OSCAR'S BEST PICTURE LINE-UPS
2000-2007 ~ ranked
commentary by Nathaniel R
part 1 (you're there)
part 2 (READERS CHOICE)
1990-1999 (coming in the fall)
2000 |
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2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon A |
Erin
Brockovich A- |
Traffic B |
Gladiator B- OSCAR WINNER |
Chocolat D- |
A
middling Oscar year with only two real stunners, Ang Lee's wuxia lark
and Soderbergh's grand mainstream bio entertainment. Traffic
and Gladiator both have their qualities but they look puny
sitting next to work as bold and devastating as unnominated features
like Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark and Darren Aronofsky's
Requiem for a Dream --both of which actually did have a tiny
bit of awards season heat even if they weren't traditionally Oscar
friendly. Perhaps if they'd come along in 2007 they'd have had a better
chance. My Nominees: Dancer in the Dark (A), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (A), Requiem for a Dream (A-), Erin Brockovich (A-), Beau Travail (A-, 1998 but released in the states in 2000) |
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2001 |
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2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Moulin
Rouge! A |
Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring A |
Gosford
Park A- |
In
the Bedroom A- |
A
Beautiful Mind C+ OSCAR WINNER |
The
first four pictures here were all in my top ten list in 2001 and still
stand tall in the best of the decade fight. It was such a strong year
that Gosford Park, easily "best picture" quality
in most years, didn't even make my nominated shortlist. It's a proud
#6. What a year. Too bad Oscar spoiled it by choosing to honor the
least impressive film with their top trophy. My Nominees: Moulin Rouge! (A), In the Mood for Love (A),, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (A),, Mulholland Dr. (A-), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (A-) |
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2002 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Lord
of the Rings: The Two Towers A- |
The
Hours B+ |
Chicago
B+ OSCAR WINNER |
The
Pianist B |
Gangs
of New York C |
The
Two Towers is my favorite Oscar-sanctioned film of 2002 but my
least favorite of my own imaginary ballot and of the series that housed
it. That said, its still a very fine motion picture. We have a solid
and entertaining Oscar quintet here -- it's easy to see why most of
them were so honored. Only Gangs of New York truly galls.
It can't justify its end of year honors. Gangs is ambitious
(points for that) but it's overlong, wildly uneven and marred by blah
performances (Daniel Day-Lewis aside). It shouldn't have been here
with so many great films AMPAS could have chosen in its place... many
of which were equally ambitious and actually hit the difficult multiple
marks they were aiming for. My Nominees: Far From Heaven (A), Talk To Her (A), Y Tu Mama Tambien (A), The 25th Hour (A-), Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (A-) |
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2003 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Lord
of the Rings: The Return of the King A- OSCAR WINNER |
Lost
in Translation A- |
Master
and Commander: The Far Side of the World B |
Mystic
River B- |
Seabiscuit C+ |
If
you ask me 2003 is the least satisfying year in the Aughts... by a
significant margin. There just wasn't much to get excited about at
the movies. And, other than Oscar's complete snub of Tarantino's sizzling
violent stylish Kill Bill (what were they thinking? Oh yeah,
it's just not pretension enough or pretentious in the right way),
there isn't a lot to fault them for in their shortlist. They chose
the right film for their top honor. Seabiscuit is generic
"inspirational"but this quintet has a nice range of genres,
styles, and technical achievement. A solid lineup given what 2003
gave them to work with. My Nominees: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (A-), Kill Bill Volume 1 (A-), Lost in Translation (A-), Raising Victor Vargas (B+), thirteen (B+) |
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2004 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Sideways
A- |
The
Aviator B+ |
Million
Dollar Baby B OSCAR WINNER |
Ray C |
Finding
Neverland D+ |
| I
don't think I'll ever be able to forgive the Oscar voters (or the
critical organizations for that matter) for letting Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind down so dramatically. It was hardly an ahead-of-its-time
classic that no one was ready for. It had valiant supporters from
the day it opened and yet... and yet... I can't get behind the Oscar
shortlist for 2004 which ranges from the inspired (Sideways)
all the way through the snoozy autopilot bait (Ray, Finding Neverland).
Strangely, the City of God nominations in 2003, a few major
nominations in 2004 (including the Vera Drake surprise in
Director) and 2005's critically acclaimed lineup indicate that pockets
of thinking voters are in the Academy. How did it go so wrong in 2004?
I'd love to see the vote totals this year in particular (not that
they'd ever release them). Did Ray and Finding Neverland
just barely nab these coveted honors or were the voters half asleep
this year? My Nominees: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (A), Spider-Man 2 (A-), Vera Drake (A-), Before Sunset (A-), Sideways (A-) |
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2005 |
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2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Brokeback
Mountain A |
Good
Night, and Good Luck. B+ |
Capote B |
Munich B- |
Crash C+ OSCAR WINNER |
| It's
hard to think about this year due to "Black Sunday", when
the Academy made its biggest blunder in at least a couple of decades
by ignoring Brokeback Mountain's clear and loudly proclaimed
status as the best film of 2005. The Academy was virtually alone in
the world in proclaiming that it wasn't the best. But if one ignores
the eventual sad result, one finds that it's a super typical Oscar
lineup: a little messagey, a little self-serious, and of qualities
ranging from the superb (Brokeback) to the pretty damn good to the
okay but still "important" feeling. That said, it's a disappointing
lineup from a year that had a few really special films that were under
recognized. |
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2006 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
The
Departed B+ OSCAR WINNER |
Little
Miss Sunshine B+ |
Letters
From Iwo Jima B |
The
Queen B- |
Babel C+ |
| A
middling year. It's hard to complain about this shortlist but it's
also hard to get really excited about it. The Departed and
Little Miss Sunshine were very solid and enjoyable entertainments
and one assumes they'll continue to be loved for many years to come.
Letters From Iwo Jima was artful but a little dull (it's nomination
clearly due to their collective Eastwood fetish), The Queen
was witty and smoothly made but wildly overpraised for its tiny accomplishments,
and Babel ...well, that's Crash 2: Now With
More Actual Cinematic Flavor
My Nominees: Volver (A-), Marie-Antoinette (A-), Shortbus (A-), Children of Men (A-), The Fountain (B+) |
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2007 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
There
Will Be Blood A- |
No
Country For Old Men A- OSCAR WINNER |
Michael
Clayton B+ |
Atonement B+ |
Juno B+ |
Either Oscar had a uncharacteristic encounter with commendable taste or I'm getting more mainstream but this is the only BP lineup from the decade that boasts five complete winners. That made it a nice change of pace from 2006, the year in which this writer had never felt more off-consensus all the cinematic year long. I can recommend all of these pictures with a smile on my movie-loving face. Post Oscar time it's always easy to be sick of everything that was nominated, given the months and months of hype but years from now, people will still consider this a strong shortlist. I prefer 2001's lineup by a small margin (even with A Beautiful Mind weighing the field down, qualitatively) but 2001 and 2007 are the only two years wherein 80% of the Best Picture field was also featured on my year end top ten list. So, naturally they're my favorites. My Nominees: There Will Be Blood (A-), No Country For Old Men (A-), Once (A-), 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days (A-), Ratatouille (A-) |
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page 2
for my rankings of the whole field and READER'S CHOICE polls.
