Thanks Pandemic!
Ranking Every Oscar Best Picture Winner & Nominee Ever
Current Tally: 398/612
I am not a “movie guy” by any measure. There are years in my adult life during which I’ve never watched any movies. I am the guy who quietly slinks away when conversations turn to The Godfather or Casablanca, because I know nothing about either. (Or, really, 99.9% of movies ever made.)
Then the pandemic hit in 2020 and my wife and I started watching the Best Picture winners almost by accident. When the virus didn’t “just disappear,” I added a decade’s worth of nominees as well. When it became apparent that the pandemic’s response was non-existent at the federal level, I added every nominee ever. Ridiculous, of course, but we live in a time of streaming services and interlibrary loans. Oh, and a time when we don’t have much else to do on Friday and Saturday nights. Hoang loves movies and I love lists. Let’s do this.
There is no point in listing all 600+ nominees here. Just those I’ve watched since March 2020 and how they rank in my dumb brain. These will likely change over time and upon reflection.
Jump to my Ranking of Best Picture Winners Only
Jump to my Rankings per Year
My Ranking of all the Best Picture Nominees I’ve Seen Since March 2020
Bold = Best Picture Winner, Connecticut movies linked to my review
No Country for Old Men, 2008
Schindler’s List, 1994
Sunset Blvd, 1951
The Pianist, 2003
All About Eve, 1951
Judgment at Nuremberg, 1962
Citizen Kane, 1942
Saving Private Ryan, 1999
The Emigrants, 1973
Lawrence of Arabia, 1963
Gaslight, 1945
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1976
1917, 2020
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1949
The Godfather II, 1975
Inception, 2011
The Longest Day, 1963
Mrs. Miniver, 1943
All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930
The Power of the Dog, 2022
Gandhi, 1983
The Last Emperor, 1988
Jojo Rabbit, 2020
In the Bedroom, 2002
The Heiress, 1950
Double Indemnity, 1945
The Best Years of Our Lives, 1947
Parasite , 2020
Since You Went Away, 1945
The King’s Speech, 2011
The Godfather, 1973
Traffic, 2001
The Big Short, 2016
The Conversation, 1975
In the Heat of the Night, 1968
Dog Day Afternoon, 1976
Dallas Buyers Club, 2014
Spotlight, 2016
The French Connection, 1972
The Revenant, 2016
Tár, 2023
Anora, 2025
Poor Things, 2024
Inglourious Basterds, 2010
To Kill a Mockingbird, 1963
The Martian, 2016
Midnight in Paris, 2012
The Holdovers, 2024
Past Lives, 2024
The Sting, 1974
The Shape of Water, 2018
Deliverance, 1973
Dunkirk, 2018
Lost in Translation, 2004
All Quiet on the Western Front, 2023
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, 1934
Network, 1977
Killers of the Flower Moon, 2024
Selma, 2015
The Lost Weekend, 1946
Doctor Zhivago, 1966
I’m Still Here, 2025
The Yearling, 1947
The Descendants, 2012
Brokeback Mountain, 2006
The Artist, 2012
Auntie Mame, 1959
Gladiator, 2001
Birdman, 2015
Mutiny on the Bounty, 1936
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 2018
The Banshees of Inisherin, 2023
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 1929
Winter’s Bone, 2011
Sideways, 2005
Rocky, 1977
Silver Linings Playbook, 2013
The Theory of Everything, 2015
The Favourite, 2019
Taxi Driver, 1977
A Streetcar Named Desire, 1952
Moonstruck, 1988
Emilia Pérez, 2025
The Lion in Winter, 1969
Mutiny on the Bounty, 1963
Johnny Belinda, 1949
Born Yesterday, 1951
An American in Paris, 1952
Cabaret, 1973
A Beautiful Mind, 2002
Boyhood, 2015
CODA, 2022
Moonlight, 2017
Mildred Pierce, 1946
Lincoln, 2013
Argo, 2013
The Hustler, 1962
LoTR: The Return of the King, 2004
Mystic River, 2004
A Letter to Three Wives, 1949
BlacKkKlansman, 2019
Amour, 2013
Dangerous Liaisons, 1989
Django Unchained, 2013
Guns of Navarone, 1962
In the Name of the Father, 1994
Good Will Hunting, 1998
The Thin Red Line, 1999
Spellbound, 1946
Five Star Final , 1933
The Deer Hunter, 1979
