Best Picture Oscar Winner: Analysis.
by Movie-ManDan | created - 03 Nov 2015 | updated - 22 Mar 2023 | PublicVery Well Agreed!=It was the year's best. Agreed!=Not my number 1 choice, but am glad it won. Good, but...=A few films were better and more worthy. Disagreed=Should not have won. TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!=A bad movie won.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 333,188 | Gross: $198.68M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Stagecoach, Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Of Mice and Men, Withering Heights, Dark Victory, Goodbye Mr. Chips.
2. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,255 | Gross: $4.36M
Agreed!
Won against: The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, The Philadelphia Story.
3. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Family
At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp
Votes: 26,386
Good, but...
Won against: Citizen Kane, Maltese Falcon.
Why this won: it was a great film.
Why Kane and Falcon lost: nobody knew Falcon would have such a strong impact. Citizen Kane broke all the rules in creating movies, and William Randolph Hearst (who the movie is loosely based on) did not like it and probably would have threatened legal action.
4. Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, War
A British family struggles to survive the first months of World War II.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, May Whitty
Votes: 19,394 | Gross: $13.50M
Agreed!
5. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 604,202 | Gross: $1.02M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Yankee Doodle Dandy
6. Going My Way (1944)
Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
When young Father O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic's, old Father Fitzgibbon doesn't think much of the church's newest member.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown
Votes: 13,397 | Gross: $16.30M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!
Won against: Double Indemnity, Laura, Arsenic and Old Lace
7. The Lost Weekend (1945)
Passed | 101 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 40,066 | Gross: $9.46M
Very Well Agreed!
8. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Approved | 170 min | Drama, Romance, War
Three World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Teresa Wright
Votes: 70,289 | Gross: $23.65M
Agreed!
Won against: It's a Wonderful Life.
9. Hamlet (1948)
Approved | 154 min | Drama
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Votes: 18,301 | Gross: $7.09M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Red Shoes, Key Largo.
10. All the King's Men (1949)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek
Votes: 16,519
Agreed!
Won against: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, White Heat.
11. All About Eve (1950)
Passed | 138 min | Drama
A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm
Votes: 138,410 | Gross: $0.01M
Good but...
Won against: Sunset Blvd, The Third Man, Harvey, Born Yesterday.
Sunset really should have won.
12. An American in Paris (1951)
Passed | 114 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary
Votes: 36,732 | Gross: $4.50M
Agreed!
Won against: A Streetcar Named Desire, African Queen.
Any of these would have been fine winners.
13. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Passed | 152 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde
Votes: 15,972 | Gross: $36.00M
Disagreed.
Won against: Singin' in the Rain, High Noon, Moulin Rouge, The Quiet Man.
14. From Here to Eternity (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Romance, War
At a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed
Votes: 50,672 | Gross: $30.50M
Agreed!
Won against: Shane, Roman Holiday, The Robe, Julius Caesar, The Band Wagon.
15. On the Waterfront (1954)
Approved | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Votes: 164,145 | Gross: $9.60M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: A Star Is Born, The Caine Mutiny, Sabrina, Rear Window, Dial M For Murder.
16. Marty (1955)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli
Votes: 26,895
Good, but...
Won against: Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, Guys & Dolls, To Catch a Thief, Mr. Roberts
17. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
G | 175 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.
Directors: Michael Anderson, John Farrow | Stars: David Niven, Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley
Votes: 29,586 | Gross: $42.00M
Disagreed!
Won against: Giant, Ten Commandments, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, King & I.
Why the contenders lost: no idea.
18. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 232,684 | Gross: $44.91M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!
Won against: 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory.
Why this won: I have no idea why people love this so much.
Why 12 Angry Men lost: it takes place for 97 minutes in a jury room.
Why Paths of Glory Lost: Kwai is almost double its length and in colour.
19. Gigi (1958)
G | 115 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship which may not stay platonic for long.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, Charles Walters | Stars: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 24,396
Disagreed.
Won against: Vertigo, Touch of Evil
Why Vertigo lost: it was shockingly not that highly praised at the time.
20. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 252,669 | Gross: $74.70M
Good, but...
