In 1986, Paul Newman won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Fast Eddie Felson in The Color Of Money. It’s widely held that this was the Academy’s way of correcting their mistake in not awarding him for a superior performance as the same character in the 1961 film The Hustler.

In 2010, many of the biggest winners actually received their awards to rectify similar oversights. In fact, the final five Oscars awarded were all consolation awards:

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side
Why She Really Won: Her role as Angela Bennett in The Net.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart
Why He Really Won: His role as The Dude in The Big Lebowski.

Best Foreign Language Film: Argentina’s El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes)
Why It Really Won: The Falkland Islands.

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Why It Really Won: Atonement for the collective man-years lost by the people of the world sitting through Avatar.

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Why She Really Won: Her infinitely-superior film Point Break. Additionally, to really stick it to her ex-husband James Cameron, nominated in the same category for directing Avatar.

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