Since the Motion Picture Academy increased the Oscars' best picture category from five in 2009, there have been constant complaints about how the prestige of a nomination has been diluted, almost as if there is a collective amnesia about the scores of embarrassing films. -Worthy films that have earned the honor over the decades.
This year, however, the complainers fell silent when Oscar voters delivered an impeccable best picture nomination, a group of 10 films that only a self-proclaimed Scrooge could find fault with.
Is this the best group of best picture nominees we've had since the category expanded? There is a way to find out. But before we begin, a note about the rankings:
The levels:
Absolutely: I would be happy to watch this movie again right now. In fact, I may even be doing it as I write this.
Sure: If I were on a flight and this was an inflight entertainment option, I would gladly watch it again.
Well: If I were on a flight, I'd only watch it again if I had a lot of free time, like maybe on a 15-hour trip to Australia.
No: I would not watch this movie again under any circumstances, even if I was flying to Australia and this was the only movie available.
Hell no: Yes, if I had the choice between watching this movie again and my plane crashing into the side of a mountain, I would choose a quick, painless death.
And now, to the very subjective classifications, from worst to best, with the years corresponding to the films' release.
15. 2020: The year we didn't go to the movies
Sure: “Nomadland”, “Sound of Metal”, “Minari”, “Judas and the Black Messiah”, “Mank”, “Promising Young Woman”, “Mank”, “The Father”, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Nomadland” is the only one of these pandemic-year movies I've seen on the big screen, and it was at a Rose Bowl drive-in. None of these films, except perhaps “Nomadland,” are great, but they all have something to recommend them, particularly the acting. Some repertory theaters should highlight this group with a week of programming, if only to properly see the tips of “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt's “Citizen Kane” hat.
14. 2011: the last year of cheers of the Weinstein era
Absolutely: “The Tree of Life”
Sure: “The Descendants”, “Hugo”, “Midnight in Paris”, “Moneyball”
Well: “The Artist”, “The Help”, “War Horse”
Hell no: “Extremely loud and incredibly close”
Mild entries from Spielberg and Scorsese, plus perhaps the most unbearable film ever nominated for best picture. Say what you want about “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but at least you can close your eyes and just listen to the music.
13. 2021: The year of the most unlikely winner for best film of all time
Absolutely: “Drive my car”
Sure: “CODA”, “Licorice Pizza”, “The Power of the Dog”
Well: “Dune”, “Belfast”, “Nightmare Alley”, “West Side Story”, “King Richard”
No: “Don't look up”
Frank Herbert's “Dune” remains undefeated in the movies, although, as silly as it is, I'm still looking forward to the second part.
12. 2022: The year of “Everything, everywhere, at once”
Sure: “Everything at once, everywhere”, “The Fabelmans”, “Tár”, “Top Gun: Maverick”, “The Banshees of Inisherin”, “Women Talking”, “Elvis”
Well: “Avatar: The Way of Water”
No: “Everything is calm on the western front”
Hell no: “Triangle of Sadness”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is the only film to have won six higher-category Oscars: film, director, actress, supporting actor and actress, and original screenplay. That is awesome? Too much? TO batch a lot? Talk to each other.
11. 2018: the year the “Green Book” broke the Internet
Sure: “Black Panther”, “BlacKkKlansman”, “The Favorite”, “Roma”, “Green Book”, “A Star is Born”
Well: “Vice”
Hell no: “Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Green Book” and Spike Lee on the same level, along with “A Star Is Born”? I know what you're saying and (Gaga, are you ready?) sounds something like “Haaaaaa-ahhhh-ahhh-ohhhh-ahhaaaaaa-ahhhh-ahhh-ohhhh-ah.”
10. 2014: The devastating year of “Birdman” that still irritates
Absolutely: “Childhood”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Sure: “Birdman,” “American Sniper,” “Selma,” “Whiplash”
Well: “The Imitation Game”, “The Theory of Everything”
Alejandro G. Iñárritu (“Birdman”), Wes Anderson (“Grand Budapest”) and Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”) are nominated for film, director and original screenplay… and Iñárritu wins all three. Somewhere there is a continuous shot of me watching the ceremony in disbelief.
9. 2009: Kathryn Bigelow's year makes history
Absolutely: “Up”, “Inglourious Basterds”, “A Serious Man”
Sure: “In a hostile land”, “Avatar”, “An education”, “Precious”, “Up in the Air”
Well: “District 9”
No: “The blind side”
Excluding the two pandemic-era winners (“Nomadland” and “CODA”), “The Hurt Locker” is the lowest-grossing best picture Oscar winner. And there hasn't exactly been a second wave of appreciation since then.
8. 2012: The year of Ben Affleck's snub
Absolutely: “Affair”
Sure: “Argo,” “Django Unchained,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings,” “Darkest Night”
Well: “The life of Pi”
No: “The Miserables”
Do you hear people singing?
Singing an angry Ben song?
They are the voices of the voters.
Who won't be fooled again!
7. 2010: The year “I can't believe Fincher's movie didn't win”
Absolutely: “The Social Network”, “Toy Story 3”
Sure: “Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “Inception,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “True Grit,” “Winter's Bone,” “Up in the Air”
Well: “The King's Speech”, “127 Hours”
Pixar has produced so many unnecessary sequels in the last decade that it's easy to forget the charming and satisfying way it ended the “Toy Story” trilogy. But then they had to make a fourth movie. Let's pretend they don't.
6. 2015: The year “Mad Max” won six Oscars but no image or director
Absolutely: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Sure: “Spotlight”, “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, “Brooklyn”, “The Martian”, “The Revenant”, “The Room”
Inarritu? Again? Whyyyyyyyy??
5. 2016: The year “This is not a joke, 'Moonlight' has won the award for best film”
Absolutely: “La La Land”, “Moonlight”
Sure: “Arrival,” “Fences,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Tide,” “Hidden Figures,” “Lion,” “Manchester by the Sea”
Warren Beatty: “I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone. … I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
4. 2019: The “Parasite” makes history a year
Absolutely: “Parasite”, “Once upon a time… in Hollywood”
Sure: “1917”, “The Irishman”, “Little Women”, “Marriage Story”, “Ford v Ferrari”
No: “Jester”
Hell no: “Jojo Rabbit”
It would be bigger if it weren't for the movie where Hitler says “Right World!”
3. 2017: the year Greta Gerwig was nominated for director
Absolutely: “Out”, “Lady Bird”, “Phantom Thread”
Sure: “The Shape of Water,” “Call Me by Your Name,” “Dunkirk,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Well: “The Post”, “Darkest Hour”
A fantastic and profound year, which I also think will baffle film lovers in a few years. In “The Shape of Water,” the creature from the Black Lagoon catches the girl and eats a cat. It works, but its esteem has diminished, which is not the case with “Get Out”, “Lady Bird” and “Phantom Thread”.
2. 2013: The year “She” predicted the future
Absolutely: “Gravity”, “Her”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Sure: “12 Years a Slave”, “Nebraska”, “Captain Phillips”, “Dallas Buyers Club”, “Philomena”
Well: “American Hustle”
Look, I like Sandra Bullock.
1. 2023: The year in which “Barbenheimer” governed
Absolutely: “Oppenheimer”, “The Zone of Interest”, “Past Lives”
Sure: “The Flower Moon Killers,” “Poor People,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “American Fiction”
Well: “Teacher”
Yes, this is actually the best group of best picture nominees we've had since the academy expanded the category in 2009 (unless it's 2013. They're pretty close).
