Thanks Pandemic!
Ranking Every Oscar Best Picture Winner & Nominee Ever
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 550+ 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.
Bold = Best Picture Winner
Red = I Did Not Enjoy
Purple = I Truly Hated
Jump to my Ranking of Best Picture Winners Only
Jump to my Rankings per Year
My Dumb Ranking of all 145 Best Picture Nominees I’ve Seen*
*Since March 2020
No Country for Old Men
Inception
Schindler’s List
The Last Emperor
Jojo Rabbit
All About Eve
1917
Judgement at Nuremberg
Parasite
The Kings Speech
The Godfather
All Quiet on the Western Front
Traffic
The Shape of Water
Spotlight
Dallas Buyers Club
The Big Short
The French Connection
The Martian
The Pianist
Gladiator
The Artist
Dunkirk
Selma
Inglourious Basterds
The Revenant
Birdman
Auntie Mame (CT Movie List Review)
Mutiny on the Bounty
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Winter’s Bone
The Theory of Everything
The Favourite
Moonstruck
The Hustler
LoTR: The Return of the King
BlacKkKlansman
The Guns of Navarone
The Hurt Locker
Fiddler on the Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Fences
Brooklyn
LoTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
Hope and Glory
The Last Picture Show
12 Years a Slave
The Sound of Music
Minari
Gangs of New York
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Defiant Ones
Lion
Her
127 Hours
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Roma
Moneyball
Hidden Figures
Erin Brockovich
LoTR: The Two Towers
A Clockwork Orange
The Father
Boyhood
Broadcast News
Promising Young Woman
Bridge of Spies
Hugo
Vice
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Social Network
Nomadland
Great Expectations
Separate Tables
The Silence of the Lambs
The Kids are All Right
Green Book
Get Out
Lady Bird
Gentleman’s Agreement (CT Movie List)
The Bishop’s Wife
Joker
It Happened One Night
District 9
Annie Hall
Star Wars
The Fighter
The Imitation Game
Up in the Air
The Wolf of Wall Street
Wings
Hell or High Water
Crossfire
La La Land
Whiplash
Chocolat
The Goodbye Girl
Fatal Attraction
Million Dollar Baby
Rain Man
The Irishman
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Ford vs. Ferrari
American Sniper
Black Swan
Mank
True Grit
Judas and the Black Messiah
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Hours
The Post
Little Women
Marriage Story
Phantom Thread
Black Panther (Marvel Movie List)
Up
Julia
The Blindside
Toy Story 3
The Sound of Metal
Miracle on 34th Street
An Education
Room
Manchester by the Sea
Shanghai Express
Oliver!
Fanny
Wake Island
Mad Max: Fury Road
Call Me By Your Name
The Broadway Melody of 1929
Precious
A Star is Born (2019)
Darkest Hour
Bohemian Rhapsody
Nicholas and Alexandra
Chicago
Crash
Avatar
A Serious Man
GiGi
West Side Story
Hacksaw Ridge
My Dumb Ranking of Best Picture Winners I’ve Seen*
*Since March 2020
Red = I Did Not Enjoy
Purple = I Truly Hated
No Country for Old Men, 2008
Schindler’s List, 1994
The Last Emperor, 1988
All About Eve, 1951
Parasite, 2020
The King’s Speech, 2011
The Godfather, 1973
All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930
The Shape of Water, 2018
Spotlight, 2016
The French Connection, 1972
Gladiator, 2001
The Artist, 2012
Birdman, 2015
Mutiny on the Bounty, 1936
Moonlight, 2017
LoTR: Return of the King, 2004
The Hurt Locker, 2010
12 Years a Slave, 2014
The Sound of Music, 1966
Nomadland, 2021
The Silence of the Lambs, 1992
Green Book, 2019
Gentleman’s Agreement, 1948
It Happened One Night, 1935
Wings, 1929
Million Dollar Baby, 2005
Rain Main, 1989
Oliver!, 1969
Broadway Melody, 1930
Chicago, 2003
Crash, 2006
GiGi, 1959
West Side Story, 1962
My Dumb Ranking of Best Picture Nominees I’ve Seen* By Year
*Since March 2020; listing “completed” years only
Bold = Best Picture Winner
HF = Hoang’s Favorite, HL = Hoang’s Least Favorite
Red = I Did Not Enjoy
Purple = I Truly Hated
1948
Top 4 all equally good; pretty much all tied for me.
Great Expectations
Gentleman’s Agreement (HF)
The Bishop’s Wife
Crossfire
Miracle on 34th Street (HL)
1959
GiGi is a gross and stupid movie and the other four are really good.
Auntie Mame (HF)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Defiant Ones
Separate Tables
GiGi (HL)
1962
The Oscar voters are nuts This wasn’t a hard ordering for me.
Judgment at Nuremberg (HF)
The Hustler
Guns of Navarone
Fanny
West Side Story (HL)
1972
Impossible year; top 4 all very different and very, very good.
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)
1988
Great year, but the “winner” is clear. C’mon now.
The Last Emperor (HF)
Moonstruck
Hope and Glory
Broadcast News
Fatal Attraction (HL)
2001
Five good movies, three of them pretty great.
Traffic
Gladiator
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (HL)
Erin Brockovich (HF)
Chocolat
2003
Once again, Oscar voters pick a dumb musical over an incredibly powerful serious movie
The Pianist (HF)
Gangs of New York
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Hours
Chicago (HL)
2010
Taken as a whole, this was a relatively terrible group of movies.
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker (HF)
District 9
Up in the Air
Up
The Blindside
An Education
Precious
Avatar
A Serious Man (HL)
2011
Very strong year; top 3 for me all more or less equal.
Inception
The King’s Speech
Winter’s Bone (HF)
127 Hours
The Social Network
The Kids are All Right
The Fighter
Black Swan
True Grit
Toy Story 3 (HL)
2015
Good batch of movies, so many based on impressive people
Selma
Birdman
The Theory of Everything (HF)
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
Whiplash (HL)
American Sniper
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2016
Good year. Except I’ll never understand the Oscar love for Mad Max.
Spotlight (HF)
The Big Short
The Martian
The Revenant
Brooklyn
Bridge of Spies
Room
Max Max: Fury Road (HL)
2017
God, I hated Hacksaw Ridge.
Moonlight
Fences
Lion
Hidden Figures
Hell or High Water
Arrival
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea (HF)
Hacksaw Ridge (HL)
2018
Tough call for both of us as the top 5 movies are all great.
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
Relatively weak year I think.
The Favourite (HF)
BlacKkKlansman
Roma
Vice (HL)
Green Book
Black Panther
A Star Is Born
Bohemian Rhapsody
2020
Impressive year, Top 3 all phenomenal. No true clunkers either.
Jojo Rabbit (HF-Tie)
1917
Parasite (HF-Tie)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Joker
The Irishman
Ford v Ferrari (HL)
Little Women
Marriage Story
2021
All well acted; a year of bleak and dark movies.
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)
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