Rarely, if ever, does the Academy give their most desired prize to a bad film. While some of our writers may disagree, typically your Best Picture winner has at least some marks and notes which deserve to be praised.

Of course, with that said, the Academy rarely give the actual best film of the year the award they deserve. They often pick the safer, feel-good film over the truly meater and better film, and that could very well happen this Sunday if Boyhood takes the top award over Birdman. While at least one of us hopes the truly better film takes the award, the history of the Academy proves this can be both a possibility and a rarity.

The awards system has been better about picking the better film, but that doesn't mean they have a couple head-scratchers these past ten years. So before the big ceremony starts, lets look back on the last couple of films to win Best Picture.

Image courtesy of ACE/INFphoto.com

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10. Crash
Let's just get this one out of the way. Everyone knows the story about this one: Crash is the movie prided on overcooked messages and multiple characters to tell a repetitive message on equality that somehow sneaked its way into becoming the Best Picture winner for 2005.

Beating out superior films like Capote, Munich, Good Night and Good Luck and, of course, Brokeback Mountain, the later being the film everyone assumed would take home the prize, it's an earnest but mostly just average film, with overwritten dialogue but solid performances all around. It may be the most undeserving Best Picture winner since Shakespeare in Love, but it's not quite as bad as some make it out to be. In truth, it's just an alright film at best, and how it won the top prize is a question even Academy voters ask themselves to this day.

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9.The Hurt Locker
The film which finally had a woman director take home the Best Director prize and helm a Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker is certainly a better film than, say, Avatar — the film, you may remember, was what the public at large was rooting for to win, haha, and also the film made by The Hurt Locker director's ex-husband, James Cameron — but it ultimately is just a stepping stone for filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow to make her far superior and more compelling look at war and determination, 2012' Zero Dark Thirty.

The Hurt Locker definitely has its merits, most notably its intense bomb scenes, fantastic end and solid lead and breakout performance from Jeremy Renner, who was nominated for his work. But overall, it's limp message that "War is a drug" feels overextended and not fully developed. It feels like Bigelow touching the surface of a large message she would be able to tell with her bigger budgeted and more assured follow-up. At the very least, it should be celebrated as the first Iraq narrative movie to successfully display the horrors and tribulations of our soldiers in arms.

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8.Argo
By no means a bad film, Ben Affleck's Argo is the kind of competently made, crowd-pleasing features which does everything its supposed to, yet doesn't quite amount to much more than a quick-witted and then nail-biting night at the movies. Affleck surrounds himself with great actors and guides himself with a supremely sharp screenplay, and he excels with the primary job at hand as a filmmaker, even if his actual acting performances leaves one wanting a little more. Affleck also has a wonderful sense of pacing and sense of time with his third film.

Above all else, Argo should be celebrated as Hollywood finally welcoming back Affleck after years of them treating him like as the acting punchline of the late '90s/early '00s. It's a deserving feat, especially when considering all the hard, and good, work he put into his comeback both in front of the camera (Hollywoodland, The Company Men, Extract, State of Play, The Town) and behind it (Gone, Baby, Gone and, again, The Town) but to call it the best film of 2012 is a bit much.

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7.The Artist
Yeah yeah, 2011's The Artist was the one that proved the Academy is a bunch of old geezers who like the movies the way they used to be, for the most part. That's not to disqualify it, however, from its beautifully realized look at the past and celebration of filmmaking, warmly realized through its performances and well encapsulated sense of period of time. But to call this more than a pleasant but mostly forgettable look at the past is a bit much, and to call it the Best Picture of the year is even more of a stretch.

At best, The Artist is a second-rate, silent version of Singin' in the Rain. There's nothing wrong with that, but its reverence for the past does make the film fail to have its own identity and longevity. Unlike, say, The Band Wagon, which incorporates elements of films of late and finds a way to make them feel fresh and vital again, this Best Picture winner seems satisfied just stating its love for film history. It's a sweet, notable film, but not one which makes a lasting impact save for its gorgeous cinematography, snappy dance numbers and its very cute little dog.

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6.Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle's energetic salute to Bollywood, Slumdog Millionaire, is certainly more hyper than your average Best Picture winner. It's sharp, fast-paced, and also has a good respect for its characters and their culture. It also has a fantastic score and a sense of vibrancy which should be seen more in not just Best Picture nominees, but films in general.

