Best Picture of 2016: Moonlight

Chiron is a kid that grows up in rough neighborhood. He is quiet, doesn't really stand up for himself. The movie shows how he grows up and how he finds out who he is.

A24's Moonlight had very crazy night at the 89th Academy Awards. Mahershala Ali took home the Best Actor award that night, and this made history because he is the first Muslim to win an acting award at the Oscars. History was also made when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture. The announcers were given the envelope for Best Actress by mistake thinking it was the Best Picture award. The Director for La La Land handled it really well when he came up and said how happy he was the Moonlight Actually won. The other nominations that night were: Paramount's Arrival and Fences; Summit Entertainment's Hacksaw Ridge and La La Land; CBS's Hell or High Water; 20th Century Fox's Hidden Figures; The Weinstein Company's Lion; and Amazon's Manchester by the Sea. 

I have to say I did not want to watch this film and I kind of wish I didn't. I didn't like it plain and simple. I was kind of board of it and it moved on the slow side. 

Best Picture of 2015: Spotlight

In the early 2000's a story broke on Boston the would change everything. It was reported that 70 Priests in the Boston area were reported for having sexually abused children. It's a story that has uncovered thousands of other cases across the world. This is the story about the investigative group Spotlight found the story and discovered the hidden secrets of the Catholic Church.

Open Road's Spotlight took home the top prize that night at the 88th Annual Academy Awards. The other movies nominated that night were: Paramount's The Big Short; DreamWorks Bridge of Spies; Fox Searchlight's Brooklyn; Warner Brothers' Mad Max: Fury Road; 20th Century Fox's The Martian and The Revenant; and A24's Room.

I have to say that when this film came out I was a little worried about it. Knowing how media can sometime depict religion I was a little nervous. I was nervous because New Media can take any religion and make it look like something very negative and ugly no matte what is happening. IN this situation where something ugly was happening in a religious system I was afraid they were going to try and destroy all religion in that of itself. I was very wrong. I am so glad that I was very wrong. The writers, actors, and directors did an excellent job of shining the light of the horrid truth that was happening in the system, without saying that "everyone who is religious is a horrible person". I don't even recall them opening a Bible, or any form of religious text, to help make support claims to either side of the story. The only time a book was opened was for a directory of where are the priests were living in that year. They did an excellent job of showing that certain people needed to be held responsible for their actions and the system needed to be changed. Not that everything in the system was wrong and ignorant and the people who followed that faith were stupid as well. They stuck to the facts and left an individual person's faith in God out of it. I can respect, and was true impressed, that they did that.  

Best Picture of 2014: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virture of Ignorance)

Riggen Thomson is an actor best known for he superhero role in Birdman. After some time of playing the character he decides he wants to known for more. He goes out and tried to make it in other movie, but never really have been as popular. He now has decided to make a Broadway Show of a story by Raymond Carver. This is where we meet him. Becoming obsessed with making the show perfect, and the stress of his daughter getting out of rehab, and this new actor he hired last minute that is diving him up with wall we watch as he is working to make the play a success while being haunted by his old friend Birdman.

Nominated for nine Academy Awards Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) took home the Best Picture. When it came up to the idea of shooting the whole movie in one continuous shot many people thought Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu was crazy! If the film was done in a single shot then you could not go back and rearrange the scene, you could not cut pieces from the same reshot scenes to make it the best. It was all or nothing at all for every single take. It surely did pay off because on of the four Award it won that night was for Best Cinematography. Fox Searchlight claimed the Best Picture Award over: Their own movie The Grand Budapest Hotel; Warner Brothers' American Sniper; IFC's Boyhood; The Weinstein Company's The Imitation Game; Paramount's Selma; Focus Features The Theory of Everything; Sony Pictures' Whiplash. 

Ok, I have been looking forward to watching this film since I started this list two years ago! This is the movie that made me start watching all of the Best Pictures in the first place. I wasn't really that interested in seeing this film until I saw Michael Keaton and Edwards Norton on my favorite late night show Conan. During both of the interview they talked about how the movie was filmed in one shot. I thought that was fascinating because the only other movie that I have known to attempt such a feat was Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. Since I just saw Rope for the first time a month of so before the interviews I needed to make the comparison. Then because of the time difference between the film I got to wondering how movies have changed over the years of Best Picture films. I have to say this movie was crazy, a little strange, dramatic, funny, and overall a fun story to watch! I would had this movie to a must see list any day!

Best Picture of 2013: 12 Years a Slave

Solomon Northup was a free African American living in the north in 1841. A talented violinist, Northup was out looking for his next gig to play at when he is introduced to two men. They are looking for a great talent and start talking to him about him joining their circus. They take him out to dinner and show him a great time. He starts to feel really sick and then is taken back to his hotel room to rest up. The next morning he wakes up in a brick room chained to the wall. He finds out the he has been kidnapped and sold as a slave. We follow Northup for the next 12 years of his life to see the story of the people he met and what his life was like 12 Years A Slave. 

Stories like Northup's do not come around every day. It is also stories like Northup's that are rarely talked about in school. These are the types of stories that get people interest in history. The personal stories of people who have actually live through these time that we hardly hear about. Steve McQueen bringing Northup's story to life proved not only a great story about human spirit to tell, but a story that help people of today really relate and think about what situations like this really were in the past. With the assistance of Fox Searchlight, McQueen was able to being in a few Oscars that night. Other's nominated for Best Picture that night were: Columbia's American Hustle and Captain Phillips; Focus Features' Dallas Buyers Club; Warner Brothers' Gravity and Her; Paramount's Nebraska and The Wolf of Wall Street; and The Weinstein Company's Philomena.

This is a movie that is was very interested in seeing since it came out. However, when it comes to movies about slavery they tend to be very gruesome and overly shocking. I am not saying that slavery was not gruesome or overly shocking. I am saying that how Hollywood plays up those part it tends to overshadow the writing, acting, and other aspects that made that time period as bad as it was. The violence tends to be the focus point of the story rather the story itself. This film did not do any of that. It was violent and it was shocking... but it was appropriate and not excessive. It aided the film to give it meaning and suspense. It was the "money shot" that some of these movie give them just to sell the ticket. This movie had a story that wanted to be told and it was told in a beautiful, powerful, and meaningful way.

Best Picture of 2012: Argo

Argo is the story about how six Americans were saved during the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979 through 1980.


Argo was one of only nine Best Picture Nominations at the 85th Academy Awards. Warner Brothers' took home the prize over: Sony Pictures' Amour; Fox Searchlight's Beasts of the Southern Wild; The Weinstein Company's Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook; Universal's Les Misérables; 20th Century Fox's Life of Pi; DreamWorks' Lincoln; and Columbia's Zero Dark Thirty.


I have to say that this was another film that I could not get into. I have a hard time relating to Ben Affleck as an actor. While I like him more and more as Batman I still have a hard time with his other stuff. The concept and the story of how they got them out is great but I feel is was better suited to be told in a documentary rather than a feature film.

Best Picture of 2011: The Artist

The roaring 20's is an idealistic time to be alive. The economy is thriving and the movies are busting out to great stuff. People love going to see their favorite stars on the big screen. However, everything starts to change when they start adding "talking" to pictures. It's an idea that many in Hollywood was going to fail. After the public falls in love with idea many movies quickly change their style of movie to include talking pictures. However, not a lot a actor have the chops in order to make in talking films. This film follows the story of silent movie actor trying create films in a time when actors realty start to find their voice, and the love story of a young up and come actress who learns that sometimes silence is golden.




The first 100% black and white movie since 1960 to win Best Picture is one of the best to ever come out. The Artist was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won five of them, included Best Actor. It's a picture that is so unique the it hard to compare it to any other movie in this day and age. The Weinstein Company apparently knows how to make hit movie this day in age because this is second year in a row that they took home the Best Picture Award. They beat out: Fox Searchlight's The Decedents and The Tree of Life; Warner Brothers' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close; DreamWorks' The Help and War Horse; Paramount's Hugo; Sony Pictures' Midnight in Paris; and Columbia's Moneyball.


I have loved this film since the first time I saw it on DVD. My only regret about the film is that I did not go and watch it while it was out on the big screen. I always find something new about the film every time I watch it. It's a new experience every time. I know that a lot of people were mad when Jean Dujardin won for Best Actor because he was not an America. I am sorry but that is stupid. If you did an amazing enough job to be nominated for the award, of a movie was the shown in America and was allowed to be apart of the Academy Awards, than if you win you deserved to win the award because of the job you did not because of the nationality. If they didn't want to run the risk of him winning than they shouldn't have allowed it be in the running. However, I digress. This film is one of my all time favorite movies and I am actually going to make my Best Friend Alaina watch this film so I can nerd out.

