Here we are with Volume Two of my ranking of the 94 films to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year.
There were definitely quite a few films in the last batch that may not exactly be well known to the masses these days...and for good reason...but I think in this volume, you will see a few more films that you are either familiar with or, possibly, actually have seen.
In fact, my selection for #79 is one that is currently holding the crown.
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#79 - CODA (2021)
Written and Directed by Sian Heder
Coda winning Best Picture was, in some ways, glorious. I would use that word if only for the fact that it managed to break a lot of unprecedented statistics that usually go into predicting a winner.
No Directing nom, No Editing nom, and also only three nominations in general: Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor...and it won all three.
I think it greatly benefitted from polarizing competition and a feel-good approach.
I also can't deny that the deaf representation on film was lovely to see and it did serve as a nice showcase for deaf actor Troy Kotsur, who was easily the best thing about the film.
However, Coda winning was a poor choice. The film was essentially one long cliche after another to the point where I could call out every story beat as it went along.
It wasn't a badly made film, it had a solid ensemble, but the script (which was based on a French film which I admittedly have not seen) felt like nothing special in the end and while the film was pleasant, I don't think something that is simply "pleasant" should be rewarded a Best Film award.
Winning this award does a major disservice to a film such as this. Now, it will always have a stigma against it that it may not have had prior. Honestly, when it first came out, some considered it a dark horse contender for a nomination, but many seemed to write it off.
I am still a little surprised it managed to get the surge it did, but I suppose that all comes down to the campaigning of Apple, who spent a huge sum of money securing its rights after it was screened at Sundance.
Of the Best Picture nominees, only Drive My Car was worthy to actually be there. Other snubbed films included C'mon C'mon, The Worst Person in the World, Passing, Titane, L'evenement, Petite Maman, The Souvenir Part II, and Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy.
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#78 - YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)
Directed by Frank Capra
Written by Robert Riskin & George S. Kaufman
Based on the very well-known Kaufman and Hart play of the same name, You Can't Take It with You is one of the few comedies to win the Best Picture award.
I feel like a broken record at this point, but I can't deny that the main word I often want to use with a lot of these films is "pleasant".
This is definitely a Frank Capra film by a country mile...however, I have never really responded to most of his works like many have over the years.
What this film really has going for it is the work of its ensemble, particularly that of Jean Arthur, who seems to be more forgotten about these days over the likes of other actresses of that era.
From that year, I was particularly gobsmacked by Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion, which was the first international film to receive a Best Picture nomination. I wish it would've won.
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#77 - DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
Directed by Kevin Costner
Written by Michael Blake
The film is often gorgeous to look at.
However, visuals aren't the only thing that should drive a film. I certainly don't take to a film about yet another white savior either...and to top it all off, it beat Goodfellas.
IT. BEAT. GOODFELLAS.
I feel like this is one of those Best Picture choices that is fairly well-known to even the average movie-goer because it just seems so laughable now in retrospect. However, you can't argue that Dances with Wolves wasn't a big success in its own right; it actually did quite well at the box office. In fact, it grossed far more than Goodfellas...not to say that box office gross should be a factor in choosing a winner.
Kevin Costner basing most of the movie around his character (and I understand that it was based on true events) was a wrong decision as it only further slides into "white savior" territory, and it also takes a lot of the focus off of the talented Native American actors around him. I also feel like his narration of the film is so dull and monotone that it becomes an added chore to the 3-hour movie that could've afforded maybe a good 45 minutes to an hour cut from it.
Instead of Dances with Wolves, I will rewatch other films from 1990 such as Goodfellas, Miller's Crossing, The Grifters, Reversal of Fortune, Misery, and Awakenings.
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#76 - THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937)
Directed by William Dieterle
Written by Norman Reilly Raine, Heinz Herald, and Geza Herczeg
Paul Muni gives a truly lovely performance in this and singlehandedly elevates the film. Had it not been for him, this film would've been lower...in fact, it WAS originally going to be my #82 film, but I decided to give it a boost thanks to Muni.
The Life of Emile Zola is a baffling film for one glaring reason.
This is a film set during the Dreyfus Affair and yet it manages to completely avoid mentioning anti-Semitism or even the word "Jew"...though at one point, someone does point out the word in print.
The result turns out to be quite docile, but at least we have Paul Muni there to see us through.
In terms of films I would've preferred, I suppose you could technically say that Grand Illusion came out that year even though it wasn't eligible until the following year. I also want to give a shout-out to Humanity & Paper Balloons, The Awful Truth, Stella Dallas, and Stage Door.