Life of Pi, 2013
Wicked, 2025
The Talk of the Town, 1943
The Hurt Locker, 2010
Fiddler on the Roof, 1972
The Zone of Interest, 2024
Life is Beautiful, 1999
Barbie, 2024
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1959
Fences, 2017
Brooklyn, 2016
LoTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2002
Hope and Glory, 1988
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1968
The Social Network, 2011
The Last Picture Show, 1972
Midnight Express, 1979
Shakespeare in Love, 1999
Chinatown, 1975
12 Years a Slave, 2014
The Champ, 1933
Nebraska, 2014
The Sound of Music, 1966
Minari, 2021
Titanic, 1998
Gravity, 2014
Triangle of Sadness, 2023
Gangs of New York, 2003
The Big House, 1931
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2001
Elvis, 2023
Her, 2014
Zero Dark Thirty, 2013
Master and Commander, 2004
Sounder, 1973
The Defiant Ones, 1959
Lion, 2017
Philomena, 2014
127 Hours, 2011
The Trial of the Chicago 7, 2021
All the President’s Men, 1976
Roma, 2019
Moneyball, 2012
Hidden Figures, 2017
Erin Brockovich, 2001
LoTR: The Two Towers, 2003
Belfast, 2022
Drive My Car, 2022
Munich, 2006
American Beauty, 2000
The Invaders (49th Parallel), 1943
A Clockwork Orange, 1972
Hold Back the Dawn, 1942
Annie Hall, 1978
Random Harvest, 1943
The Graduate, 1968
Barry Lyndon, 1976
The Father, 2021
Get Out, 2018
Finding Neverland, 2005
Imitation of Life, 1935
Capote, 2006
Broadcast News, 1988
Ship of Fools, 1966
Nashville, 1976
Promising Young Woman, 2021
Bridge of Spies, 2016
King Richard, 2022
Whiplash, 2015
Cavalcade, 1934
The Philadelphia Story, 1941
Vice, 2019
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 2020
Nomadland, 2021
Smilin’ Through, 1934
Great Expectations, 1948
As Good As It Gets, 1998
Separate Tables, 1959
Silence of the Lambs, 1992
It’s a Wonderful Life, 1947
Wilson, 1945
The Kids are All Right, 2011
The Brutalist, 2025
The Great Dictator, 1941
Green Book, 2019
Lady Bird, 2018
Missing, 1983
Women Talking, 2023
Gentleman’s Agreement, 1948
The Wolf of Wall Street, 2014
7th Heaven, 1929
The Letter, 1941
The Bishop’s Wife, 1948
Foreign Correspondent 1941
42nd Street, 1934
Conclave, 2025
The Grapes of Wrath, 1941
Captain Phillips, 2014
Joker, 2020
Bugsy, 1992
It Happened One Night, 1935
The Thin Man, 1935
Suspicion, 1942
The Insider, 2000
Here Comes Mr. Jordan, 1942
Anatomy of a Fall, 2024
The Maltese Falcon, 1942
The Fighter, 2011
The Imitation Game, 2015
Up in the Air, 2010
Our Town, 1941
An Unmarried Woman, 1979
Kitty Foyle, 1941
Coming Home, 1979
The Gay Divorcee, 1935
A Complete Unknown, 2025
American Hustle, 2014
Wings, 1929
Elizabeth, 1999
Judas and the Black Messiah, 2021
The House of Rothschild, 1935
Romeo and Juliet, 1969
L.A. Confidential, 1998
The Verdict, 1983
The Substance, 2025
Beauty and the Beast, 1992
Hell or High Water, 2017
Cleopatra, 1935
The Help, 2012
Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2013
District 9, 2010
Arrival, 2017
All the King’s Men, 1950
Crossfire, 1948
Hamlet, 1949
La La Land, 2017
Bound for Glory, 1977
The Red Shoes, 1949
A Touch of Class, 1974
Cider House Rules, 2000
A Thousand Clowns, 1965
American Fiction, 2024
Nickel Boys, 2025
Nightmare Alley, 2022
Hugo, 2012
The Pied Piper, 1943
The Magnificent Ambersons, 1943
The Goodbye Girl, 1978
The Exorcist, 1974
Little Women, 1934
Fatal Attraction, 1988
Lenny, 1975
Million Dollar Baby, 2005
Rain Main, 1989
Grand Hotel, 1933
Ray, 2005
Mississippi Burning, 1989
The Irishman, 2020
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, 1983
The Fugitive, 1994
The Sixth Sense, 2000
Darling, 1965
Ford vs. Ferrari, 2020
King’s Row, 1943
Tootsie, 1983
Oppenheimer, 2024
In Old Arizona, 1930
The Razor’s Edge, 1947
American Sniper, 2015
The Pride of the Yankees, 1943
Bonnie and Clyde, 1968
Black Swan, 2011
The Aviator, 2005
Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2023
Good Night, and Good Luck, 2006