Best Picture of 2010: The King's Speech

Elegant, proper, well spoken, and confident are some of the way you would describe a royal. That you how they are portrayed in every movie, every book and basically every way you see them. However, when you meet Prince Albert, the Duke of York, you quickly learn that well spoken and confident do not seem to be his strong suites. Prince Albert has spoken with a stutter since he was a child. He has gotten a lot of help from several speech therapists but none to any avail. That is until he meets that man by the name of Lionel Logue. The non-medically trained therapist learns a little bit about Prince Albert and starts working with him that day. The Prince is very much over being humiliated and believes he will never be cured. After a surprising result Prince Albert decides to start working with him. He soon learns that it's a good thing because shortly after Prince Albert, King George V, dies and his older brother takes the throne. However, through a crazy scandal of the time, Albert's older brother is forced off the throne and the crown will now goes to Prince Albert.




Filmed in a total of 39 days, The King's Speech is one of the most beautiful pieces of works to ever come on the big screen. The Weinstein Company did a phenomenal job and took home a total of four Academy Awards. This film had a stiff competition of the Best Picture Award that year. They other films nominated were: Fox Searchlight's 127 Hours and Black Swan; Paramount's The Fighter and True Grit; Warner Brother's Inception; Focus Features' The Kids Are All Right; Columbia's The Social Network; Disney's Toy Story 3; and Roadside Attractions' Winter's Bone.


This was the first Academy Awards that I really was starting to pay attention to what was going one. I remember this being a really hard choice just from what I know of the movies. Now that it's been a few years I haven most of these films it's still a hard choice! I will say that this is one of the best films that I have ever seen. You can't ever go wrong with Colin Firth because he knows how to really understand and do justice to a character and he totally deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor that he won.

Best Picture of 2009: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is the story about three officers in Iraq who work in EOD.


The 2009 Academy Awards marked a very big change. The number of Best Pictures that were allowed to be nominated from five movies to Ten. The last time that many movies were allowed to be nominated was in 1943. Summit Entertainment took this movie ran with it! It won a total of six Academy Awards and making history for Kathryn Bigelow to be the only female director to win the Best Director Award. The Hurt Locker took home the biggest honor that night over: 20th Century Fox's Avatar; Warner Brother's The Blind Side; Tristar's District 9; Sony Pictures' An Education; The Weinstein Company's Inglorious Bastards; Lionsgate's Precious; Focus Features' A Serious Man; Disney's Up; and Paramount's Up in the Air.


I am sorry to say that I could not get into this movie. I understood why it was an important movie and why the story needed to be told but I could not for the life of me get myself interested. Honestly, I am made after making the list of movie that it beat out to win and wonder how in the world this movie was better than The Blind Side, Avatar, or Up. Chalk this one up to "I do not know why this movie won".

Best Picture of 2008: Slumdog Millionaire

An extraordinary tale about Jamal and how he got to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. From the life in the slums with his older brother, and best friend, to becoming a contestant on the biggest game show in India.




Fox Searchlight and Warner Brother teamed up to take this sleeper hit and turned it into an Academy Award winner. Originally, the movie was only to be released in India, with no hope of making it to the US. When some of  the theaters needed more "independent" movie toward the end of the year they pick up this movie and it became an sensation from there. Slumdog Millionaire took home the Best Picture Award over: Paramount's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Universal's Frost/Nixon; Focus Features' Milk; and The Weinstein Company's The Reader.


The title of this film makes it sound like that is a thriller with a lot of shooting and turf wars. I don't know why I thought the title made it sound like that but it did. I could not have been more wrong in my life! This is one of those movies I dreaded watching and ended up loving. This has to be one of my favorite this year. Dev Patel is one of the actors who I very much enjoyed watching last year in my Year of Review challenge and finding out he was in the movie made it all the better. This would be a movie I would suggest anyone to watch.

Best Picture of 2007: No Country for Old Men

A hitman chasing after a man who stole money during a drug deal are being chased by the local sheriff in 1980's Texas.

Paramount took home four Academy Awards for No Country for Old Men. In order to do so they had to take down: Focus' Atonement; Fox Searchlight's Juno; Warner Brothers' Michael Clayton; and Paramount's There Will Be Blood.

I was so board watching this that I almost turned it off. I thought that I might be one of those movies that once you got to the end you would at least like it and it was not that way at all. I wish I could have gotten my two hours of my life back. 

Best Picture of 2006: The Departed

Boston. One of the most historic cities in the United Starts. It's beautiful and full of life. It's also filled with mystery and murder. Although Boston is a wonderful place it does have a secret underbelly that is controlled by the Irish Mob. Still a thriving part of the community the mob is still out to make a buck using whatever they can. Frank Costello, the head of the mob, is the man looking to make the money. He is looking to do it anyway he can. He gains the trust of a young boy, Conor Donovan, who grows up to be a detective. Donovan become Costello's mole in the BPD. Donovan soon learns that the BPD have a mole in the Costello's gang.

Wining four Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards The Departed is a thrilling tale that will keep ou on the edge of your seat. Warner Brothers took home the Best Picture Award over: Paramount's Babel; DreamWorks Letters from Iwo Jima; Fox Searchlight's Little Miss Sunshine; and Miramax's The Queen. 

I have heard very good things about this movie. Also, who doesn't love Leonardo DiCaprio? So I was very excited to get to this movie! It was a great film! I liked it much more than I thought that I would. It's a movie that I would recommend for anyone to watch.

Best Pictrue of 2005: Crash

The story of how several lives converge over a two day period in LA. From different backgrounds and stories we are forced to face out everyday prejudices.

 Lionsgate had a very interested concept of a movie on their hands. This low budget film seem to have paid off by being nominated for six Academy Awards and taking home three of them. Crash took home Best Picture by beating out: Focus Features Brokeback Mountain; Sony Pictures' Capote; Warner Independent's Good Night, and Good Luck; and DreamWorks Munich.

Before I watched this film I started seeing a lot of stay saying that this film should not have won Best Pictures. I have to say that I have to agree. I did not enjoy this picture. I thought that the ideas of confronting what you think of people would have been handled differently. I feel that it did not do what they wanted to do in an in effective way. 

Best Picture of 2004: Million Dollar Baby

Maggie Fitzgerald has a dream of becoming a professional boxer. However, there is one problem with her dream. It takes years to get to that point, and most start training when they are young. Being 31 years old Maggie is too old to accomplish that dream now. At least what is what gym owner, and boxing manager, Frank Dunn has told her. Frank refuses to train girls. He won't do it under any circumstances. However, Frank can't help but be pulled toward her to coach her. He tries to pawn her off to another manger at his gym but when he goes to see her fight he does not like how Maggie is being taught. Frank takes over as manager is the in middle of the match and leads her to victory. After many wins, and many first round KO's, Maggie is on her way around the world in the welterweight class. They both seem to be getting what they have need from each other; a coach, a teacher, a parent, a daughter, and a friend. However, not everything lasts forever.

Million Dollar Baby was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and ended up taking home Four of them. After years of being stuck in development Clint Eastwood was finally able to gather a budget from two different companies in order to get the movie made. It seemed to have paid off for them because this film in now in the book of one of the best movies ever made. Warner Brothers' bet paid off and took home Best Picture over: Their own movie The Aviator; Miramax's Finding Neverland; Universal's Ray; and Fox Searchlight's Sideways. 

Ok, so I was little unsure about this movie because of Clint Eastwood. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. I know that he does a lot of Westerns and I know that if you are "type cast" into a role like that it's hard to not do anything else like it. I was very shocked by how wonderful this film was! Outside of Eastwood being in the film, I was worried that it was going to be like very other sports film you see. That it would be predictable that the underdog comes in and wins that championship and lives happily ever after. Oh, was a so wrong! From when you meet Maggie you start to realize that yes she is the underdog but this is not going to go how I think it will. It ends up being the beautifully unexpected story that stays with you well after you have watched it. It's about relationships and what they needed in order to fee like they have done something with their rather than needed to be the best at something. If really it one of the most beautiful stories I have ever gotten the privilege to see. 

Best Picture of 2003: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The continued story of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring on their path to save their world from reign of true evil and darkness. Although they are no longer together each find their own path they play on saving their loved ones to hopefully be reunited and bring hope back to the world at war.

This tale of can not be told correctly if you do not watch the other two movies before hand. If you think you can understand it you won't, trust me! The Lord of the Rings trilogy is very unique. It was the first set of films that were written and shot simultaneously. All three movies where done one right after another. All the actors that were in the film were contracted to be there through all three films. That feat was not done again until the making of The Hobbit films. Return of the King did a clean sweep at the Academy Awards taking home all 11 awards it was nominated for. In doing so it became the first fantasy film to do a clean sweep. It is also tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic will the most Oscar wins in history. Cinema took home the Best Picture award over: Focus Features Lost in Translation; 20th Century Fox's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Warner Brother's Mystic River; and DreamWorks Seabiscuit. 

I have to say that I was really looking forward to watching the film. I was also a little nervous because I have heard great things about it but I didn't want to not like it. I have to say I LOVE this film! So much so that the trilogy in that of itself is my all time favorite story of films and Return of the King and my 12th favorite movie of all time. I had a friend of mine ask me what I wanted this Christmas after I saw the films and I told her that I wanted the trilogy set! I really hope I get it! These movies are all very long but it's one of those films where I was not board for one second or too confused. I had trouble keeping up with the name but that happens for me in every film the first time I watch them! I will say that I will love and enjoy these films for a long time to come!