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#75 - OLIVER! (1968)
Directed by Carol Reed
Written by Charles Dickens, Vernon Harris
I do find Oliver! to be highly enjoyable and there was admittedly a time where this probably would've ranked a lot higher...but now I see the win almost in a similar manner than that of Green Book and Coda.
This was at a time when the Academy voting body was changing dramatically thanks to admirable leadership of actor Gregory Peck who knew that films were changing and that they needed to acknowledge a wide variety of films that were often either ignored or maybe would receive a scant nomination or two.
The prior year (1967) saw a surge towards new Hollywood with films like Bonnie & Clyde and The Graduate or films that perhaps tapped into stories like racism but with a delicate hand like In the Heat of the Night or Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Then in 1969, you got a bunch of stuffy nominees like Hello Dolly or Anne of a Thousand Days but they gave Best Picture to the then X-rated film Midnight Cowboy.
This back and forth in quality feels very reminiscent to recent years when they would award a movie like Moonlight or The Shape of Water or Parasite mixed in with the schlock like Green Book and Coda.
Oliver! won in a year in which they snubbed 2001: A Space Odyssey and didn't nominate movies like Rosemary's Baby or The Producers even though both of those films managed to win major Oscars (Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay, respectively).
Oliver! winning did feel like something of a last gasp of the kind of film that frequently won Oscars before tides shifted a little in the 70s until the desire to return to rewarding another kind of unfortunate Oscar staple (the stuffy overlong epic) returned in the 80s.
But yeah, 2001 was royally robbed here.
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#74 - FORREST GUMP (1994)
Directed by Robert Zmeckis
Written by Eric Roth
I feel like my history with Forrest Gump is a strange one. I distinctly remember my mother buying it when it came out on VHS and being obsessed with it. It wasn't until my teenage years that I began to see a lot of the films' problems.
However, this is one film where I have to admit that I do find it entertaining and even on a rewatch recently, I STILL find it highly enjoyable.
By the same token, it is also plays like a conservative Boomer wet dream as to what it is to be an American.
Tom Hanks has been better in other films, but when he is not relying on the accent to pull him through, he does have lovely moments, particularly at the end once Jenny comes back into his life one final time. I think Robin Wright manages to do well with such a problematic character.
Very few female characters in recent film history have been as debated and ridiculed as Jenny, and a lot of it does feel valid. I think Wright should be commended for how well she handled all of that.
Sally Field is basically there to be her normal glorious self and she always lights the screen whenever she appears.
However, the film is stolen by Gary Sinise as the iconic Lt. Dan Taylor. His screentime comes in sporadic spurts but whenever he appears, the film suddenly becomes better. Had it not been for such stiff competition as Martin Landau (Ed Wood) and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), this would've been an easy Oscar win.
Speaking of Ed Wood and Pulp Fiction, both films made my top 10 in 1994 though my favorite movie that year was the final installment of Krystof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy: Red.
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#73 - A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001)
Directed by Ron Howard
Written by Akiva Goldsman
Ron Howard has sort of become another Spielberg in the sense that he often has an issue with somehow taking films with darker subject matter and making them a little more saccharine than they should be.
I still found myself oddly not as enthralled with A Beautiful Mind when I first saw it upon its release on DVD in 2002. The story seemed suspenseful and dark but I mostly got caught up in the news story that film ignored a lot of darker details about John Nash's life.
As it stands, Crowe does good work here and he cost himself back-to-back Oscars after he infamously punched out a producer at the BAFTAs when he discovered he cut his acceptance speech for later broadcasts. When the news came out, his apology was the definition of half-assed to say the least.
However, his work here was certainly superior to that of his winning work in Gladiator the year prior.
A Beautiful Mind had relatively weak competition and the best films of that year weren't even nominated, such as:
Muholland Drive, Amelie, Ghost World, The Piano Teacher (technically eligible in 2002), Y Tu Mama Tambien (also eligible in 2002), and Hedwig & The Angry Inch.
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#72 - THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996)
Directed by Anthony Minghella
Written by Anthony Minghella & Michael Ondaatje
The legend of The English Patient derives a lot from the famous episode of Seinfeld in which Elaine feels like she is the only one around her who passionately loathed the film...and it even almost leads to her losing her job.
The English Patient remains the only film that I can recall falling asleep during...and I want to preface this by saying that I HAVE fallen asleep during a couple of movies when watching them late at night.
In the case of The English Patient, I not only fell asleep during it on a sunny afternoon, but I fell asleep during it TWICE on a sunny afternoon. Keep in mind, I am a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman...a man who has made some very slow-moving films. Something about The English Patient simply bored me to literal sleep.
It took the third try to finally make it through the film...and believe it or not, I did watch it a fourth time several years later.