Won against: North By Northwest, Some Like it Hot.
Why this won: uncanny filmmaking.
Why the others lost: Hot was controversial since it is about men in drag. I don't know why NBNW lost.
21. The Apartment (1960)
Approved | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston
Votes: 195,989 | Gross: $18.60M
Agreed!
Won against: Psycho, Spartacus.
Any of these would have been good winners.
22. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 120,853 | Gross: $43.66M
Disagreed!
Won against: The Hustler, Judgement at Nuremberg, 101 Dalmatians, La Dolce Vita.
23. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 313,140 | Gross: $44.82M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: To Kill a Mockingbird, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Longest Day, Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty.
24. Tom Jones (1963)
Not Rated | 129 min | Adventure, Comedy, History
The romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Albert Finney, Susannah York, George Devine, Rachel Kempson
Votes: 14,210 | Gross: $37.60M
Good, but...
Why Cleopatra lost: it was one of the biggest flops ever.
Won against: Cleopatra, How The West was Won.
25. My Fair Lady (1964)
G | 170 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 101,539 | Gross: $72.00M
Agreed!
Won against: Dr. Strangelove, Becket, Mary Poppins, Zorba the Greek.
Why Dr. Strangelove lost: a comedy about nuclear war ending the world that came out at the height of the Cold War.
This would be one of the best Oscar winning films ever, if Dr. Strangelove was not released at the same time.
26. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 259,744 | Gross: $163.21M
Agreed!
Won against: Dr. Zhivago, Othello, For A Few Dollars More.
27. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern
Votes: 37,053 | Gross: $28.35M
Good, but...
Won against: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Alfie, The Good The Bad and the Ugly.
28. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
Votes: 83,327 | Gross: $24.38M
Good, but...
Won against: The Graduate, Bonnie & Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen.
29. Oliver! (1968)
G | 153 min | Drama, Family, Musical
After being sold to a mortician, young orphan Oliver Twist runs away and meets a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor in 1830s London.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed
Votes: 41,290 | Gross: $16.80M
Good, but...
Won against: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, Funny Girl, Romeo & Juliet.
30. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
R | 113 min | Drama
A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
Votes: 120,172 | Gross: $44.79M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: True Grit, Z, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Easy Rider, Bob and Carol & Ted and Alice.
31. Patton (1970)
GP | 172 min | Biography, Drama, War
The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong
Votes: 107,699 | Gross: $61.70M
Agreed!
Won against: Five Easy Pieces, Little Big Man, M*A*S*H, Airport.
32. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,049 | Gross: $15.63M
Agreed!
Won against: A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, Last Picture Show, McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
Clockwork would have been a good winner too.
33. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,003,295 | Gross: $134.97M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Deliverance, Cabaret, Sleuth.
34. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 278,939 | Gross: $159.60M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!
Won against: Serpico, Enter the Dragon, Last Tango in Paris, The Exorcist.
Why the others lost: Serpico gives police a bad name. Exorcist was too scary. Paris is erotica. Dragon was simply a great film overlooked at the time.
35. The Godfather Part II (1974)
R | 202 min | Crime, Drama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Votes: 1,359,015 | Gross: $57.30M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Chinatown, The Conversation, Day For Night, The Last Detail, Young Frankenstein, Harry and Tonto, Mean Streets.
36. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
R | 133 min | Drama
In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
Votes: 1,069,005 | Gross: $112.00M
Good, but...
Won against: Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville.
37. Rocky (1976)
PG | 120 min | Drama, Sport
A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 626,124 | Gross: $117.24M
Agreed!
Won against: Taxi Driver, Network, All The President's Men.
Why this won: very inspirational and well done.
Any of the films I mentioned would have been good winners.
38. Annie Hall (1977)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane
Votes: 277,653 | Gross: $39.20M
Agreed!
Won against: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Why this won: it is probably the most innovative romantic comedy ever. The script, symbols and story are all awesome.
Why the contenders lost: they both had very unoriginal stories.
39. The Deer Hunter (1978)
R | 183 min | Drama, War
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage
Votes: 361,063 | Gross: $48.98M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Straight Time, Grease, The Buddy Holly Story.
40. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
PG | 105 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Votes: 154,238 | Gross: $106.26M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: All That Jazz, Breaking Away, Apocalypse Now, Alien.
Why this won: best acting and story.
41. Ordinary People (1980)
R | 124 min | Drama
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 56,493 | Gross: $54.80M
Good, but...
Won against: Raging Bull, Empire Strikes Back, The Shining.
Why this won: as Robert Redford's directorial debut, the Academy likes surprises. Also, the movie was pretty original and therapeutic, dealing with survivor's guilt, depression, suicide and family breaking up.
Why the contenders lost: Raging Bull did not receive critical acclaim at the time. Sure it was praised, but not as much as now. Both Bull and Shining were too gritty and brutal for some people's tastes. Since Empire was a sequel with a down ending, I guess voters didn't like that.
42. Chariots of Fire (1981)
PG | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
Director: Hugh Hudson | Stars: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers
Votes: 65,656 | Gross: $58.97M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!
Won against: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blow-Out, Ragtime, Das Boot.
Why this won/ why the others lost: no idea.
43. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 239,870 | Gross: $52.77M
Good, but...
Won against: ET, Sophie's Choice, Tootsie.
Why this won: the acting by all (especially by Kingsley) is stellar and the whole movie is very inspirational.
Any of these would have been good winners.
44. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 426,213 | Gross: $51.97M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Once Upon a Time in America, The Terminator, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Natural.
45. Terms of Endearment (1983)
PG | 132 min | Comedy, Drama
Follows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love and her daughter's family problems.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito
Votes: 65,223 | Gross: $108.42M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!!
Won against: Scarface, The Right Stuff, Return of the Jedi, A Christmas Story, Fanny & Alexander, Tender Mercies, Trading Places, Meaning of Life... The movie sucked. Totally don't get how or why it won.
46. Out of Africa (1985)
PG | 161 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen
Votes: 86,028 | Gross: $87.10M
Good, but...
Won against: Back to the Future, The Colour Purple, Ran.
47. Platoon (1986)
R | 120 min | Drama, War
Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David
Votes: 438,028 | Gross: $138.53M
Good, but...
Won against: Aliens, Stand By Me, Hannah and Her Sisters.
Why this won: one of the best war movies ever made.
Why the others lost: critics found Aliens to be over-the-top. Stand By Me is an emotional friendship movie that was not worthy of the Best Director Oscar win. Best Director and Best Picture often go hand-in-hand.
48. The Last Emperor (1987)
PG-13 | 163 min | Biography, Drama, History
Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatisation of the life story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying
Votes: 111,134 | Gross: $43.98M
Good, but...
Won against: The Untouchables, Full Metal Jacket, Lethal Weapon.
Why the others lost: too gritty.
49. Rain Man (1988)
R | 133 min | Drama
After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen
Votes: 545,053 | Gross: $178.80M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Last Temptation of Christ, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mississippi Burning, Willow.
Any of these would have been good winners.
50. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone
Votes: 117,259 | Gross: $106.59M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!
Won Against: Born of the 4th of July, Do The Right Thing, Henry V, My Left Foot, Glory, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Why this won: the whole concept of equality of racism was tackled at a good time. Plus Tandy and Freeman were excellent.
Why the contenders lost: 4th of July tackled another controversial topic and it won Best Director, they wanted two different movies to win the top prizes. Right Thing was an odd piece of moviemaking that some people (including myself) needed to watch twice. It was not for everyone. Voters liked the previous Indiana Jones movies more. Henry V isn't American. My Left Foot was simply not voted upon.
I would rather The Karate Kid Part III win instead of this.
51. Dances with Wolves (1990)
PG-13 | 181 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
Votes: 289,352 | Gross: $184.21M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Awakenings, Ghost, Goodfellas.
Why this won: This really revived the western genre and gave Natives their due. It also shows how there is true redemption in the human soul and people can fix who they are and change themselves for the better. It is also full of some amazingly beautiful scenes and dazzling music.
Why Goodfellas lost: It does not do a good job of absorbing and sucking the audience into its world. Scorsese did say he wanted the movie to feel like a trailer. He succeeded.