Best Picture of 2002: Chicago

The 1920s, the sights, the music, the short dress and hair to match. It was a fast pace changing world during the time. The booze was running just as wild as the women. That was not any more true when it came to Mrs. Roxie Hart. Roxie dreams of being on the stage and is willing to do anything to get herself there. She starts cheating on her husband with a man who says she can get her into show business. When she learns that he was lying to her just to get a piece of ass she goes into a rage and shoots him dead. He is on death row and is will to do anything to get out. She hires Billy Flynn, a lawyer who has never lost a case, to get her off. The next few months is a crazy mix of winning over the public before her trial. All of this set the satisfying sounds of Jazz.

In one of the best musicals to ever be brought to the silver screen Chicago was deserving to win Best Picture. It was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and took home 6 of them. Miramax had a hit on their hand. Not only that but this movie is one of the biggest reasons as to why musicals have started to make their way back to the big screen. Chicago beat out: Miramax's Gangs of New York; Paramount's The Hours; New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; and Focus Features' The Pianist.

God to I love this movie! It has been some time since I have seen it but as soon at the song All That Jazz  started to play I was HYPED! I can listen to these songs all day. Even as I am typing this I am re-watching The Cellblock Tango  for the third time. I am going be singing these songs all day! I got the privilege to see the play earlier this year. It's very different from the play but the movie does an excellent job of not loosing the feeling of the play and following along with the narrative that the play does. If you are looking for an amazing musical and wildly entertaining movie to watch Chicago is the one you need to watch next!

Best Picture of 2001: A Beautiful Mind

Princeton University is a place where some of the most brilliant mathematicians have studied. One truly special one stand out and that is a man by the name of John Nash. In 1947 Nash is a graduate student at the university working on an original idea to be published. He is having some trouble balancing his personal life with his professional one. That is until he meets Alice and she asks him out on a date. Around this same time John is asked to work on a secret government project. Over the next few years he marries Alice but isn't allowed to tell he what he is working on. He starts saying the people are following him because of his project and while teaching on day he is chased out of the classroom. Come to find the people who are chasing him are people who work at a psychiatric hospital. Nash is diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia and the "government project" he has been working on is actually not real.

A Beautiful Mind was nominated for eight Academy Awards that year it ended up leaving with four. Although the movie did win Best Picture it was highly ridiculed for the inaccuracy of John Nash's life. However, the film makers did say that there weren't trying to make it 100% accurate. DreamWorks was very happy to take the Best Picture home over: USA's Gosford Park; Miramax's In the Bedroom; New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; and 20th Century Fox's Moulin Rouge!.

I have to say I had a hard time watching Russell Crowe for the first few minutes in this film. That was because I literally just turned off Gladiator and turn on this movie. It's very different role than he played in Gladiator but he does it flawlessly! This movie kind of keeps you guessing through just about the whole thing. You start to questions weather or not he is really seeing this people and other are out to get him or if he really is schizophrenic. I would recommend for anyone to watch that is for sure!

Best Picture of 2000: Gladiator

The growth of the Roman Empire was no small feat. You need an army, a huge army, and a great General to command it. Maximus was that General. He spent nearly three years service the Caesar and expanding the Empire. When they finally conquered Germania the Caesar was with him and wanted to know how Maximus could be rewarded for doing so much for him. All Maximus wanted to do was go home to his beloved wife and son. The Caesar wanted Maximus to do one more thing for him. The Caesar knew that his son, the next in line, would not make a good ruler. He was too selfish and hot heading and Caesar wanted the Empire to go back to the people and not be ruled by selfish being that he has been fighting back again. He wanted Maximus to be next in line after he was gone. When the Caesar told his son, Commodus, that he would not rule and Maximus would instead Commodus killed his father. In an act of rage he captured Maximus and charged him was deserting and ordered him killed. Before he was taken away Commodus tells him that he is going to kill his wife and son. Maximus escapes and tries to stop the awful fates that have fallen upon his family, but it was too late. He is so heartbroken that when scavengers come to his home he doesn't try to fight them off and gets captured and sold as a slave. It ends up being a blessing in disguise becomes he is sold to a man who trains slaves to fight as gladiators. Thus starting his path back to Rome and face to face with Commodus.

Gladiator did not come to be without some fights of it own. The first part of the production the script was not even finished, or up to the actors satisfaction. Russell Crowe even walked off the set a few times when he wasn't given answers about the script. Clearly, things worked out and Universal took home the top prize. The other movies in the running that year were: Universal's own Traffic and Erin Brockovich, Miramax's Chocolat, and Sony Pictures' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

I was very excited to watch this film again because I haven't seen it since high school. I wasn't excited to watch it then because I thought it was just a bloody film that was just about killing people. I didn't think there was any meaning behind the story. Boy was I wrong! I have to say this film has a ton of heart and the characters are wonderfully developed. This is a great watch for anyone! It's does have a little bit of something for everyone! 

Best Picture 1999: American Beauty

Lest Burnham is the typical middle class man. He has a wife and a daughter, a good job, and what every other typical middle class family has. However, he hates his life. His wife has become cold over the years, their daughter is a typical moody teenager, and his "good job" totally sucks. Needless to say he is having a mid-life crisis. Lester decides to make a change in his life but will these changes be the death of him?

American Beauty is a wonderful drama by DreamWorks. It took home Best Picture over: Miramax's The Cider House, Warner Brothers' The Green Mile, Touchstone's The Insider, and Hollywood's The Sixth Sense. 

I have to say that this film was much more interesting that I thought it was going to be. A little weird but really good. I think the this is one of my favorite Kevin Spacey roles because he is just amazing in this film. I think I would be willing to watch this film again maybe not really soon but I would watch it again.

Best Picture 1998: Shakespeare in Love

When you think of the legendary William Shakespeare you think first of Romeo and Juliet. You don't think of Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. I am sure that everyone has never even heard of that play before. Shakespeare is writing this play for a local theater and is have a bit or writer block. Even though the play is not finished he goes start auditions for Romeo. Viola, a young woman who is head over heels in love with Shakespeare's work, dresses up as a boy and auditions for the role. When he wants more information from her she runs away back to her home. In trying to search for the boy Shakespeare finds that young woman and falls in love with her. They more time they spend together he finds inspiration for his play. He starts to base the play off of their love story and changes it from Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter to Romeo and Juliet. The reasoning behind this change is because Viola is engaged to be married to another man and has been told not to go to the theater and their story as they know it will not end happily. 

Miramax's incredibly fictional story of Shakespeare in Love is an entertaining story. It's funny dramatic and light hearted. It won seven Academy Awards that year. The top prize went to them over: PolyGram's Elizabeth, Miramax's own Life is Beautiful, DreamWorks' Saving Private Ryan, and 20th Century Fox' The Thin Red Line. 

This was a good film. It was sweet and entertaining but I am not sure if it was really better than Saving Private Ryan or Life is Beautiful. This is one of those times when you want to say that the Academy made a mistake somewhere. Don't get me wrong good film but I wouldn't say one of the best. 

Best Picture of 1997: Titanic

The RMS Titanic has been a story that has fascinated people over the 100 plus years since it's sinking in 1912. Documentaries have been made of it, movies have been made out of it, and books have even told the different heroes of that awful night of the sinking. However, not one story has been able to capture the sheer majesty and horrific outcome that became of the "Ship of Dreams" as James Cameron's Titanic has. The tale not only tells of the fleeting heroics of some on the ship but that also of the ultimate sadness and loss of life and captures all of it in a love story that is as complicated and beautiful as the ship itself.

With a record shattering $200 Million budget James Cameron was able to turn the "Ship of Dreams" into a Dream come true. He was able to bring to life the RMS Titanic to life in a way that others before him could not. Six moths of research, a wall full covered in storylines, two Titanic Historians, and a script that was able to transport an audience to fell like they are traveling on the ship themselves really shows by Titanic won Best Picture in 1997. The project was so massive that both Paramount and 20th Century Fox had to team up in order to bring the ship back to life. They made a good investment because Titanic became the first film in history to ever break the $1 Billion mark. It no wonder they Tristar's As good as It Gets, Fox Searchlight's The Full Monty, Miramax's Good Will Hunting, and Warner Brothers' L.A. Confidential could not take down the monumental Titanic to win Best Picture.

This is one of my favorite movies that I have seen. Not quite my top ten but it's one of the best to have ever been. I have watched it three time this year and have been to the Titanic Museum in Gatlinburg once this year as well. Reading about the people that were on the ship and what happened to them really hit home and when you are watching the movie and seeing all of these people you think that the person I read about could be portrayed by this actor and seeing their fate is really crazy. James Cameron does an amazing job and really throwing you into the world of Titanic and making you feel as if you are walking with Jack and Rose on the boat and not just watching a movie.