The results on that 4th watch were a tad more successful. I still find the film to be mostly sluggish but much like Out of Africa, it excels thanks to gorgeous visuals and music but even more so due to its performances.
Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas turn in excellent work here, but there is a reason why Juliette Binoche won that Oscar in a major upset: she is fantastic. She was even an aspect I loved about the film even when I disliked it more than I do now. Granted, I think Juliette Binoche is one of the greatest actresses working today so perhaps I am a tad biased.
However, this was the year of Fargo; a film that I consider to be close to perfection and also the film I would deem to be the best film of that decade...at least in terms of English-language films. That was the worthy film to win but I also want to give a shout-out to the following:
Secrets & Lies, Big Night, Kolya, and A Moment of Innocence
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#71 - GIGI (1958)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Written by Collette & Alan Jay Lerner
There was a single year in which Gigi held the title of biggest Oscar winning film of all-time until Ben-Hur broke the record the following year.
I look at a movie like Gigi and think "Oh look how gorgeous!" and perhaps "Oh, what a bouncy tune this is!"...but then I also think "What the hell kind of plot is this?!"
Gigi has not aged well, and it is kind of ironic, perhaps not surprising, that it would be the film that would finally net Minnelli a Directing Oscar.
I also think it was wise of the recent revival staging on Broadway to move the song "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" to the aunts instead of for Honore to sing as an old man singing a song that practically screams "I wanna groom some young ladies!" is a bit much to say the least.
1958 was the year of Vertigo, Hitchcock's (arguable) masterpiece that was mostly shafted at that time, but it has since become one of the pinnacle examples of how time can be a wonderful thing to a movie's level of acclaim and esteem.
Also from that year, we got Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, Welles' Touch of Evil, along with two well-made stage-to-film adaptations: Auntie Mame and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
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#70 - THE ARTIST (2011)
Written and Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Here is a prime example of a movie that for a brief moment seemed like it was on top of the world and was having everyone eating out of the palm of its hand.
Now we look back on its win a decade later and wonder...Why???
The Artist could be seen as a gimmick, but I would argue that it is mostly successful at the gimmick. The problem is that I just don't see how a film like this truly warranted one of the last true awards sweeps we've seen at the Oscars since they had their many rule changes since 2009.
Jean Dujardin does well in his role and fits into the archetype of a handsome lanky comedian of the Silent Era (and I would argue Berenice Bejo is even more successful at her role), but it is crazy to see how this film managed to grasp such a strong hold only to be forgotten so quickly.
In the years since, movies like Farhadi's A Separation or Malick's The Tree of Life have gotten the praise and acclaim to the point that The Artist is seemingly never brought up on Best Of Decade lists.
It was a sweet and interesting, pleasant diversion. Nothing less, nothing more.
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#69 - SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998)
Directed by John Madden
Written by Tom Stoppard & Marc Norman
As one of the most infamous Best Picture winners of all time, Shakespeare in Love might have been remembered more fondly had it not been for the fact it beat Saving Private Ryan.
Also, in recent years, the general public learned more about Harvey Weinstein and the heinous campaign tactics he used to the point where he essentially bought the Oscar win. On top of that, Paltrow's Best Actress win for this aged like milk sitting in the middle of Death Valley. The fact she was able to ride on this Weinstein/Miramax campaign train at the expense of Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth and Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station is truly a blow to the credit of the award.
Do I like Shakespeare in Love? It's fine.
Honestly, as a fan of Tom Stoppard and most of his plays prior to this film, I find this script to be a bit of a let down from him.
I think this Best Picture win truly stands out as a blight on the Oscars and the idea of awards campaigning...and it is sort of a shame because the film is definitely a charming time and is very well made. It just isn't anything overly special.
It is also particularly egregious when you realize The Truman Show was snubbed of a nomination along with the likes of Pleasantville, Gods and Monsters, Central Station, and Rushmore.
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#68 - MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by Paul Haggis
Going into the Oscars that year, it seemed like the race was going to come down between Martin Scorsese's sweeping Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator and Alexander Payne's quirky road trip film Sideways.
Then, Million Dollar Baby broke into the race late in the game and managed to steal a lot of thunder and took the Oscars for Picture, Director, Supporting Actor for Morgan Freeman, and Actress for Hilary Swank, her 2nd Oscar in just 5 years.
Eastwood is a very erratic director whom I tend to find always goes for the heavy-handed at the expense of potentially powerful subtlety. He manages to give a decent performance himself and also gets one out of Swank...although the film belongs to Freeman.
I have never supported Swank's win here. Many have bemoaned in the years since that her career has consistently faltered aside from the fact that she barely managed to eek out two Best Actress wins joining an esteemed group of performers.
If the performance was worthy, she should've gotten it. In my opinion, this win was not deserved.
Kate Winslet should've won for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
And speaking of Eternal Sunshine, THAT was easily the best film of that year.
Shout outs are also deserved for Before Sunset, The Sea Inside, The Motorcycle Diaries, Nobody Knows, Mean Girls, and Shaun of the Dead.
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#67 - AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Written by Alan Jay Lerner
We've already returned back into the world of Vincente Minnelli, whose An American in Paris managed to win Best Picture in an upset over A Streetcar Named Desire and A Place in the Sun.
Essentially a Gershwin jukebox musical (and named after one of his more famous orchestral compositions), I can't deny that I adore the music of Gershwin, but I also find that his material has been exhausted in jukebox musical form to the point of hilarious insanity.
Since this would've been one of the first, if not THE first, instances of this, I will cut it some slack.
I guess what I am truly beginning to realize how much more a lot of voters seemed to vote for happier films at the expense of films that make them think. Some people would argue these days they try to shy away from lighter fare...although the Coda win this year really proves that idea wrong.
It is an entertaining enough movie, but it doesn't offer much to make me think this was the best that cinema had to offer in 1951.
It wasn't...because I did see Streetcar and A Place in the Sun and The African Queen.
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#66 - ROCKY (1976)
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Written by Sylvester Stallone
I must just not like boxing movies that much.
I think Rocky is another prime example of a movie that was done a disservice by beating out far superior films: Taxi Driver, Network, All the President's Men, and even the mostly forgotten Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory.
Not to mention, some of the films that missed out on Best Picture nominations: Face to Face, Seven Beauties, Small Change, or populist horror fare like The Omen or Carrie.
Rocky is a Cinderella story that audiences eat up in the droves...and throw in the sports angle and it is practically like catnip. It also didn't hurt that Stallone as a figure was unlike many of the other stars at that time. Stallone's career mostly became to be seen as a joke after countless Rocky or Rambo sequels or bad action comedies that seemed to be of lesser quality than that of his major acting counterpart: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
However, at this moment in time, prospects did seem good for Stallone...and even though he didn't technically win any Oscar that night, there was a certain belief that this was essentially all his doing.
Maybe it was...he did write the script after all. The film only walked away with three wins: Picture, Director, and Editing...and considering how well Network was received that night with a record-tying three acting wins and a Screenplay win, I feel like it is still a bit surprising that didn't take it.
Rocky's Best Director win is particularly puzzling to me. Avildsen does not show any real flair or style that makes me think a Directing Oscar was warranted over the likes of Sidney Lumet, Ingmar Bergman, Lina Wertmuller, Alan J. Pakula or the snubbed Martin Scorsese.
In the end, Rocky's win truly stands out as one of the weakest of the 70s for sure...and I feel like despite its overall iconic status, it hasn't aged too well.
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#65 - GANDHI (1982)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Written by John Briley
"Now, Gandhi is not a bad movie but is there anybody that wanted to see Gandhi a second time?" - Joel Siegel on Good Morning America
If there is any reason to watch Gandhi, it is for Ben Kingsley's truly masterful performance.
Aside from that, it is a pretty typical overlong biopic that fits the narrative of what Oscar voters seemed to love to vote for...and at the expense of two films nominated that were both critically adored and loved by audiences: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and Tootsie.
I am also quite fond of one of the other nominees, The Verdict, and found the last nominee, Missing, to be an unfairly forgotten suspense film.
Gandhi is simply a well-made though fairly hollow film in terms of emotional connection...and oh yes, how could I forget that the film is difficult to watch when you remember that Gandhi himself was actually quite the misogynist and racist.
What fun!
Next please...
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#64 - GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT (1947)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Written by Moss Hart & Laura Hobson
In terms of being a film of exposing anti-Semitism, I would say that Gentleman's Agreement certainly succeeded far better than The Life of Emile Zola did a decade prior.
You could even argue that the concept of a gentile posing as a Jew creates an almost sort of "white savior" or "religion savior" narrative that is truly hard to ignore...and it certainly doesn't help that Gregory Peck gives one of his weakest performances and that Dorothy Maguire isn't much better.
I think the script by the legendary Moss Hart working with Laura Hobson is actually not that bad...and I also think the Oscar winning performance of Celeste Holm really bolsters the film to a higher level.
Some of my favorite films from that year included Out of the Past, Black Narcissus, Record of a Tenement Gentleman, Monsieur Verdoux, and of the actual nominees, I sort of can't help but love the holiday offering: Miracle on 34th Street.
