Sunday’s 87th Oscars didn’t feature shocking upset wins for Bradley Cooper in the Best Actor category or “American Sniper” for Best Picture. However, there were still a few legitimate surprises that make it onto my list of the 10 Biggest Upset Victories at the Academy Awards over the past 10 Oscars (from Feb. 2006 – Feb. 2015). In reverse order:
Honorable Mentions
– 2012: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” wins Film Editing, though it wasn’t one of the nine films up for Best Picture
– 2008: Tilda Swinton wins Best Supporting Actress for “Michael Clayton”
– 2009: After winning Best Supporting Actress at Critics Choice, the Globes and the SAGs, Kate Winslet takes the Lead Actress Oscar for “The Reader”
10. 2011: “Toy Story 3” didn’t only win Animated Feature, it took Original Song as well, for the solid but forgettable “We Belong Together”. The closing credits tune beat out nominees from “127 Hours” and the music-driven “Tangled” and “Country Strong”.
9. 2015: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu masterfully directed “Birdman”, essentially shooting the film in one, quite long, take. But I, and the majority of the world, still thought The Academy would bestow Best Director honors on Richard Linklater, for filming “Boyhood” over a groundbreaking 12 years.
8. 2012: George Clooney could’ve, and should’ve won Best Actor for “The Descendants”. But with an outpouring of love for “The Artist”, French actor Jean Dujardin pulled-off the surprise win.
7. 2013: After Ben Affleck was snubbed from the Best Director race for “Argo”, Steven Spielberg was close to a lock to win the category for “Lincoln”. But Ang Lee took home his second Director Oscar for a film of his that didn’t win Best Picture – “Life of Pi”.
6. 2015: “The LEGO Movie” was one of the most talked about snubs. Without “LEGO”, DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2” became the clear frontrunner in the Animated Feature category. However, a HUGE last-minute marketing campaign from Disney worked to snag the award for the weak “Big Hero 6”.
5. 2010: Buzz surrounding Kathryn Bigelow beating her ex-husband, James Cameron, was everywhere leading up to Oscar Night. But the fact that she was able to crush “Avatar”, with both Director and Picture wins for “The Hurt Locker”, was quite an achievement.
4. 2012: The “Streep” finally ended, as Meryl earned her first Oscar since “Sophie’s Choice” nearly 30 years earlier, for playing Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”. However, before the envelope was opened, Viola Davis (“The Help”) was thought to be practically a sure-thing.
3. 2006: “Crash” did not burn on Oscar night, shocking everyone by upsetting near-lock “Brokeback Mountain” for Best Picture.
2. 2007: How The Academy fell in love with singing penguins over Pixar’s talking automobiles from Radiator Springs still blows my mind. For the record, “Cars” is SO much better than “Happy Feet” that it’s not even worth debating.
1. 2007: Eddie Murphy won the Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG Awards for his Best Supporting Actor performance in “Dreamgirls”. But because “Norbit” was being promoted and released at the same time as Oscar voting was taking place, Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) was able to steal the Oscar from Murphy, whose career has never recovered. But at least he can claim credit for creating “The Norbit Effect”.