We like to think Best Picture goes to the year’s most celebrated film, but that’s hardly the case. In fact, just three of the past 20 winners (“12 Years a Slave,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”) were the best-reviewed movies of that respective year on Metacritic.
The review aggregator compiled data regarding the correlation between critical reception and the Academy Awards’ preferences. Of the past two decades, 10 of the best-reviewed titles (including “Ratatouille,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Spirited Away” and “Hoop Dreams”) didn’t even earn Best Picture nominations.