Also, Goodfellas glorifies life in the mafia. A kid idolizes mobsters and works much of his life to be a top guy. Goodfellas really shows that being a gangster is fun. That is sending the wrong message! This movie must've inspired so many people to try to join mob family. Can you really blame the academy for siding with a movie about the cleansing of the human soul over macho foul-mouths that kill people?
Goodfellas deals with a man trying to get into the violence. Dances With Wolves deals with a man trying to get away from the violence.
This is one of my favourite Oscar winning films ever.
52. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,541,953 | Gross: $130.74M
Good, but...
Won against: JFK, Terminator 2, Beauty and the Beast
Why this won: if JFK and T2 did not come out in 1991, this would have been one of the best Oscar wins ever.
Why the others lost: T2 was more of a audience success. JFK has often been criticized for being false and inaccurate about the real thing.
53. Unforgiven (1992)
R | 130 min | Drama, Western
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Votes: 434,832 | Gross: $101.16M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Malcolm X, One False Move, Reservoir Dogs.
54. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,444,613 | Gross: $96.90M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: The Piano, Jurassic Park, True Romance, Age of Innocence.
55. Forrest Gump (1994)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, Romance
The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field
Votes: 2,246,381 | Gross: $330.25M
Good, but...
Won against: Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, Natural Born Killers.
Why this won: great moviemaking, awesome acting.
Why the contenders lost: voters found Killers and Fiction too gritty and too brutal for the win. Shawshank wasn't even that big of a hit.
56. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, War
Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 1,088,513 | Gross: $75.60M
Agreed!
Won against: Casino, The Usual Suspects, Toy Story, Leaving Las Vegas, Apollo 13.
Any of these would have been good winners.
57. The English Patient (1996)
R | 162 min | Drama, Romance, War
At the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 199,532 | Gross: $78.65M
Good, but...
Won against: Fargo.
Why this won: it had more to offer than any other movie of the year.
Why Fargo lost: too gritty and voters must've found some bits either too shocking or unimpressive.
58. Titanic (1997)
PG-13 | 194 min | Drama, Romance
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates
Votes: 1,275,478 | Gross: $659.33M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: LA Confidential, As Good As It Gets, Boogie Nights, The Ice Storm, Good Will Hunting.
Any of these would have been a good winner.
59. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 233,894 | Gross: $100.32M
Disagreed.
Won against: Saving Private Ryan, Thin Red Line, American History X, Life is Beautiful.
Why this won: this had the most to offer than any other movie of the year. The acting, costumes, sets, music, sound, story, subplots, inside jokes...the movie had it all. But the contenders were so much better, I had to say "Disagreed" instead of "Good, but..."
60. American Beauty (1999)
R | 122 min | Drama
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley
Votes: 1,207,732 | Gross: $130.10M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Fight Club, Magnolia, The Insider, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don't Cry.
The first three films I named would have been good winners too.
61. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,612,784 | Gross: $187.71M
Disagreed.
Won against: Traffic, Almost Famous, Requiem for a Dream.
Why this won: great moviemaking.
Why the others lost: Famous did not have stellar moviemaking. Traffic and Dream are about drugs, but still!
62. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
A mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 983,845 | Gross: $170.74M
Good, but...
Won against: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Vanilla Sky, Moulin Rouge, Memento.
Why this won: It was a great film with a fascinating character study.
Why the contenders lost: people knew that the LOTR movies would get better. Vanilla Sky and Memento are confusing. Moulin Rouge's style must be too much.
63. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 242,744 | Gross: $170.69M
Good, but...
Won against: Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Gangs of New York, The Pianist.
Why this won: although a great film, I don't know how it beat the others.
64. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,970,970 | Gross: $377.85M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Mystic River, Monster, Master and Commander, Lost in Translation, In America.
65. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
PG-13 | 132 min | Drama, Sport
Frankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel
Votes: 719,785 | Gross: $100.49M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: The Aviator, Hotel Rwanda, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Any of these would have been a good winner.