Best Picture of 1996: The Endlgish Patient

People do crazy things when they are in love. Sometimes they make big gestures, sometimes it's one of those race through the airport and stop them from leaving scenes. Sometimes, it's an affair in the middle of the desert, while the impending doom of war is on the brink. Almasy is a Hungarian Cartographer looking for the Cave of Swimmers in Egypt. During this time their group is joined by a British couple Geoffrey and Katharine Clifton and it doesn't take long for the sparks to begin to fly. Between the sandstorms, the discoveries, and the fact that the war is threating to end all funding to their exploration Almasy and Katharine somehow find a way to start their forbidden love affaire and keep is from her husband. The threat of war is luring over their heads at the same time Geoffrey is starting to suspect that there is more to Katharine and Almasy then meets the eye. Katharine tries to end things so she can be a good wife, and leave. However, it doesn't last long. When Almasy's exploration is called off because war has finally broke out Geoffrey gets word to Almasy that he and Katharine are going to come and get him in his private plan. In a rage of jealousy Geoffrey purposely crashes his plan in an attempt to kill not only Almasy but Katharine and himself as well. Almasy gets out of the way of the plane just in time but the crash kills Geoffrey instantly leaving Katharine seriously injured and in dire need of medical help. 

Winning nine out of twelve Academy Award nominations The English Patient is a love story told unlike any other film to grace the big screen. With its captivating story of adventure, tortured soul, and nature of the human spirit Miramax has every right to be proud to say that they have one of the best films in history made by them. The English Patient took home the prize over: PolyGram's Fargo, Tristar's Jerry Maguire, October's Secrets & Lies, and Fine Line Features Shine. 

I have heard of this movies over the years. I was scared that this was going to be one of those movies that was all hype and nothing to show for. Man, was I wrong! I have done nothing over the last few days but think about this movie! Think about how beautiful of a story it was and how Damn good Ralph Fiennes was in it! This has been officially put in as one of my top ten favorite movies of all time. 

Best Picture of 1995: Bravehart

Love conquers all is something that we have heard all the time. However, when love dies unexpectedly it can have some major consequences. Scotland had no idea what they were in for when the Englishmen killed William Wallace's wife. Wallace is a Scottish warrior who has training most of his life by his uncle after his father and brother died. He was not planning of leading an attack against the English until they took his wife's life. After that it became his mission to get revenge and freedom for the Scotts.

Paramount did very well with the movie Braveheart. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards. It took home Best Picture over: Universal's Apollo 13 and Babe, Miramax's II Postino: The Postman, and Columbia's Sense and Sensibility.

Ok this film was entertaining enough but I was not overwhelmed by it. I have a lot of people of people who crazy love this film but I guess I didn't find the appeal in it as they did. Don't get me wrong great film but not one of the best I have ever seen. 

Best Picture of 1994: Forrest Gump

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna get". If you don't know that line you have never seen Forrest Gump. We meet Forrest at the beginning of our story in Savannah, Georgia at a bus stop. Being as social as he is he starts sharing is story with the people who join him on the bench. Telling them about where he lived and how he grew up. How he went to serve in the Vietnam War and is the owner of Bubba Gump Shrimp. However, he mostly talked about Jenny, his best friend.

Winning six Academy Awards Paramount had one of the best movies to ever grace the screen on their hand. The competition was particularly steep in 1994 as all of the films nominated have be come classics in their own right. Forrest Gump beat out: Miramax's Pulp Fiction, Hollywood's Quiz Show, Columbia's The Shawshank Redemption, and PolyGram's Four Weddings and a Funeral for the right to be named Best Picture.

This movie has stuck with me from the first time that I have seen it. Every time I have seen it I fall more and more in love with it. It is on my top ten favorite films of all time. Tom Hanks has got to be one of the best Actors to ever come on the movie screen. He plays a number of different characters through his career and he can play anything! I will be glad to see this film again and very soon! 

Best Picture of 1993: Schindler's List

In the 1940's the world is at war again. This time it's fueled by the hatred of Hitler. He has many goals on what a new world looks like to him but the most infamous was he wanted to rid the world of an entire culture. Millions died during the Holocaust but this is a story about how a thousand of them lived. Oskar Schindler is a German man who is trying to make money during the war. He starts building weapons for the German Army. In order to be more cost efficient he hires Jewish workers. Nearby, a concentration camp is being built. When it's finished the order goes out that the Jews in the area near Schindler's Factory are to be transferred to the camp. This was not a peaceful order. A massacre by the German's starts to take place as witnessed by Schindler. It is in these moments that Schindler sees what the world is really coming to and is forever changed by it. He decides that making money is not nearly as important as saving the lives on the Jews he has in his factory. He spends the rest of the war, and almost the rest of his fortune, into bribing and convincing the German soldiers that his Jews are important to the war cause and that they should not be sent to the camps. In 1945 the Germans surrender and Schindler has run out of money. In order to keep his cover over the years Schindler became a member of the Nazi Party to protect his workers and keep in good standing with the officers. Now because of this he is being hunted down by the Red Army. He plans on running and surrendering to the Americans. The Jewish workers know that he saved their lives so they band together to try and save his. They gave Schindler a signed statement saying what he did in order to save them through the war.

Stephen Spielberg was the why this film was so great. When he was approached by the story knew it had to be made. However, he was wide enough to know that he may not be the right person to make this film, fearing the he might not be mature enough. After much consideration of other directors he finally did decide that he wanted to do the film. He wanted to do the story justice. He wanted to really show what it was like. Many of the choices he made in this film were to show how awful this time in the human race really was. Once of the choices he made was to not make the film in color because he didn't want to "beautify events" of the Holocaust. He also considered on doing the whole film in a mix of Polish and German but then realized that having to spend so much time reading the material would take away from the story as a whole. Spielberg knew how badly this story needed to be brought to life. He decided that he would not take payment for this film as he would consider it to be "blood money".  Spielberg and Universal more than deserved to take home Best Picture that year. The other nominees were: Warner Brothers' The Fugitive, Miramax's The Piano, Columbia's The Remains of the Day, and Universal's own In the Name of the Father. 

This film.... what can I saw about this film? This film has so much meaning in it that it's one where everyone needs to see once in their life. I true realistic glimpse in Germany during World War II. It really captures all the different feelings and events that were going on around them. It really captures the fear of not know if you will still even have a story to tell the next day. It shows the courage on helping others and many people were scared to help. This is one of those films that has so much meaning that giving it an award for Best Picture does not nearly begin to show justice for what it means. It deserves to be seen by all and not one person less than that.

Best Picture of 1992: Unforgiven

In the wild west there is not a whole lot to do. You work, mostly work, you eat, sleep, and once and a while you get together to go to the nearest town and have some fun. In town you mingle, eat, and sometimes make trip to the nearest brothel. Two outlaws decide that the brothel would be there choice of fun that night. Well, fun for them at least. One of the prostitutes was disfigured by one of the men that night. Although the men were caught, the sheriff thought that the best punishment for the outlaws were for them to pay the brothel owner for six horses rather than going to jail. The rest of the prostitutes were outraged by this and decided that they were going to offer a $1000 reward to anyone who can find and kill the outlaws. Word of this gets to the ex-bounty hunter Munny, now a widower with two kids and a failing farm, he decided to ride and find the men and maybe find a way to start over again.

Unforgiven was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four of them. The Warner Brothers' hit took home the prize over: Palace Pictures The Crying Game; Columbia's A Few Good Men; Sony Pictures Howards End; and Universal's Scent of Woman. In 2004 Unforgiven was selected for Preservation by the National Film Registry.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I thought that it was good overall but I wasn't that interested in it. I would watch and then get bored then get caught back up in it again. I found some things that are great and the acting is good, I mean you can't go wrong with Morgan Freeman, but I couldn't quite find a groove with this movie to connect with it really.

Best Picture of 1991: Silence of the Lambs

In the search for a dangerous serial killer named "Buffalo Bill" the FBI is desperately searching for answers to find this man. They start asking captured serial killers to help to identify the man. Many of them took the survey to help. However, one man refused to take the survey. His name is Hannibal Lecter, better known as Hannibal the Cannibal. This psychiatrist turn serial killer will not help with the investigation. That is when Clarice Starling is sent in to try and get Hannibal to talk. To everyone's surprise he does talk. This starts a roller coaster ride to trying to catch Buffalo Bill and to keep Hannibal Lecter locked up where he belongs.


Silence of the Lambs is a very special film. It's the only movie this is classified as Horror to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It's one of three in the horror category to every be nominated for Best Picture. The other unique trait of this movie is that it is one of only Three Pictures to take home all five of the biggest awards at the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The other Films that have done this feat in the 89 year history are It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The 64th Academy Awards were special in their own way as well. It marked the first time the an animated movie was nominated for Best Picture and it was Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The other three movies that Orion had to beat out to take home the Best Picture Award are: Tristars' Bugsy; Warner Brother's JFK; and Columbia's The Prince of Tides.


I will say this about Silence of the Lambs... I will NEVER watch this movie again. I think I have mention before that I hate, loath, and despise scary and horror films. So, I will never be seeing this film again. Now despite the fact that this film was not something I will watch again it was a very interesting film. I can totally see why is won best picture and why everyone won the Best everything. I was very impressed and saw why it was/is very popular. However, never again!