Mank, 2021
The Maestro, 2024
Chocolat, 2001
True Grit, 2011
Black Panther, 2019
Don’t Look Up, 2022
Up, 2010
The Divorcee, 1930
The Snake Pit, 1949
Working Girl, 1989
The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2015
The Hours, 2003
The Post, 2018
Little Women, 2020
Blossoms in the Dust, 1942
Sergeant York, 1942
Marriage Story, 2020
Funny Girl, 1969
Towering Inferno, 1975
Moulin Rouge, 2002
How Green was my Valley, 1942
Phantom Thread, 2018
Accidental Tourist, 1989
King Solomon’s Mines, 1951
Julia, 1978
Avatar: The Way of Water, 2023
Star Wars, 1978
Top Gun: Maverick, 2023
Disraeli, 1930
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, 2012
War Horse, 2012
Licorice Pizza, 2022
The Blind Side, 2010
Seabiscuit, 2004
Toy Story 3, 2011
Gosford Park, 2002
The Sound of Metal, 2021
Jaws, 1976
Lady for a Day, 1934
Battleground, 1950
The Prince of Tides, 1992
Miracle on 34th Street, 1948
The Fabelmans, 2023
Remains of the Day, 1994
Dr. Dolittle, 1968
An Education, 2010
Room, 2016
Manchester by the Sea, 2017
A Farewell to Arms, 1934
Call Me By Your Name, 2018
Shanghai Express, 1933
Rachel, Rachel, 1969
JFK, 1992
The Green Mile, 2000
Cries and Whispers, 1974
The Piano, 1994
The Barretts of Wimpole Street, 1935
One Foot in Heaven, 1942
American Graffiti, 1974
The Racket, 1929
Alibi, 1930
The Private Life of Henry VIII, 1934
Oliver!, 1969
Bad Girl, 1933
Twelve O’Clock High, 1950
Viva Villa, 1935
The Full Monty, 1998
Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1943
Here Comes the Navy, 1935
West Side Story, 2022
The Turning Point, 1978
The Smiling Lieutenant, 1933
Les Miserables, 2013
Arrowsmith, 1933
Nicholas and Alexandra, 1972
Father of the Bride, 1951
Fanny, 1962
Mad Max: Fury Road, 2016
The Tree of Life, 2012
Precious, 2010
A Star is Born , 2019
Darkest Hour, 2018
Bohemian Rhapsody, 2019
Dune 2, 2025
Heaven Can Wait, 1979
A Place in the Sun, 1952
The Bells of St. Mary’s, 1946
The Long Voyage Home, 1941
The Little Foxes, 1942
Quo Vadis, 1952
Decision Before Dawn, 1952
One Hour With You, 1933
Music Man, 1963
Wake Island, 1943
The Broadway Melody, 1930
Chicago, 2003
Crash, 2006
Avatar, 2010
A Serious Man, 2010
One Night of Love, 1935
GiGi, 1959
West Side Story, 1962
Hacksaw Ridge, 2017
Dune, 2022
Going My Way, 1945
She Done Him Wrong, 1934
Anchors Aweigh, 1946
State Fair, 1934
Flirtation Walk, 1935
The Love Parade, 1930
Henry V, 1947
Hollywood Revue of 1929, 1930
My Ranking of the Best Picture Winners I’ve Seen Since March 2020
No Country for Old Men, 2008
Schindler’s List, 1994
All About Eve, 1951
Lawrence of Arabia, 1963
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1976
The Godfather II, 1975
Mrs. Miniver, 1943
All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930
Gandhi, 1983
The Last Emperor, 1988
The Best Years of Our Lives, 1947
Parasite, 2020
The King’s Speech, 2011
The Godfather, 1973
In the Heat of the Night, 1967
Spotlight, 2016
The French Connection, 1972
Anora, 2025
The Sting, 1974
The Shape of Water, 2018
The Lost Weekend, 1946
The Artist, 2012
Gladiator, 2001
Birdman, 2015
Mutiny on the Bounty, 1936
Rocky, 1976
An American in Paris, 1952
A Beautiful Mind, 2002
CODA, 2022
Moonlight, 2017
Argo, 2013
LoTR: The Return of the King, 2004
The Hurt Locker, 2010
Shakespeare in Love, 1999
12 Years a Slave, 2014
The Sound of Music, 1966
Titanic, 1998
American Beauty, 2000
Annie Hall, 1978
Cavalcade, 1934
Nomadland, 2021
Silence of the Lambs, 1992
Green Book, 2019
Gentleman’s Agreement, 1948
It Happened One Night, 1935
Wings, 1929
All the King’s Men, 1950
Hamlet, 1949
Million Dollar Baby, 2005
Rain Main, 1989
Grand Hotel, 1933
Oppenheimer, 2024
Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2023
How Green was my Valley, 1942
Oliver!, 1969
The Broadway Melody, 1930
Chicago, 2003
Crash, 2006
GiGi, 1959
West Side Story, 1962
Going My Way, 1945
My Ranking of Best Picture Nominees I’ve Seen By Year
