Best Picture Oscars That Were Deserving?

I don't care about awards, but there's a ton of talk about it, usually about the ones that didn't deserve them. Let's flip it around.. List the movies (and year) if you think it's THE best movie, not just the best of those that were nominated. So if I know a better movie that's foreign, I won't list it down below..



1945 - The Lost Weekend -- Very surprised it won, considering it's a dark movie about alcoholism. Ray Milland is great in this, I almost wanna see it for a third time.


1954 - On The Waterfront -- This was in my Top 3 movies in my teenaged years. I actually went to the mall to buy it on VHS, and crashed my mom's car.. When I got home, I watched it back to back - something I've never done since.


1972 - The Godfather -- This was another Top 3 of mine from the teen years. I was unsure of this, as I saw "Fat City" more recently, and probably enjoy it more, but it might be due to seeing "The Godfather" about a dozen times in those teen years.



1975 - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest


1977 - Annie Hall, although I have a few movies rated exactly alike, with "Stroszek", "A Special Day", and "The Yellow Handkerchief"


1999 - American Beauty -- the best movie that I saw within a year of its release. I actually turned down the opportunity to see this with an old friend IN the theater. I still have never seen a decent movie in a theater and never will.

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Wait...what?

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I sort of understand its win in 1945, but The Lost Weekend
has not aged very well. Here's a link to my review of the film:

https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/...t-weekend.html

I also think Annie Hall is one of the least deserving Best Picture winners ever, especially in a spectacular year for film. I don't even think it's Woody Allen's best film.

Out of curiosity, what is your favorite Woody Allen?


Also, do you think "Manhattan" is similar to "Annie Hall"? (I think so)

My favorite Woody Allen film is Hannah and her Sisters. I think Crimes and Misdemeanors is his best film and I think Manhattan is way better than Annie Hall. In the years I've been on this site, I've learned it's not good to say anything bad about Annie Hall, but it's my opinion.

Starting with the more recent ones, Parasite is actually on my 2019 Top 5, and maybe at #1.

Also, Moonlight is easily my favorite of 2016.

I've always had a dead-lock tie for 2007 between Zodiac, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood, and although I tend to favor the latter, I can see any argument made in favor of the other two.

In 2003, I think I lean towards Kill Bill, but I have no issues with The Return of the King winning.

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Parasite definitely deserved Best Picture and deserved to be the first foreign film to earn the honor. I liked Moonlight a lot, but I don't think it was better than La La Land.

I can't say I've seen 'all the films', but I can't think of a single year where my favourite film of that year won the best picture award, perhaps Casablanca is the only one. There have been great films that have won it though (Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, The Deer Hunter, Platoon, Silence of the Lambs, Birdman)

Personally I thought there were at least 4 better non English language films better than Parasite last year, as good as Parasite is.

La La Land would be my #2, but I had a better and more emotional reaction to Moonlight.

I always appreciate the opinion, regardless how I feel about a certain movie.

As someone who pretty much disliked Annie Hall, I salute you.

Not bad, but there are better


It Happened One Night
The Sound Of Music
The French Connection
Out Of Africa
Braveheart
Shakespeare In Love
American Beauty
The Hurt Locker
Argo
Birdman


Fairly Deserving



Casablanca
West Side Story
Lawrence Of Arabia
My Fair Lady
Midnight Cowboy
The Sting
The Godfather Part II
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Gandhi
The Last Emperor
The Silence Of The Lambs
Unforgiven
Forrest Gump
Gladiator
Million Dollar Baby
The Departed
Slumdog Millionaire
Spotlight
Moonlight
Parasite


Fully deserving


On The Waterfront
The Godfather
Kramer vs. Kramer
Rain Man
Titanic
A Beautiful Mind
The King's Speech
Green Book


Haven't seen the rest.

The Best Years of Our Lives comes to mind first as one of the best Best Picture winners.

The only ones that come to mind are No Country and All Quiet on the Western Front.