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#63 - MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
Directed by Frank Lloyd
Written by Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings, Carey Wilson, Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall, Margaret Booth
Geez...that's the biggest roster of screenwriters yet. But I wanted to give them all the credit.
However, it is amazing to think this film would have that many people with a hand in it.
Mutiny on the Bounty is only one of two films to win Best Picture in which that was the only award it won that evening. In fact, the other film (which hasn't been mentioned yet) managed to win Best Picture with that being its only nomination.
In this case, Bounty ended up winning after The Informer took Directing, Writing, and an Acting win. I actually wouldn't even say The Informer was better...both were on pretty equal footing for me.
Bounty is definitely a handsomely made movie for its time and I suppose that considering some of the other films that rewarded around that time, this one doesn't stand out as being too bad.
However, they truly ignored some classics: Top Hat, A Night at the Opera, Alice Adams, The Bride of Frankenstein, Sazen Tange & The Pot Worth a Million Ryo, The 39 Steps, and An Inn in Toyko.
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#62 - THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
Directed by William Fredkin
Written by Ernest Tidyman
The win by The French Connection is a selection that I admire on one hand but also find to be a weak choice all at once.
What do I admire about it?
Honoring a relatively gritty suspense film about a detective on a pursuit for drug dealers feels a lot different than most of the films that were getting honored by the Academy at that point.
HOWEVER..
I feel like the film didn't have much going for it aside from the performances by Hackman and Roy Schieder or the truly magnificently put together car chase scene where Hackman's Doyle is chasing the elevated train in which the perpetrator is aboard.
It has its merits, but I still didn't connect much with it.
I would say that the one-two punch duo of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and Peter Bogdonavich's The Last Picture Show are where the reward should've landed that evening.
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#61 - WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
Directed by Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
Written by Ernest Lehman, Arthur Laurents, and Jerome Robbins
I have a feeling this ranking will probably anger some people.
I am a big fan of musicals, but I can honestly say that this is a prime example of where I tend to diverge from popular opinion.
I respect West Side Story for pushing musicals into a darker direction because I fully support that journey. In fact, the lyricist of this musical (that being Stephen Sondheim) would be instrumental in truly driving that journey from here on out.
I find myself watching this musical and not caring for any of the characters aside from Anita...and that is a bit of a problem.
A lot of the score is memorable, but it is hard to ignore some of the questionable character development in order to make the story convincing. This is especially glaring when Maria is still willing to sleep with Tony even after finding out she killed his brother...and then she has the audacity to tell Anita, whom was with Bernardo, the man Tony killed, how it feels to be in love.
It also doesn't help that Natalie Wood was not the right choice for Maria (not even factoring in the brownface element) and that Richard Beymer gives one of the most wooden performances ever seen in an Oscar winning film.
This film rides on the shoulders of Rita Moreno's Anita much like the most recent film adaptation relied a lot on Ariana DeBose's Anita.
La Notte, Through a Glass Darkly, Yojimbo, Last Year at Marienbad, Breakfast at Tiffany's (aside from Mickey Rooney doing his horrendous yellowface performance) along with actual Best Picture nominees Judgement at Nuremburg and The Hustler were the films I responded to most from that year.
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#60 - DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989)
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Written by Alfred Uhry
I have had another one of those interesting journeys with Driving Miss Daisy in which my admiration for the film has dimmed considerably over time.
When I was a lot younger, I actually felt that of the nominees, it deserved to win. For the record, those nominees were:
Born on the Fourth of July
Dead Poets Society
Field of Dreams
My Left Foot
Nowadays, I would be compelled to say My Left Foot but the truth is that 1989 was a fantastic year for film and it continues the crazy trend of how the last year of each decade is somehow a banner year for cinema.
At the top of that banner was Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, which I have only seen three times but each time I see it, I can't help but marvel at how well it all works and how potent it still feels today.
It hurts even more to think that the Academy overlooked it at the expense of a film that took such a docile approach at handling racism.
It is simply...pardon my 100th use of the word...a pleasant film that contains great performances by Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman.
Even as a play, I still find it a little baffling that Uhry won the Pulitzer for it.
Aside from the masterpiece that was Do The Right Thing, I want to single out the other masterful efforts from 1989:
When Harry Met Sally
Crimes & Misdemeanors
sex, lies, and videotape
Glory
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Drugstore Cowboy
The Little Mermaid
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CONCLUSION:
And that brings us to the end of Volume 2!
Next up, we will be looking at the films ranked between 59-40...and with these films, we will start to see my admiration rise just a little bit, but there will definitely be a little bit of snark left, to be sure.
Here are links to the rest of the ranking below:
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