Listing “completed” years only
Bold = Best Picture Winner
HF = Hoang’s Favorite, HL = Hoang’s Least Favorite
1929
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (HF)
7th Heaven
Wings
The Racket (HL)
1930
In Old Arizona
Alibi(HF)
The Broadway Melody
Hollywood Revue (HL)
The Patriot N/A
1931
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Big House
The Divorcee
Disraeli (HF)
The Love Parade (HL)
1933
Five Star Final
The Champ (HF)
Grand Hotel
Shanghai Express
Bad Girl
Smiling Lieutenant
Arrowsmith
One Hour With You (HL)
1934
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (HF)
Cavalcade (H- HM)
Smilin’ Through
42nd Street
Little Women (H- HM)
Lady for a Day
A Farewell to Arms
She Done Him Wrong
The Private Life of Henry VIII
State Fair (HL)
1935
Imitation of Life (HF)
It Happened One Night
The Thin Man
The House of Rothschild
The Gay Divorcee
Cleopatra
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Viva Villa!
Here Comes the Navy
One Night of Love
Flirtation Walk (HL)
The White Parade (N/A)
1942
Citizen Kane (HF)
Hold Back the Dawn
Suspicion
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
The Maltese Falcon
Blossoms in the Dust
Sergeant York
How Green was my Valley
One Foot in Heaven
The Little Foxes (HL)
1943
Mrs. Miniver
The Talk of the Town
The Invaders (49th Parallel)
Random Harvest (HF)
The Pied Piper
The Magnificent Ambersons
Kings Row
The Pride of the Yankees
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Wake Island (HL)
1945
Gaslight (HF)
Double Indemnity
Since You Went Away
Wilson
Going My Way (HL)
1946
The Lost Weekend (HF)
Mildred Pierce
Spellbound
The Bells of St. Mary’s
Anchors Aweigh (HL)
1947
The Best Years of our Lives
The Yearling
It’s a Wonderful Life (HF)
The Razor’s Edge
Henry V (HL)
1948
Great Expectations
Gentleman’s Agreement (HF)
The Bishop’s Wife
Crossfire
Miracle on 34th Street (HL)
1949
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (HF)
Johnny Belinda
Hamlet
The Red Shoes (HL)
The Snake Pit
1950
The Heiress (HF)
A Letter to Three Wives
All the King’s Men
Battleground (HL)
Twelve O’Clock High
1951
Sunset Blvd.
All About Eve (HF)
Born Yesterday
King Solomon’s Mines
Father of the Bride (HL)
1952
A Streetcar Named Desire
An American in Paris (HF)
A Place in the Sun
Quo Vadis (HL)
Decision Before Dawn
1959
Auntie Mame (HF)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Defiant Ones
Separate Tables
GiGi (HL)
1962
Judgment at Nuremberg (HF)
The Hustler
Guns of Navarone
Fanny
West Side Story (HL)
1963
Lawrence of Arabia
The Longest Day
To Kill a Mockingbird (HF)
Mutiny on the Bounty
Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (HL)
1966
Doctor Zhivago
The Sound of Music (HF)
Ship of Fools
A Thousand Clowns
Darling (HL)
1968
In the Heat of the Night
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (HF)
The Graduate
Bonnie and Clyde
Doctor Dolittle (HL)
1969
The Lion in Winter
Romeo and Juliet
Funny Girl (HF)
Rachel, Rachel
Oliver! (HL)
1972
The French Connection
Fiddler on the Roof (HF-tie)
The Last Picture Show (HF-tie)
A Clockwork Orange
Nicholas and Alexandra (HL, but liked it a lot)
1973
The Emigrants (HF)
The Godfather
Deliverance
Cabaret
Sounder (HL)
1974
The Sting (HF)
A Touch of Class
The Exorcist
Cries and Whispers
American Graffiti (HL)
1975
The Godfather Part II
The Conversation (HF)
Chinatown
Lenny
The Towering Inferno (HL)
1976
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (HF)
Dog Day Afternoon
Barry Lyndon
Nashville
Jaws (HL)
1977
Network
Rocky
Taxi Driver
All the President’s Men (HF)
Bound for Glory (HL)
1978
Annie Hall
The Goodbye Girl (HF)
Julia
Star Wars
The Turning Point (HL)
1979
The Deer Hunter (HF)
Midnight Express
An Unmarried Woman
Coming Home
Heaven Can Wait (HL)
1983
Gandhi
Missing (HL)
The Verdict
ET, the Extra Terrestrial (HF)
Tootsie
1988
The Last Emperor (HF)
Moonstruck
Hope and Glory
Broadcast News
Fatal Attraction (HL)
