5. Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption
In any reasonable year, Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption would be shoo-ins for Best Picture. Instead, the actors from both films were pitted against heavyweights in the middling Ed Wood and the juggernaut of schmaltz Forrest Gump. As engineered Oscar Bait, an edgy non-linear crime drama like Pulp Fiction stood no chance against Tom Hanks’ portrayal of Gump. While both Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption have stood the test of time, Forrest Gump has primarily been relegated to daytime TV movie marathons.
