I left the last post with a question: What does that say about me? The fact that I only agree with two of the ten Best Picture winners from 1994-2003. I think that's about like everybody else. The movie Oscar picks is not always the one that stands the test of time.
So, we continue...
Here's how Best Picture would look if I got to pick:
Actual Oscar Winner is indicated with a *.
Movies Speaks has never seen indicated with s
The 77th Academy Awards - 2004
"The Aviator"
"Finding Neverland"
"Million Dollar Baby" *
"Sideways"
20-Year-Old Speaks: "The Aviator"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "Sideways"
The 78th Academy Awards - 2005
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash" *
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"
21-Year-Old Speaks: "Crash"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "Brokeback Mountain"
The 79th Academy Awards - 2006
"Babel"
"The Departed" *
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"The Queen"
22-Year-Old Speaks: "The Departed"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "The Departed"
The 80th Academy Awards - 2007
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men" *
"There Will Be Blood"
23-Year-Old Speaks: "No Country for Old Men"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "No Country for Old Men"
The 81st Academy Awards - 2008
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire" *
24-Year-Old Speaks: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
The 82nd Academy Awards - 2009
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"The Hurt Locker" *
"Inglourious Basterds"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"
25-Year-Old Speaks: "A Serious Man"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "Inglourious Basterds"
The 83rd Academy Awards - 2010
"127 Hours"
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"Inception"
"The Kids Are All Right"
"The King's Speech *
"The Social Network"
"Toy Story 3"
"True Grit"
"Winter's Bone"
26-Year-Old Speaks: "The Social Network"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "The Social Network"
The 84th Academy Awards - 2011
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
27-Year-Old Speaks: "Midnight in Paris"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "The Descendants"
The 85th Academy Awards - 2012
"Argo" *
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Django Unchained"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
28-Year-Old Speaks: "Silver Linings Playbook"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "Silver Linings Playbook"
The 86th Academy Awards - 2013
"12 Years a Slave" *
"American Hustle"
"Captain Phillips"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Gravity"
"Her"
"Nebraska"
"The Wolf of Wall Street"
29-Year-Old Speaks: "Nebraska"
30-Year-Old Speaks: "Nebraska"
So, to recap...
My younger self would've agreed thrice ("Crash", "The Departed", and "No Country for Old Men").
My current self would've agreed only twice ("The Departed" and "No Country for Old Men").
It has become clear that I am partial to the films of David Fincher and Alexander Payne.
I agree with so many of these. I will never get over Crash beating Brokeback Mountain. Where the hell did that come from? I think you should definitely check out An Education and Precious. Both are very powerful films. Philomena is good too, but will give you nun rage.
ReplyDeleteHaha! "Nun rage"! I'm intrigued. Just never got to that one in 2013. An Education I've always wanted to see. Need to. Precious just looked so taxing. I'll do it eventually. Brokeback Mountain truly stands out as the best film of that year. Oscar got too scared to give it the big prize and just hooked up Ang Lee instead, which is good enough, I guess.
DeleteI agree with many of your picks although I find myself bouncing back and forth with a few from the more recent years. My 2004 pick would be Finding Neverland. For 2008, I would not pick The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, not to say that it was not a good movie or storytelling, I just really liked Slumdog Millionaire and I liked Milk. Don't get be started on Babel or Tree of Life even being nominated!
ReplyDeleteOh, how I love your hate for Terrence Malick. It truly enriches our relationship.
DeleteSo, I haven't seen Letters from Iwo Jima or Philomena either, but here is my ranking of the others you haven't seen.
ReplyDeleteA:
The Artist
An Education
B:
Amour
B-:
Precious
C+:
Ray
The Blind Side
D:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
F:
War Horse
Thanks once again, bro. Yeah. War Horse looked incredibly dull to me, and I'm a Spielberg guy. Don't know why I never saw The Artist. It just escaped me, and I never got back to it. I shall.
DeleteWar Horse (which I was dragged to kicking and screaming) actually contains some of the best filmmaking of Spielberg's career... as well as some of the worst. The Artist is so special; such a joy. And Amour is one of the most powerful pieces of cinema I've had the pleasure to witness on the big screen.
DeleteAmour looked great but so highly emotional, I sort of avoided it at the time. I really want to seek it out now.
DeleteI know my wife really wants to watch War Horse. She loves the book. We'll get around to it. I don't intend to let any Spielberg movie go by, even the not so good ones.
The book is great, and if you haven't seen video from the play, look it up on YouTube. I still haven't seen Warhorse because I am scared of the disappointment.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I just never had an itch to see it. Maybe we should since you've read the book.
Delete