Best Picture of 1990: Dances with Wolves

Injured in a battle in Tennessee during the Civil War, Lt. John J. Dunbar was not ready to loose his foot. He gets out of the hospital bed and goes back into the battle. By taking a horse and riding up to enemy lines, hoping to die in battle rather than in the hospital bed, he inadvertently distracts the Confederate soldiers while and the Union Army is able to win the battle. Being hailed as a hero he is able to get proper medical care and is able to pick where he would like to be posted at next. He chooses the western frontier at Fort Hays. After some interesting encounters with the Sioux Tribe he starts the process to no only making friends with them but becoming apart of their culture. In that he get the name Dances with Wolves.


Michael Blake, the writer, originally tried to sell the script in the 1980s. No one was really that interested in the story. However, Kevin Costner told Blake that he should make the script into a novel and if the novel was successful he would have a better shot at making it into a film. After several failed attempts to sell the book someone finally bought it. It was made into a paperback and Kevin Costner actually bought the rights to the book so he can try to get it made into a movie so he could direct it. It worked out in both of their favors. Costner was able to sell Orion on the movie and it was made later that year. Orion took home the Best Picture that year over: Paramount's Ghost and The Godfather III; Columbia's Awakenings; and Warner Brothers' Goodfellas.


I have to say that I liked the film. The film was a little slow for me at first and it made me not interested in keeping up with what is going on. By the time I got to the end of the film I was really wishing I had paid more attention. I will say that I will be willing to watch this film again just so I can understand it more and maybe actually enjoy it. It really was very good at the end of them film however!

Best Picture of 1989: Driving Miss Daisy

How do people make friends? Most of the time people are introduced by mutual friends, or they find they have something in common when they are kids. Most of the time your children don't hire someone to drive you around and force them to be apart of your life. That is what Boolie Werthan did to his mother Daisy. Miss Daisy woke up one morning to go and run errands and crashed her car into the neighbors driveway. We find that this was not the first time she has crashed her car in recent years. Her son decided that she needs to not being driving anymore. He bought her a new car, and along with the car came the driver that he hired for his mother, Hoke Colburn. Miss Daisy does not take kindly to Hoke at first, being that she sees him as the theft of her freedom to come and go as she pleases. However, Miss Daisy has finally met her match with Hoke. He is just as stubborn as she is and finally wears her down to allow him to drive her around where she needs to go. When she finally allows herself to become used to being driven around she see that there is more to Hoke than just being her chauffeur. After 25 years of this business arrangement Miss Daisy learns that Hoke means so much more to her than just being her chauffeur.


This sweet tale of friendship was nominated had a big year at the 1990 Academy Awards. It was nominated for nine awards and won four of them. Driving Miss Daisy currently holds the record for Miss Daisy herself, Jessica Tandy. Tandy won the Best Actress for her role at Miss Daisy and is currently the oldest person to win the Best Actress Award, she was 81 at the time. Driving Miss Daisy is also the first film since Grande Hotel to win Best Picture without the Director being nominated as well. Warner Brothers has the honor of being nominated for Best Picture this year with a list of other movies that would go on to be classic in their own right. Driving Miss Daisy beat out: Universal's Born on the Fourth of July and Field of Dreams; Touchstone's Dead Poets Society; and Miramax's My Left Foot.


Driving Miss Daisy and what I call a sneaky movie. Not because of the plot of anything but because of the timing of its release. In order to be nominated to an Academy Award the movie have to come out between January 1st and December 31st of the previous year. For example, Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture in the year 1990, but it was for the year 1989. Driving Miss Daisy was released for a limited release in December on 1989, and didn't go nationwide until early January in 1990. The crazy thing is that Driving Miss Daisy was only showed in three theaters during it's limited release. The movie made $73,745 in the three theaters in one weekend during its limited release. Driving Miss Daisy became the highest earning movie of 1989. This film more than deserved to win Best Picture. This film shows the true meaning of friendship in how it grows and how it shapes you as a person. It's a movie that lets you see that first impressions of people are not always right and that they can change. It's a film that needs to be experience again and again and shown to all of your best friends. There is a reason that this movie is a classic and if anyone tells you otherwise has not seen this movie.

Best Picture of 1988: Rain Man

Charlie Babbitt is a man who is out to make a fortune any way he can. Selling cars under the radar and trying to make a fast buck is his idea of living. He is on his way to a vacation when he gets a call from the family lawyer that his father died. Charlie makes a pit stop to show up at the funeral to say goodbye to his father, but really is there to get his hands on his dad's $3 million. When he gets to the reading of the will he finds that he was only left some prized rose bushes and his father's car, the only thing they both loved the same. The Money? Well, all of the money that was left to Raymond Babbitt, the oldest child of Charlie's parents who he never knew about. Truly pissed off at his father, he makes a visit to wear Raymond is staying and learns that he is in a home because Raymond is autistic. Realizing that Raymond has no concept of money he makes a bold move to take Raymond away from the home and try to get custody of him so he can control the millions. While on the road he realized not only was it a mistake to suddenly uproot Raymond from his home, and the way he does things, he realizes that he was missing in his life was really family and not money,


When you have big names in movies it's very hard for them to flop. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise leading the way in this film made that a very true statement. Rain man was the highest grossing film of 1988, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards and took home four of them. Of the four it United Artist took home the coveted Best Picture Award. Their competition that year was tough but they be out the likes of: Warner Brothers' The Accidental Tourist and Dangerous Liaisons; Orion's Mississippi Burning; and 20th Century Fox's Working Girl for the top prize of the night.


Ok, so before this list I have never seen this movie before. I have heard many references to it but had no context for them really. I was looking forward to seeing it.. that is until I found out that Tom Cruise is in the film. I am sorry but I am not a Tom Cruise kind of girl. I don't see him as a great actor. He is a decent action star but not much his salt when it comes to acting. Dustin Hoffman more than makes up for the lack of skills the Tom Cruise has in this film. I loved the story about how these two found each other and became a family. I keep coming back to the great moments in this film the Hoffman put out for us to see. I understand why this film is a classic and why it's so loved. I love that they took a hard subject to talk about and were able to present it in a way that was not terrifying or hard to understand. This is a movie that I would definitely watch again, despite the fact Tom Cruise is in it.

Best Picture of 1987: The Last Emperor

The amazing story of Puyi, the last Emperor of the Forbidden City in China. It tells of his story of when he was chosen to be Emperor at the age of 5 and how he grew up in the city and was of things outside the walls and then forced to leave when he was in his late 20s. It showed that even though he was no longer in the Forbidden City many people still worshiped him as an Emperor, even though he no longer had any power.


Single handedly raising at $25 Million budget, Bernardo Bertolucci brought the story of The Last Emperor to life. Getting special permission from the Chinese government, Bertolucci was allowed to film inside the real Forbidden City. He was able to use every room and put everything he recorded there into his film. It was well worth it because the shots are spectacular. Columbia was able to take home the top honors of the night beating out: 20th Century Fox's Broadcast News; Paramount's Fatal Attraction; Columbia's own Hope and Glory; and MGM's Moonstruck.


Now when I was telling my dad that I was going to be watching this film he told me that he thought it was an ok movie. He said that the biggest part was trying to figure out how was he the Emperor of anything. Now I know a little big about this history of the Forbidden City but not enough to know why it's so important to have an Emperor there. Other than that my dad thought the film was good. Now, I still don't know why he needed to be the Emperor of anything, they didn't give much history on why it's so important in the film, but this film was so much more than ok. I thought it was one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen. While the story is not crazy over the top it is wonderfully presented! It keeps you engaged through the whole film and you are constantly being shown the beauty of China. This is a film that you can tell was a true labor of love the whole crew. I will be watching this movie again and probably very soon.

Best Picture of 1986: Platoon

The winner of the 1986 Best Picture is Platoon. Platoon gives a realistic look what wartime in Vietnam was like.


Platoon was nominated for eight Academy Awards all together. Orion took home Best Picture over: Paramount's Children of a Lesser God; Orion's own Hannah and Her Sisters; Enigma Film Productions' The Mission; and Merchant Ivory A Room with a View.


I found myself being quite bored with this film. Yes, there is a lot of action to it but not a lot of plot. I am also not a huge fan of Charlie Sheen so I found myself having a hard time relating to the characters.

Best Picture of 1985: Out of Africa

The story of Karen Blixen is told in the movie Out of Africa. It recalls her life starting in 1913 when she moves to Africa and her time there.


the top prize went to Universal that night beating out: Warner Brothers' The Color Purple; Island Alive's Kiss of the Spider Woman; 20th Century Fox's Prizzi's Honorl; and Paramount's Witness.


Ok, this movie was so long and so boring! I love Meryl Streep I really do but I have no clue why this movie was made. This movie is loosely based of the real life of a woman named Karen Blixen but I have no idea who she is. I have no idea why she was important enough to make this movie. I think Steep did an amazing job with what she did in the film but the film itself is just a total bust.