All that said, however, to call this movie the best of the year is a praise that's a little unearned. I know I'm repeating myself a lot here, but Boyle's film hits all the familiar story notes and cues and, while it has the visual style to give it life, it does leave one wanting more from its story. A nice color palette doesn't make the characters any more three-dimensional. Still, it's a hard movie to dislike, and one can't help but dance in their seats as the last couple minutes dance their way onto the screen.

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5.Million Dollar Baby
The film which would finally celebrate Clint Eastwood's filmmaking efforts for what one would think for the last time before this year's American Sniper brought him back into awards recognition (even if it's undeserved), Million Dollar Baby is a good film that, much like its peers on this half of the list, is a tad too forgettable to completely champion.

Hilary Swank gives an uncompromising and powerful performance, while Morgan Freeman was finally able to get the Oscar he so deserved after years of being shut out of the race. But, looking back, I have a hard time really remembering this movie, beyond its heartbreaking conclusion and Eastwood's ever-convincing screen presence. It's another competently made film by the director with one of the most respected and praised legacies in film, at least before the last couple years, but it's not necessary remarkable. Still a good film, but not much else.

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4.The King's Speech
While as cutesy and slight as The Artist, The King's Speech at least hosts a charm, wit and a sense of humor which feel genuine and earned. It does, yes, hit all the familiar marks of an "Oscar movie," and by now means is this film better than The Social Network or Toy Story 3. But thanks to its well-graced performances, especially from Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, its unusual vision and earnest look at one of Britain's most sweet royal relationships, The King's Speech is a dandy little uplifter of a movie.

At the very least, it should be celebrated for finally getting Firth his Oscar, a prize he should have gotten the year before for his moving lead performance in A Single Man. His nuanced and well-contained performances, both there and here, celebrate a performer who is at the top of his craft. For years, it took the actor a while to get his full due and this, at the very least, gave him the honor he so deserved.

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3.The Departed
While no means is The Departed the director Martin Scorsese will be remembered for, that doesn't mean the 2006 movie is any less compelling, invigorating or entertaining. Ironically meant to be the movie the filmmaker made as a crowd-pleaser over awards contender, it may best be remembered as the feature which finally got Marty his well-deserved Oscar, and it doesn't have any gratuitous message on society or life which it explores.

But through high-strung set pieces, expert editing, wonderfully crass and quick-witted banter from a great adapted screenplay and fantastic performances, especially from Jack Nicholson — who was robbed of his Best Supporting Actor nomination here by Mark Wahlberg — this is still yet another wonderful tour de force from the masterful filmmaker. It also boasted the best soundtrack and one-liners of any movie on this list by far.

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2.12 Years a Slave
Never less than powerful, Steve McQueen's haunting 12 Years a Slave is not only an important film, but one that never fails to stay with you even months and now years after the fact. Often a very simple look at our nation's checkered past, McQueen's third film often brings up thoughtful messages and themes, all of which somehow never slow down the feature. It's dedicated performers all give powerhouse depictions, which leave room for subtlety when needed and verbratto when necessary.

It's one of the three films of the last couple years which actually deserves its prize. The one time the Academy recognizes the film which will be remembered and celebrated for years to come, and will not look back with questioning eyes why they picked this movie as their favorite. Even if some Academy voters — apparently — voted for this movie blind as they were too weak-stomached to handle the horrors on screen, at least they were competent enough to pick something which deserves to be celebrated.

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1.No Country For Old Men
No Country For Old Men could very well be a perfect film. A pinnacle of cinema in an already exceptional year at the movies, the Best Picture winner for 2007 is a rustically gritty, masterfully produced film, thickly laced with wisdom, consequences and hard-earned morals. It's the first movie to not only get Cormac McCarthy to the T on the big screen, but encapsulate directors Joel and Ethan Coen's sense of atmosphere and timing in a manner which is not only mostly serious but easily the most mature and somber film on the filmmakers' resumes, even compared to their previous Best Picture nominee and fellow masterpiece, Fargo.

Anchored by wonderful performances from Tommy Lee Jones and an unforgettable Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men is not only one of the few times the Academy got it right — even if Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood was an equally deserving winner — but finally saw them elevate themselves beyond celebrating feel-good features compared to their more grounded counterparts. Even though some would say they did that the year before with Scorsese's film, to me, No Country For Old Men was when the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences decided there's more to praise in movies than good-hearted characters, loud, thundering scores and obvious messages.