66. Crash (I) (2004)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
Director: Paul Haggis | Stars: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandiwe Newton, Karina Arroyave
Votes: 448,428 | Gross: $54.58M
Agreed!
Won against: Munich, Capote, Brokeback Mountain, King Kong.
67. The Departed (2006)
R | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Votes: 1,416,941 | Gross: $132.38M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: Pan's Labyrinth, Casino Royale, United 93.
Pan's Labyrinth would have made a good winner.
68. No Country for Old Men (2007)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 1,055,185 | Gross: $74.28M
Agreed!
Won against: There Will Be Blood, American Gangster, Reign Over Me, Michael Clayton.
Any of these nominees would have been worthy.
69. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.
Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan | Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor
Votes: 875,871 | Gross: $141.32M
Very Well Agreed!
Won against: The Dark Knight, Gran Torino.
70. The Hurt Locker (2008)
R | 131 min | Drama, Thriller, War
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce
Votes: 472,702 | Gross: $17.02M
Agreed!
Won against: Inglorious Basterds, The Hangover.
71. The King's Speech (2010)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 706,627 | Gross: $138.80M
Good, but...
Won against: Social Network, Inception.
Why the contenders lost: don't know.
72. The Artist (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius | Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Votes: 248,276 | Gross: $44.67M
Agreed!
Won against: The Tree of Life.
Why Tree of Life lost: many people don't get experimental films.
73. Argo (2012)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin
Votes: 637,919 | Gross: $136.03M
Very well agreed!
Won against: Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln
74. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt
Votes: 739,424 | Gross: $56.67M
TOTAL DISAGREEMENT!!!
Won against: Wolf of Wall Street.
Why this won: accurate depiction of slavery in its time period, great acting, true emotions are revoked.
Why Wolf of Wall Street lost: recycled story with too much profanity.
75. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Drama
A washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough
Votes: 665,019 | Gross: $42.34M
Agreed!
Won against: Boyhood, Theory of Everything, Interstellar, Whiplash.
76. Spotlight (I) (2015)
R | 129 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 500,643 | Gross: $45.06M
Agreed!
Won against: Room.
77. Moonlight (I) (2016)
R | 111 min | Drama
A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
Director: Barry Jenkins | Stars: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R. Hibbert
Votes: 330,572 | Gross: $27.85M
Agreed!
Won against: Hacksaw Ridge, Manchester By the Sea, La La Land, Hell Or High Water.
78. The Shape of Water (2017)
R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Doug Jones
Votes: 446,420 | Gross: $63.86M
Disagreed
Won against: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lady Bird
Why this won: has a great look, great effects, and great acting. And Del Toro is back to doing good films and not crap.
I honestly didn’t find 2017 to be a great year for film. But this!? The movie certainly doesn’t suck, but creating a serious romance with the Creature From the Black Lagoon was much too silly for the movie to hold any true merit as a worthy Oscar winner.
79. Green Book (2018)
PG-13 | 130 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
Director: Peter Farrelly | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco
Votes: 565,515 | Gross: $85.08M
Good, but...
Won against: Bohemian Rhapsody, Roma, BlacKKKlansman
Why this won: great performances and it’s deal with race relations
I liked this movie and thought a nomination was good enough. Not good enough for the win.
80. Parasite (2019)
R | 132 min | Drama, Thriller
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik
Votes: 950,424 | Gross: $53.37M
Very well agreed!
Won against: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Little Women, The Irishman, Marriage Story, The Souvenir
Why this won: it was truly the very best
81. Nomadland (2020)
R | 107 min | Drama
A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Director: Chloé Zhao | Stars: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Gay DeForest
Votes: 182,403
Good, but...
Won against: The Father, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
This was simply a lacklustre year for movies.
82. CODA (2021)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Director: Sian Heder | Stars: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant
Votes: 163,687
Disagreed.
Won against: Belfast, Dune, King Richard, West Side Story, Drive My Car
Another lacklustre year.
83. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
R | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert | Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan
Votes: 527,909 | Gross: $72.86M
Agreed.
Let’s face it, Hollywood has gone downhill. Ten years ago and this would only have gotten editing and cinematography Oscar’s.
Tell Your Friends