Best Picture of 1984: Amadeus

Never has music caused such a stir in cinema. Usually when we think of music and movies we think about how music sets the tone. Music helps us to understand how the characters are acting and helps us to understand how they feel or what they are thinking. Never has music been the cause of jealousy or contemp. Yet, Amadeus shows that it is very possible for music to be the cause of these issue in film. This films follows the story of Mozart's life as told by rival composer Antonio Salieri. Salieri was the court composer in the 18th Century. He tells the priest that he used to be the most famous composer in Vienna until Mozart came on the scene. Salieri believed that God gave him the gift of music and wanted to use it to glorify him. He gave up everything so he could be the best composer alive. He believed that God turned his back on him when Mozart not only became more popular, but when he realized that Mozart was actually great at composing. Salieri them becomes obsessed with taking down Mozart any way he can.




Nominated for 11 Academy Awards in 1984 Amadeus was a powerhouse that never really was the popular of a film. It is one of five Best Picture Winners that never made it into the top five Weekend Box Office sales since they started recording the number in 1982. Orion took home the top prize bearing out: Enigma Film Productions The Killing Fields; G.W. Films A Passage to India; Tri-Star's Places in the Heart; and Columbia's A Soldier's Story.




I really had to look into the story once the movie was over. This was a great film but it seemed very out there in some parts. Turns out it was because this is a fictionalized biography of Mozart's life. It made for a very good film! It was a really interesting story to follow and it was thoroughly entertaining the whole way through! I loved that they only used Mozart's music through the whole film rather than added more. Mozart seems like a very interesting character in general, even if some parts of his life are made up for the film. This would be a film that I would really want to watch again.

Best Picture of 1983: Terms of Enderment

The bong between a mother and a daughter is something that can very rarely be broken. When it comes to Aurora and Emma nothing truer is ever said. Emma is the apple of Aurora's eye, even though she has a hard time saying so. When Emma gets married and eventually moves away Aurora has to find figure out her new life without her daughter in it as much. Aurora slowly starts to fall her new neighbor. After a few years of marriage, and three kids, Emma find that she has cancer. Everyone's life gets put on hold as they prepare for the worst that is to come.


Winning five out of the eleven Oscar nominations Terms of Endearment is a film that has become a classic over the years. The heartfelt story stars Shirley MacClaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson in a tale about life and loss. Paramount took home Best Picture over: Columbia's The Big Chill; Goldcrest's The Dresser; Warner Brothers The Right Stuff; and Universal's The Tender Mercies.


I was really nervous about this movie. I have had to watch a lot of the Best Pictures in a row because I was so far behind. So, throwing in a movie that is going make me cry my eyes out worried me. Honestly, I was disappointed when I didn't cry my eyes out. The story is interesting enough for me to get by I was not that impressed. I mean it was a good film but this legendary film that I have heard about for year did not seem like the movie that I watched. I get the impact and I love the story of a mother and daughter's love and I loved Jack Nicholson's part in the film. However, it was not one of the greatest films I have ever seen.

Best Picture of 1982: Gandhi

Revolution is a word that when most people think of they think of violence. Most people. The winner of the Best Picture in 1982 depicts a different type of revolution. It depicts a revolution that has lots of protests, but peaceful and nonviolent ones. It depicts a man who sought the best for his people but didn't want to cause a war. Gandhi was that man. He changed an entire world and got the best for his people by showing the world that peace and kindness can have just as much, if not more, change on the world the killing and threating people can. This marvelous film show the life of Gandhi and how he chose to change the world. It starts off with the injustice that kicked off his crusade. He was kicked off a train because he held a first class ticket. The train only allowed white first class passengers on the train. Since Gandhi is Hindu he was not allowed to be in that compartment even though he paid for the ticket. He told train line that was not going to third class. They threw him off the train at the next stop. This lead to him realizing how much injustice there was in India under the United Kingdom rule and decided he was going to change it in a peaceful way. It shows all of the great things he accomplished in his life before he was assassinated in 1948.




The mastermind behind this film is a man by the name of Richard Attenborough. This man produced and directed this film. This film was his passion project. This movie was released in 1982 but he had been waiting for 18 years before that to make the film. I can say that I had more than paid off. He, along with Columbia, took home the top honors of the night over: Columbia's own Tootsie; Universal's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Missing; and 20th Century Fox's The Verdict.


This film is so touching ever time I have seen it. Gandhi's life and his way of working are so inspiring! I don't know of anyone else in history that want able to unit a whole country of people in peaceful way the he has. Telling a story about one person can be very hard, especially if they are as loved as Gandhi is. Attenborough did a magnificent job of bringing Gandhi's story to the world and showing a glimpse into the man that Gandhi was.

Best Picture of 1981: Chariots of Fire

The Summer Olympics of 1924 was one of the most anticipated events to happen that year. For many it was to cheer on their nation in the games, for a select few it would be to compete. Chariots of Fire follows the story of two young men who are competing in the track and field potions of the races. Eric Liddell, who competes to give glory to God, and Harold Abrahams, who hopes his races help to overcome prejudice.


Nominated for seven Academy Awards Chariots of Fire would soon prove to be the best Enigma Film Productions had to offer. They took home the top prize after beating out: Cine-Neighbor's Atlantic City; ITC's On Golden Pond; Lucasfilm's Raiders of the Lost Ark; and Paramount's Reds.


I have to say this was a very inspiring movie. I was totally into from the first second the film came on. Everyone has heard that song either in a cartoon or another movie. Once the song comes on you want to know what happens. I loved the characters in this film. The fact that they are based off of real people is something that makes this film even more special. The research that went into this film is crazy! They went into film archives and real letters from the people that they are based on. I think that this film's research is what made it such a great film to enjoy.

Best Picture of 1980: Ordinary People

Every family will suffer a heartache at some point. When is comes to the Jarretts theirs is almost too hard to handle. They are the ideal upper-middle class family looks like. Great house, happy marriage, they live comfortably with two sons. That is until one day when the kids go out on the boat and it starts to storm. Their oldest son doesn't make it home. Their family situation is now trying to reach a new normal, but with Beth, the mother, still trying to act like nothing has changed at all it sends their younger son into a crisis. Conrad just got back from the hospital from a suicide attempt. His father now feels like he is walking on eggshells around Conrad where his mother acts like he never was in the hospital. Conrad starts working with Dr. Berger, a therapist, to deal with his emotions about his brother's death and how his mother is treating him. When Conrad's father starts to see Dr. Berger as well they start to see that things have to change and they need to start to deal with the new normal.








Paramount really did well with Ordinary People. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won four of them. It was also one of the first times in film that psychiatric practice was shown in a positive light and the film received many praises for it! Ordinary People took home the Best Picture Award over: Universal's Coal Miner's Daughter; Paramount's own The Elephant Man; United Artists Raging Bull; and Renn Productions Tess.


This film takes a look at life after loss in a different way. Most films that deal with lost have a happy ending and this long process of getting to the issue. While some issues do still take a while to get to in this film, and some are never resolved in the short timeline, the big issue of getting help is taken care of rather quickly in the film. We start to see a development in the character early on rather than about half way through the film. We really see how every handle loss differently and how you handle loss can effect others. It does an amazing job at tackling big issue that movies haven't really done before like child loss and suicide. I think this is a movie that is underrated and need to be seen an appreciated more often.

Best Picture of 1979: Kramer vs. Kramer

One of the darkest days of anyone's life is that day you find that your marriage is over. It's even harder when you don't see it coming. Ted Kramer was on of the ones that didn't know there was problems that his wife was having in their marriage until him came home from work and she said she was leaving. Confused and angry Ted spends the next few days in denial that Joanna was coming back. After a few weeks he realizes that she is not and starts getting his life back on track and creating a new routine and relationship with his son Billy. Fifteen months after Joanna leaves Ted finds that she is back in town. After not telling him where she was, and having hardly any communication with their son, Joanna says that she wants custody. Ted does not want this because she gave him fully custody in their divorce. Taking the issue to court is the only path they can take to come to agreement, but this a path is filled with sadness and heartache.






With this film being as heartfelt and emotional as it is you could think there would be some backlash or craziness in the making of this film. However, there doesn't seem to be. The only thing that I could see that shocked me is that this film has yet to be selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. However, I hope they do add it because I personally think that any film that wins Best Picture needs to be preserved. Columbia seemed to be the underdog in the Best Picture category this year because 20th Century Fox had 3 out of 5 nominations with: All That Jazz, Breaking Away, and Norma Rae. The other underdog was a company called Zoetrope and their movie nominated for Best Picture was Apocalypse Now.




Now this is a movie I can get behind. With the most of the 70's Best Picture Winners I did not like I was not thrilled to really watch this one. However, it took me by surprise. This movie was about so much more than divorce. This movie really showed a single dad life. Like their real life not the "ideal" single dad life. It a side that you don't even see much about today in films let alone a whole movie. Dustin Hoffman is spectacular in this film and really hits home on how much he loves this his kid and what he is willing to sacrifice for him. I some of the film is him finding and trying to keep his job because no one in his building understand what it means to be a single father. They are all so used to the mother taking care of the kid that having a full time father on their hands confuses them and they cut him no slack for all of the effort he is putting into his family life. I think this is a beautiful movie that really shows a shift in family dynamics.

