Oscars so wrong: BRIAN VINER laments some of this year’s Academy Award choices… By Brian Viner for Daily Mail Published: 01:04 GMT, 1 March 2019 | Updated: 01:14 GMT, 1 March 2019 2 Viewcomments Sixty years ago, in 1959, Stanley Kramer’s marvellous film The Defiant Ones failed to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was the story of two escaping convicts, an African-American (Sidney Poitier) and a white racist (Tony Curtis), who find themselves shackled together and are both forced to confront their prejudices. This year’s Best Picture, Green Book, covers similar territory without being anything like as good, which either shows how movies have deteriorated in 60 years or what a joke the Oscars have become. A little of both, maybe. Rami Malek in a scene from Bohemian Rhapsody playing Freddie Mercury at Live Aid Mahershala Ali holds his Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Green Book in Los Angeles last weekend Green Book is watchable enough — I enjoyed it — but it is an unremarkable film, crammed with clichés and caricatures. It should never, ever have won the industry’s most coveted prize. Nor, in my view, should Rami Malek have been crowned Best Actor. He’s perfectly fine as Freddie Mercury in the crowd-pleasing but at times desperately clunky Bohemian Rhapsody. Yet the only award he deserves is Actor Least In Control Of His Dentures. I got half my predictions right last week. I tipped both Best Supportings, thought Alfonso Cuaron would be anointed Best Director, and that his film Roma wouldn’t get Best Picture. That all came to pass. But Christian Bale (Vice) beaten as Best Actor by young Mr Malek and his prosthetic gnashers? Green Book better than Roma, The Favourite, A Star is Born and Black Panther, not to mention a couple of dozen great films that weren’t even nominated? That is simply nonsense. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility