Now this list is only instances where I have seen the movies to which I am referring. There might be years that some people think fit in as well, but I either did not see the winner, did not see the nominee in question or did not see any of the nomiees, and will refrain from passing judgment. I will not things I did not see but feel must be on this list with an asterisk. If there are any that you feel belong, feel free to say so. If you disagree with my assertions, you are a nincompoop.

In 1939, Gone with the Wind beat Stagecoach & Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

In 1941, How Green Was My Valley* beat Sergeant York, The Maltese Falcon, Here Comes Mr. Jordan and CITIZEN KANE.

In 1948, Hamlet beat The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

In 1952, The Greatest Show on Earth beat Ivanhoe & High Noon (for wot fans, this is the equivalent of the journey with the menagerie beating the fights against Lanfear, Rahvin & the Shaido for Best Scene of The Fires of Heaven)

In 1956, Aroudn the World in 80 Days beat The Ten Commandments

In 1962, Lawrence of Arabia beat The Longest Day and To Kill a Mockingbird*

In 1964, My Fair Lady beat Becket and Mary Poppins (Yes, MP sucked too, but not as hard as MFL; and I was never made to play Bert the Chimney sweep in a high school reading of it; I don’t care what anyone says, I was NOT “born” to play Henry Higgens)

In 1965, The Sound of Music won. It beat Dr. Zhivago, but that was lame too, though not as bad as the Sound of Music.

In 1975, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest* beat Jaws

In 1977, Annie Hall beat STAR WARS

In 1979, Kramer vs Kramer beat Apocalypse Now

In 1980, Ordinary People* beat Raging Bull (It just SOUNDS wrong)

In 1981, Chariots of Fire beat Raiders of the Lost Ark

In 1982, Gandhi beat ET the Extra-Terrestrial and Tootsie (not great, but better than Ganhi)

In 1990 Dances with Wolves beat Goodfellas

In 1993, Schindler’s List beat The Fugitive

In 1994, Forrest Gump beat The Shawshank Redemption & Pulp Fiction

In 1995, other movies were nominated against Braveheart

In 1997, Titanic beat As Good as it Gets, Good Will Hunting & LA Confidential

In 1998, Shakespeare in Love* beat Saving Private Ryan

In 1999. American Beauty beat The Green Mile, the Insider and The Sixth Sense

In 2001, A Beautiful Mind beat Fellowship of the Ring

In 2002, Chicago beat The Two Towers

In 2003, Return of the King beat Mystic River and Seabiscuit

In 2006,The Departed beat Letters from Iwo Jima

Based on this historical trend, Avatar, District 9 or Ingloious Basterds will beat the Hurt Locker.

What a crock.

And to make it worse, some people will probably try and justify Avatar or District 9 winning as justice for all the sci-fi/fantasy snubs on this list.