Best Picture of 1978: The Deer Hunter

War changes people. That is what everyone who has ever experienced war first hand will tell you. You come out different that who you were when you went in. The Deer Hunter is a movie that takes you on this journey or change. The story is about two brothers and their friends who experience the Vietnam War first hand. They go in young men with the idea of that war is a game and come back learning that they didn't know as much as they thought.


While this movie gives, what many people have said, a very realistic look at what was going on during the Vietnam War this movie did create controversy. One of the themes that plays through this movie is Russian Roulette. This very dangerous game was controversial in the movie not because of the game itself but because that is was used a "technique" by the Vietnamese in the movie. However, according to many historians there has never been any recorded instances of them using Russian Roulette at all. Regardless of the controversy Universal took home Best Picture that year beating out: United Artists' Coming Home; Paramount's Heaven Can Wait; Columbia's Midnight Express; and 20th Century Fox's An Unmarried Woman. The Deer Hunter also got the honor of being selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1996.


Ok, this movie has been way better than the last three. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. What I did love was seeing all of these actors that I have grown up with in some of their very first roles. Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, and Robert Di Nero among some of them. I love to seeing the famous people in these roles and knowing what they have done since then. I may not have liked the movie totally over all but I did love the acting.

Best Picture of 1977: Annie Hall

To be in love is an interesting thing. Never is it more interesting when it's between two completely different people. That is never more true than the story of Annie Hall. Annie and Alvy are two people on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Annie is outgoing and hopeful about the world around her. Where Alvy is a bit more introverted and doesn't see everything in sunshine. Yet, they fall in love and try to work through their problems together... if only for a little while.


Woody Allen and United Artiest made a great combination in 1977 with this film. Annie Hall beat out: 20th Century Fox's Julia and The Turning Point; MGM's The Goodbye Girl; and Lucasfilm's Star Wars. In 1992 Annie Hall was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.


Like I said in the last post 70's films seem to not be my jam. I was not a fan of this movie either. I found it very boring and way too long. I am more than shocked that this film beat out Star Wars for Best Picture.

Best Picture of 1976: Rocky

The World Heavyweight Championship is an honor in boxing that only a handful have achieved. Many spend years working their way to be able to compete for such a title. When Apollo Creed puts his championship on the line his contender can no longer fight due to an injury. When he finds that all other fighters are unable to compete he announces that a unknown local will have the opportunity to fight for the belt. Rocky Balboa is the lucky boxers that gets the chance to step into the ring and face Apollo Creed. He has five weeks to go from second rate boxer to one of the greatest of all time.


Rocky is a film that was lovingly put together by Sylvester Stallone. He wrote the screenplay in about three days and sold the script to United Artist. Taking up after he character Rocky Balboa, Stallone had to fight for his movie to be made how he saw fit. United Artist wanted to cast someone like Robert Redford or Burt Reynolds for the part of Rocky. Stallone wanted the role for himself. It ended up paying off. Rocky made Stallone a huge star almost over night, was the highest grossing film in 1976, and went on to produce six sequels for the franchise. Rocky knocked out United Artists' own Bound for Glory; Warner Brothers' All the President's Men; MGM's Network; and Columbia's Taxi Driver. In 2006 Rocky also had the honor of being selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.


I am just going to think I hate all 70's movies. I don't think I have liked any of the Best Picture Winners so far in the 70's except The Sting. Other than that nothing. This film I felt was just a boring as the rest of them. I know that is a film that people totally love and totally relate to but I don't. I don't see the appeal in this film. I don't see why it's so loved by many. I also can not tell you if I thought it was just the movie as a whole or the acting. With The Godfather I can tell you that I did not like how the movie was set up. I loved the acting and the actors but I did not like the screenplay. This movie I think it was just all of it. I am not fond of Stallone to begin with and the fact that he wrote it really shows. I don't think it was a well put together film and I do not think it should have won this award.

Best Picture of 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

For the first time since 1934 a movie took home all 5 of the biggest awards given through the ceremony. The movie that did it was the a film considered to be one of the best ever made, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It was nominated for nine awards that night and took five. The five that it took home were the highest honors to be given out that night; Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Picture. This would not happen again until 1991. This is the tale of Randle McMurphy, a man whose has been imprisoned on charges of statutory rape. He convinces the guards at the prison that he has gone crazy and needs to be sent to the mental hospital for the rest of his sentence. He does this so he can try and avoid hard labor in the last few weeks of his sentence. He learns very quickly that he is not going to get away with his plan that easy.






Taking home the top prizes of the year does not come without it's concerns. The films rights where bought by Kirk Douglas and he tried for 10 years to get the film into production, but no one would do it with him. He gave the rights to his son, Michael Douglas, and he was finally able to get it off the ground. It paid off United Artist took home the Oscar beating out: Warner Brothers' Baby Lyndon and Dog Day Afternoon; Universal's Jaws; and Paramount's Nashville. This film also earned the right to be preserved by the National Film Registry in 1993.




I have seen this film once before this list. I liked it the first time. Now I have to say that I feel about the same about it the second time around. I didn't find it more interesting or less, I just expected about the same as the first time and that is what I got. I will say that I understood it more the second time watching it. I still feel the movie is a bit out there, which is totally part of its charm, but one that I think everyone should see once. I do say that this is one of Jack Nicholson's best roles I have seen him in. I does the part very well and you can tell it's been well researched.

Best Picture of 1974: The Godfather Part II

The follow-up to the Best Picture of 1972, The Godfather, the winner of the Best Picture in 1974 is The Godfather Part II. This sequel follows the life of Vitto Corleone as he makes his way from Italy to New York in 1901. This story is paralleled with the story of Michael Corleone as he is adjusting to his new role of the Don of New York's most infamous families.




Paramount made history with The Godfather Part II. Not only was the movie nominated for 11 Academy Awards, it was also the first sequel to ever win Best Picture. It was the first sequel to use numbered parts in the movies. The studio did not want to call it "Part II" because they thought people would not want to come and knowingly watch more of a movie that they already watched. Due to its massive success, having sequels name in numbers became the new standard. Paramount basically outshined at the 47th Academy Awards because they had three movies nominated for Best Picture that year. The other two they had were Chinatown and The Conversation. The other films that he beat out were United Artist Lenny and 20th Century Fox's The Towering Inferno. This film made such a splash that it was selected for preservation in 1993.


I really could just copy and paste my statement about The Godfather and put them here. After watching the first one and being disappointed I knew this one was not going to change my mind. Shocker, it didn't.

Best Picture of 1973: The Sting

You never cheer for the bad guy. In the real world most of us don't. When we see people lying or stealing we want to seem them pay for their actions. When it comes to movies we all sing an entirely different tune. We want to see the bad guys get all of the money, get away with illegal doings, and we love to see them get dangerously close to getting caught. That is why The Sting won Best Picture of the 46th Annual Academy Awards. Two man trying to out smart on of the best bookies in town to make off with a ton of cash is the film you can not help to wish for the "bad guys" to win.






Universal had a power house on their hands when this movie came to be. Rob Cohen found the script in the slush pile when he was working as a reader for Mike Medavoy. Medavoy told Cohen that he was going to try to sell it to a studio by the end of the day off a recommendation. He said if he did not sell it he would fire Cohen. Universal bought it that afternoon. It was a good move on their part. The film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2005 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. It won seven and took home the Best Picture beating out: Lucasfilms' American Graffiti; Cinematograph's Cries and Whispers; Avco Embassy's A Touch of Class; and Warner Brothers' The Exorcist.


Paul Newman is just one of the characters that you look forward to watching on the screen. He does not disappoint when it comes to The Sting. The movie was such a fun film to watch! The story of how the movie came to be truly shows that it's a diamond in the rough type of film. I have would say that this film is not one that you will regret not seeing but it would go ahead and put it on your watchlist.

Best Picture of 1972: The Godfather

The mob. One of the most interesting parts of our history deals with the mob. Dealings, deaths, unsolved cases and the glamour and fame that comes along with it. From the infamous Al Capone to what the unknown sidekicks we are fascinated by this group of people. So when The Godfather hit the silver screen in 1971 it was a smash hit! The story of two generations of the Corleone line pulled together to tell the story of the current head of the family and how the role is passed to the new head of the family. You don't get to become one of the most notorious families in New York by playing by the rules.




Becoming one of the best movies of all time didn't come without its controversy and skill. The skill came from the directors and writing working to get the movie off the ground. Using everything they could to make this movie coming to life. That also included using the directors own family members through the movie and pushing to get the right people of the right parts. The controversy comes from the famous horse head scene. That was not a prop from a department. That is was real severed horse head. They production got it from near by dog food factory, where the horse was going to be killed weather the movie was made or not, and used it to put into the bed. Somehow it all worked out for them because The Godfather by Paramount beat out: Allied Artist's Cabaret; Warner Brothers' Deliverance; Svensk Filmindustri The Emigrants; and 20th Century Fox's Sounder for Best Picture that year. It was also selected for Preservation by the National Film Institute in 1990.


I was looking forward to this film. I have heard about this film all of my life growing up and it's one of my older brother's favorite films of all time. I thought I was going to watch a thing of beauty when I saw this film. Turns out.... I could not stand it. Don't get me wrong I can totally see why everyone loves this film. How it has captivated millions of people is a feat I will not undermine. However, the movie is three hours long and I feel a lot of that could have been cut from the film. I get that this movie is more of a mind game and a story of how this young man becomes head of the house, but it was boring. The were some parts that I loved but for the most part this was not the film I thought it was going to be when it started playing.  