No Country For Old Man

The Godfather

The Godfather: Part II

Silence Of The Lambs

The Departed

Titanic

Schindler's List

Platoon

Parasite

Were all fairly deserving of the award.

Totally disagree with A Beautiful Mind...that movie bored me to death

It feels like we have done similar threads a few times over the years but it never hurts to re-up, especially as there is a new Best Picture every year. The Oscar nominations would have been announced last week in a year not dominated by COVID-19, so I am game for this to get my fix.

I'll start with the 1960s, for now. Titles in black are the winners I agree with and the titles in red are what I think the winner should have been. There is an asterisk if that film was not even nominated by The Academy.

1960: Psycho* (The Apartment)
1961: Jules & Jim* (West Side Story)
1962: Lawrence of Arabia
1963: Hud* (Tom Jones)
1964: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (My Fair Lady)
1965: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* (The Sound of Music)
1966: Chimes at Midnight* (A Man for All Seasons)
1967: The Graduate (In the Heat of the Night)
1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey* (Oliver!)
1969: Army of Shadows* (Midnight Cowboy)

1970: Little Big Man* (Patton)
1971: A Clockwork Orange (The French Connection)
1972: The Godfather
1973: The Long Goodbye* (The Sting)
1974: Chinatown (The Godfather Part II)
1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976: Taxi Driver (Rocky)
1977: Star Wars (Annie Hall)
1978: Days of Heaven* (The Deer Hunter)
1979: Breaking Away (Kramer vs. Kramer)

1980: Raging Bull (Ordinary People)
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Chariots of Fire)
1982: Blade Runner* (Gandhi)
1983: The King of Comedy* (Terms of Endearment)
1984: Amadeus
1985: Brazil* (Out of Africa)
1986: The Mosquito Coast* (Platoon)
1987: Matewan* (The Last Emperor)
1988: The Last Temptation of Christ* (Rain Man)
1989: Do the Right Thing* (Driving Miss Daisy)

1990: GoodFellas (Dances with Wolves)
1991: Barton Fink* (The Silence of the Lambs)
1992: Unforgiven
1993: Short Cuts* (Schindler's List)
1994: Pulp Fiction (Forrest Gump)
1995: SE7EN* (Braveheart)
1996: Hamlet* (The English Patient)
1997: L.A. Confidential (Titanic)
1998: Rushmore* (Shakespeare in Love)
1999: Eyes Wide Shut* (American Beauty)

2000: Dancer in the Dark* (Gladiator)
2001: Amélie* (A Beautiful Mind)
2002: Talk to Her* (Chicago)
2003: Lost in Translation (LOTR: The Return of the King)
2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* (Million Dollar Baby)
2005: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada* (Crash)
2006: Children of Men* (The Departed)
2007: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days* (No Country for Old Men)
2008: Revanche* (Slumdog Millionaire)
2009: Moon* (The Hurt Locker)

2010: The Social Network (The King's Speech)
2011: The Tree of Life (The Artist)
2012: Silver Linings Playbook (Argo)
2013: Her (12 Years a Slave)
2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Birdman)
2015: The Revenant (Spotlight)
2016: La La Land (Moonlight)
2017: Blade Runner 2049* (The Shape of Water)
2018: The Favourite (Green Book)
2019: A Hidden Life* (Parasite)


So in the past sixty years my taste and Oscar's choice have lined up only those five times (Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and Unforgiven). For a few of those others the winner would have been a close second choice, so I cannot say I was especially disappointed with those outcomes, specifically No Country for Old Men, The Artist, and Birdman. And another group are choices I can respect/understand even if I would have gone another way (Midnight Cowboy, The French Connection, Godfather Part II, Platoon, Rain Man, Schindler's List, Spotlight). But of course a lot of them are just...ugh. For me the worst winners of the past sixty years were Oliver!, Rocky, Ordinary People, Out of Africa, Driving Miss Daisy, Braveheart, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Crash, The Departed, and Green Book. Some the quality of the film itself, a couple of them the gulf in quality between the winner and better choices.

Oh, well.

I'd say that Schindler's List was a pretty good choice for best picture from 1993.