have been a worthy winner, so here’s to remembering one of those good surprises on oscar night, when they didn’t give into voting for who they were “supposed” to vote for.
Crash over Brokeback. I was watching on tape delay and I had received a text from a friend about an hour before the end of the show that read “So, Best Picture…” I had no idea what he meant, and just like Jack N., my jaw was on the floor when he read the envelope.
My biggest surprise was definitely Shakespeare in love beating saving private Ryan. I just couldn’t believe that happened. I really loved both movies, but I was thrilled Shakespeare in love won!
My most pleasant surprise was Chariots of Fire winning over Reds and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I’m a former track athlete and Olympics nerd and knew the story of Harold Abrahams quite well. I grew up in New Zealand and Arthur Porritt, who had been in the 100m final with Abrahams, had served as our Governor-General. He won the bronze in that race. And speaking of New Zealand, the mighty All-Blacks are playing the U.S. in Chicago on Saturday. Side note—I have never seen Invictus because I haven’t gotten over the final score of that game. Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
“The giveaway is open only to US residents…”
Not fair 🙁
I think my biggest surprise was Ben Affleck getting snubbed for Argo. It was a top 3 film since it opened and hit all the guilds, even stuff like Production Design and Costumes, then all of sudden they are reading off nominees and it’s Haneke and Zeitlen instead!? It’s not those are bad names but Argo was such strong frontrunner all year long that it was quite odd for Directors branch to not follow suit. And then the rest is history!
Marisa Tomei winning for Best Supporting Actress.
P.S.
The Departed is a remake. A remake cannot be a great movie. Good, not great. To be really great a movie has to be at least original.
To me, the biggest Oscar surprise was when Hooper beat Fincher. It was a sad, sad day for me, but Fincher will hopefully get his statue soon. In a few months soon…
My favorite/first big Oscar surprise was Marcia Gay Harden winning Supporting over front-runner Kate Hudson.
Pollock was one of my favorite films that year, and I knew Ed Harris had no shot at winning, so Harden’s win was such a joy. I was also bummed that year by the snub of Bjork in Actress, so seeing at least one of my girls win was amazing!
The first surprise is Shakespeare in Love. The biggest surprises are Crash and The Pianists wins.
Good article: http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/oscars-academy-awards-2015-best-picture-crash/
My favorite Oscar surprise has to be when Tilda Swinton won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2007. I am huge fan of Swinton’s work and especially the performance she delivers in Michael Clayton. I remember thinking that Cate Blanchett or Amy Ryan would surely win for I’m Not There or Gone Baby Gone, and if not them Ruby Dee for American Gangster. I remember being so happy when Alan Arkin called her name, and preceded to get happier when she described her agent as having the same features as here statue. Truly an excellent Oscar surprise.
Being only 22, I first started taking the Oscars seriously in 2005, when Crash beat out Brokeback Mountain. So that would have to be, hands down, my first Oscar surprise. In terms of most memorable though, it would have to be the Oscar nominee announcement for Best Director for the 2012 Oscars. Everyone thought Affleck was a sure bet to not only be nominated…but to win! But then Haneke and Zeitlin made the cut in a race loaded with “big” directors (Lee, Russell, Spielberg, Bigelow, Affleck). I just remember my jaw dropping and dropping and dropping that morning. On a side note, as a big Batman fan, I also remember the shock I felt when The Dark Knight didn’t make the cut for picture/director in 2008.
There are so many Oscar surprises but I’m going with the first things that came to mind. Gary Oldman receiving a Best Actor nomination for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I thought he was terrific in the film and I was over the moon delighted that the Academy chose to nominate him. I was highly amused by all the campaigning his did telling journalists that of all the roles he has done, this was his most subdued role and the one that the Academy chose to recognize. One other is ‘The Hurt Locker’ winning best picture. I was ecstatic that Avatar didn’t win and that the Hurt Locker did, but I think everyone was betting on Avatar to win it.
My first Oscar surprise was seeing Chicago beating The Pianist and The Two Towers for Best Picture, and everything else it won outside of Best Supporting Actress. Giving Chicago Best Art Direction, Sound and Editing over those twot…really? Though The Two Towers was topped by Return of the King, The Pianist rivals only Schindler’s List as the greatest of the Holocaust movies, and is for sure Roman Polanski’s best work. An absolute marvel of storytelling and technical skill. That’s why it was an even bigger shock when Chicago won Picture, because Pianist was given Adapted Screenplay, Actor and Director, which you would think would guarantee it Picture. I could go on but in the end the best way I could put it is absolute shock, birthing an eternal grudge against a forgettable musical.
My biggest Oscar surprise was when Crash won over Brokeback Mountain, I seriously thought Brokeback would win and I still think it should have! Also, when The King’s Speech won over The Social Network, it really really shocked me.
For me it would have to be Juliette Binoche beating Lauren Bacall for the English Patient. I think Juliette is one of the greatest actresses alive and she doesn’t get enough attention for her work. Seeing her in The Unbearable Lightness of Being will always be one of my favorite cinematic experiences. I hope that soon she’ll find a role that gets her another win.
Leonardo DiCaprio not being nominated for Titanic, by a landslide. I’ve always been taken by him as an actor and he held that entire juggernaut of a film on his shoulders and came up empty-handed when it hit so well in so many other categories. It still feels surprising actually, given how AMPAS would support him and his films so unabashedly after that.
Probably when “Precious” won Best Adapted Screenplay over “Up in The Air”. It was an early indication that things were NOT going to go as expected that evening, and a sign that the consensus could be overturned at any moment.
My first Oscar surprise memory was successfully predicting Shakespeare in Love to beat Saving Private Ryan. I was still in High School and my family and I were at an Oscar party with about 30 other people. I was one of only 3 people at the party to pick Shakespeare to win. I’ve been hooked on predicting the Oscars ever since.
I’m still not over the shock of Gance’s NAPOLEON not being nominated for a single category, zero, nada.
Adrien Brody (The Pianist) winning Best Actor over Daniel Day – Lewis (Gangs of New York).
Roman Polanski (The Pianist) winning Best Director over Rob Marshall (Chicago)
Both took place at the 2003 ceremony.
Shakespeare in Love winning BP over Saving Private Ryan. Just for its sheer unexpectedness.