Best Picture of 1971: The French Connection

Nominated for eight Academy Awards The French Connection is a film that is still loved to this day. Based off the true story of New York City Cops trying to bust a narcotics operation. It's a story filled with mystery and action.


20th Century Fox's The French Connection won Best Picture beating out Warner's A Clockwork Orange, United Artists Fiddler on the Roof, and both of Columbia's nominees The Last Picture Show and Nicolas and Alexandra. This film was also selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2005.


Really I don't have a lot to say about this film at all. I thought it was really boring. I really did just play with my phone most of the time that I was watching. I was super glad that it was over. Truthfully, Fiddler on the Roof should have one best picture that year. I am fond of musicals, and out of the other it's the only one that I have see, but that was a much better film than The French Connection.

Best Picture of 1970: Patton

When is comes to Best Pictures we have learned that there are many the involve war in some shape, form or fashion. Many have been about a group of people serving, or have served. Some are about the families that they left behind. However, up until now we have not had one that was about a one man. Let me tell you folks this is not any man we are talking about. We are talking about General George S. Patton. General Patton is one of the greatest Generals to have ever graced a war. His ideals about war, and the art of war, were a tad crazy a time but revolutionary. It has been said that he was an enigma of a man when he was alive. Which made that much harder making a movie about him after he had passed. The movie is a tribute to the all the man, myth, and legend that Patton was. Patton and all of its glory is a film that I believe only begins to scratch the surface of subject that it's about.








Not only did Patton take home the top prize but it also tied that year for the most nominations with Airport. Patton took home Seven out of the Ten awards. However, that was not the talk of the town the next morning. After the dust settled from all the awards and celebration the world was told that George C. Scott, the man who played General Patton, had not only won the Award for Best Actor but he REFUSED the award! Now, Mr. Scott was not present at the ceremony that night and did not give some horrible speech in front of everyone but he did tell everyone later that he did not like how the voting worked for the award. He wasn't a fan of the Oscars it seems. In an interview about that show he said that it was a "two hour meat parade". There is not a super long history of people refusing and Oscar, out of all the awards given there is a small handful of refusals. However, George C. Scott was the first to ever refuse an Academy Award. 20th Century had a masterpiece on their hand and that was proven when Patton beat out: Universal's Airport; Columbia's Five Easy Pieces; Paramount's Love Story; and their own M*A*S*H. To further its prestige Patton was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2003.


So, by this point I am so sick of war films. I have seen many in a very short amount of time. I was at my parents house before I watched this film and they were asking me which films where next. When I said that Patton was the next one he got very excited. Now, my dad likes to watch a lot of movies. He is not a fan of many. Most of them he hates actually. However, he said he LOVED this film. My mom says that it's like the only film that if he is flipping through channels and it's on he will finish watching the film. My dad does not watch ANY movie unless it is from the very beginning. So, I knew that had to have been a good film if my dad will watch it from any point. My theory was correct from the second I turned the movie on. That giant American Flag taking up the whole screen and Patton coming out to make a speech is a scene that was wonderfully executed. I have to say that this movie has one of the best opening lines I have ever heard in a film. This movie is must see in my opinion.

Best Picture of 1969: Midnight Cowboy

The story of unlikely friends have never been told in such a way that Midnight Cowboy has done. A Texas man who dreams of becoming hustler in New York decides to pack up his bags and just go for it. When he gets there he meets a man that goes by Ratso. The two are not fast friends but they slowly find that they need each other more than they have ever thought.


Midnight Cowboy was produced by United Artist. It took home the 1969 Academy Award for Best Picture. It took the prize home over the likes of: Universal's Anne of the Thousand Days; 20th Century Fox's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Hello, Dolly; as well as O.N.C.I.C's Z. The National Film Registry also selected Midnight Cowboy for preservation in 1994.


I did not have a whole lot to say about this film because I flat out hated it! I did not understand why this film was made. I have no idea what the point of it was. I mean there was a lot of sex and drugs but I mean I didn't find any meaning to this film at all. I really just wanted to turn it off as soon as it started really...

Best Picture of 1968: Oliver!

"Please sir, can I have some more". You pretty much have to be dead to not have ever heard that line said. This line has been used as jokes in movies, or parodies in cartoon/ tv shows. People have used it as jokes in online videos or in public to their friends. Most people know that this is a line that was said by Oliver in the book Oliver Twist. This famous line also makes an appearance in the
Best Picture of 1968 Oliver!. The musical adaptation of the classic tale of a young orphan living in an orphanage. Oliver Twist gets caught up in an adventure he never could have imagined himself in. With crazy characters with strange ideas, or cute lads that can steal almost anything from anyone Oliver winds up great friends and a family to boot. However, in order to stay with this family he must get away from Bill Sikes because Bill thinks that by getting this new family Oliver is putting Bill's way of life on the line.


Romulus Films had a very interesting take on this film when they made it into a musical. It ended up working for them because it beat out: Columbia's Funny Girl; Embassy's The Lion in the Water; Warner Brothers' Rachel, Rachel; and B.H.E Productions Romeo and Juliet for the top prize that night. The National Film Archive also thought it was great enough to be selected for preservation in 1998.


I have to say that when I turned on this film and everyone started singing I had to pause the movie. Not because the singing was bad but because I had no clue that it was a musical. I thought I had gotten that wrong movie to watch and wanted to make sure it was right. Sure enough, it was the correct movie! It is also one of the most fun ones that I have seen on the Best Picture List. I thought it was a very funny and very charming film. I will say that the movie is called Oliver! but it felt it really was not about him. Not that I am complaining but it's just funny to me that they use this boy just as an excuse to take us to the places where the creators of the movie wanted to go. I am not sure if that is what they did in the book or play but that is what it felt like here. Whatever the case, this was a joyous film to watch.

Best Picture of 1967: In the Heat of the Night

It is my theory that when is come to classic films there is the feeling you get that just tells you that you are watching something truly special. Now, when it comes to all of Best Picture films that I have watched I don't get that feeling the with all for them. Some I am ask myself "why has this film even been made". Then you come across a film that you think in not going to impress you or leave a mark and it takes you by surprise. In the Heat of the Night is one of those films.


When one for the richest men in town is shot, with not witnesses, the police are very concerned about what to do next. Their little town has never come across a murder before. So, they are not even sure who they need to look for because they do not know who would do such a think to a man who was going to bring new jobs to their community. When searching new by they run into Virgil Tibbs. A well dressed black man waiting at the train station to go home. Being that it's the south in the 60s, they bring him in for questioning. When he tells Officer Gillespie, the officer in charge, that he has no idea what he is talking about Gillespie is ready to charge him with the murder. Tibbs tells him that he can't do that because the evidence would not match up to what him Gillespie says that Tibbs would have no idea about any of this. Tibbs corrects him by telling him that he is a Detective in Philadelphia. Gillespie thinks he is lying until he calls Tibbs' chief where he confirms his story. The chief asks Tibbs to help them out until the next train for Philadelphia comes through again. Reluctantly he agrees. Between the murder and a black man working the case to whole town slowly gets turned upside down.






One of the more interesting parts of this film is the subject of this film. We are in a very divided country when it comes to civil rights at this time in history and the fact that this film was popular as it won the Best Picture is truly astonishing. One of the most famous scene happened in this film. The scene where Tibbs and Gillespie go to the home of Eric Endicott, a man who idealizes the "Old South". He still lives in a plantation that is run by black workers. He never comes out and says that he thinks black people are beneath him but does heavily allude to it through the whole conversation that they have. Things get a little heated when Tibbs interviews him. To the point where Endicott slaps Tibbs in the face and Tibbs does the unthinkable and slaps Endicott back. It is in during this scene when you can tell in the movie theater if there were more blacks or whites in the room during the showing. If the audience mainly gasped then it was mostly white people, if the audience cheered it was mostly blacks. Subject aside this film had to beat out some pretty big names to take home the prize. United Artist beat out: Warner Brothers' Bonnie and Clyde; 20th Century Fox's Doctor Dolittle; Embassy's The Graduate; and Colubia's Guess Who is Coming to Dinner. To add to the honor of winning Best Picture, in 2002 In the Heat of the Night was selected for preservation by the National Film Institute.


Like I said before this film was something special. It was not was I expected when I stated watching it. I thought it was going to be way more violent, crude when it came to the subject of race in the 1960's south. However, I was very impressed at the fact that it balanced everything out. It showed what it was like for the cop, who obviously did not like this black man, to work with Tibbs to solve the case. However, you can tell that he was starting to see Tibbs more like a human being and not just a "black man". Not only did he notice it but the people around him started to notice it as well. It did allude to the crudeness of some people not being tolerable to Tibbs at all. They threatened him and they tried to kill him at one point. Yet, Tibbs kept a cool head about it through most of the film. I have to say that this is one of my favorite roles that I have seen Sidney Poitier in.