1989
Dangerous Liaisons
Rain Main (HF)
Mississippi Burning
Working Girl
The Accidental Tourist (HL)
1992
The Silence of the Lambs (HF)
Bugsy
Beauty and the Beast
The Prince of Tides (HL)
JFK
1994
Schindler’s List (HF)
In the Name of the Father
The Fugitive
The Remains of the Day
The Piano (HL)
1998
Good Will Hunting (HF)
Titanic
As Good as it Gets
L.A. Confidential
The Full Monty (HL)
1999
Saving Private Ryan (HF)
The Thin Red Line
Life is Beautiful
Shakespeare in Love
Elizabeth (HL)
2000
American Beauty
The Insider
The Cider House Rules
The Sixth Sense (HF)
The Green Mile (HL)
2001
Traffic
Gladiator
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (HL)
Erin Brockovich (HF)
Chocolat
2002
In the Bedroom (HF)
A Beautiful Mind
LoTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Gosford Park (HL)
2003
The Pianist (HF)
Gangs of New York
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Hours
Chicago (HL)
2004
Lost in Translation
LoTR: Return of the King
Mystic River (HF)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (HL)
Seabiscuit
2005
Sideways (HF)
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
The Aviator (HL)
2006
Brokeback Mountain
Munich
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck
Crash
2010
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker (HF)
Up in the Air
District 9
Up
The Blindside
An Education
Precious
Avatar
A Serious Man(HL)
2011
Inception
The King’s Speech
Winter’s Bone (HF)
The Social Network
127 Hours
The Kids are All Right
The Fighter
Black Swan
True Grit
Toy Story 3 (HL)
2012
Midnight in Paris (HF)
The Descendants
The Artist
Moneyball
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
War Horse
The Tree of Life (HL)
2013
Silver Linings Playbook
Lincoln
Argo
Amour
Django Unchained
Life of Pi (HF)
Zero Dark Thirty
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Les Misérables (HL)
2014
Dallas Buyers Club
12 Years a Slave (HF)
Nebraska
Gravity
Her (HL)
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street
Captain Phillips
American Hustle
2015
Selma
Birdman
The Theory of Everything (HF)
Boyhood
Whiplash (HL)
The Imitation Game
American Sniper
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2016
The Big Short
Spotlight (HF)
The Revenant
The Martian
Brooklyn
Bridge of Spies
Room
Max Max: Fury Road (HL)
2017
Moonlight
Fences
Lion
Hidden Figures
Hell or High Water
Arrival
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea (HF)
Hacksaw Ridge (HL)
2018
The Shape of Water
Dunkirk
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Get Out (HF)
Lady Bird
The Post
Phantom Thread (HL)
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
2019
The Favourite (HF)
BlacKkKlansman
Roma
Vice (HL)
Green Book
Black Panther
A Star Is Born
Bohemian Rhapsody
2020
1917
Jojo Rabbit (HF-Tie)
Parasite (HF-Tie)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Joker
The Irishman
Ford v Ferrari (HL)
Little Women
Marriage Story
2021
Minari (HF)
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Father
Promising Young Woman
Nomadland
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
The Sound of Metal (HL)
2022
The Power of the Dog
CODA
Belfast
Drive My Car (HF)
King Richard
Don’t Look Up
Nightmare Alley
Licorice Pizza
West Side Story
Dune (HL)
2023
Tár
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Banshees of Inisherin (HF)
Triangle of Sadness
Elvis
Women Talking
Everything Everywhere All at Once (HL)
Avatar: The Way of Water
Top Gun: Maverick
The Fabelmans
2024
Poor Things
The Holdovers (HF)
Past Lives
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Zone of Interest
Barbie
Anatomy of a Fall
American Fiction
Oppenheimer
The Maestro (HL)
2025
Anora (HF)
I’m Still Here
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Brutalist
Conclave
A Complete Unknown
The Substance
Nickel Boys
Dune 2 (HL)
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