Hat tip, ROS
The list, after the cut. Most are “pretty good” but what you notice about them is that they are, surprise surprise, actor driven. They are about people audiences care about and can relate to. How visionary they are, how memorable, how pivotal, how brilliant is the least important thing about them. Remember that if you ever want to win Best Picture. The history of the Oscars is the history of the internal worlds of the voters as they age over time.
I put the ones I think are genuinely great films in red.
- 2011 – The Artist
- 2010 – The King’s Speech
- 2009 – The Hurt Locker
- 2008 – Slumdog Millionaire
- 2007 – No Country for Old Men
- 2006 – The Departed
- 2005 – Crash
- 2004 – Million Dollar Baby
- 2003 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- 2002 – Chicago
- 2001 – A Beautiful Mind
- 2000 – Gladiator
- 1999 – American Beauty
- 1998 – Shakespeare in Love
- 1997 – Titanic
- 1996 – The English Patient
- 1995 – Braveheart
- 1994 – Forrest Gump
- 1993 – Schindler’s List
- 1992 – Unforgiven
- 1991 – The Silence of the Lambs
- 1990 – Dances With Wolves
- 1989 – Driving Miss Daisy
- 1988 – Rain Man
- 1987 – The Last Emperor
- 1986 – Platoon
- 1985 – Out of Africa
- 1984 – Amadeus
- 1983 – Terms of Endearment
- 1982 – Gandhi
- 1981 – Chariots of Fire
- 1980 – Ordinary People
- 1979 – Kramer vs. Kramer
- 1978 – The Deer Hunter
- 1977 – Annie Hall
- 1976 – Rocky
- 1975 – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- 1974 – The Godfather Part II
- 1973 – The Sting
- 1972 – The Godfather
- 1971 – The French Connection
- 1970 – Patton
- 1969 – Midnight Cowboy
- 1968 – Oliver!
- 1967 – In the Heat of the Night
- 1966 – A Man for All Seasons
- 1965 – The Sound of Music
- 1964 – My Fair Lady
- 1963 – Tom Jones
- 1962 – Lawrence of Arabia
- 1961 – West Side Story
- 1960 – The Apartment
- 1959 – Ben-Hur
- 1958 – Gigi
- 1957 – The Bridge on the River Kwai
- 1956 – Around the World in 80 Days
- 1955 – Marty
- 1954 – On the Waterfront
- 1953 – From Here to Eternity
- 1952 – The Greatest Show on Earth
- 1951 – An American in Paris
- 1950 – All About Eve
- 1949 – All the Kings Men
- 1948 – Hamlet
- 1947 – Gentleman’s Agreement
- 1946 – The Best Years of Our Lives
- 1945 – The Lost Weekend
- 1944 – Going My Way
- 1943 – Casablanca
- 1942 – Mrs. Miniver
- 1941 – How Green Was My Valley
- 1940 – Rebecca
- 1939 – Gone with the Wind
- 1938 – You Can’t Take It with You
- 1937 – The Life of Emile Zola
- 1936 – The Great Ziegfeld
- 1935 – Mutiny on the Bounty
- 1934 – It Happened One Night
- 1932/1933 – Cavalcade
- 1931/1932 – Grand Hotel
- 1930/1931 – Cimarron
- 1929/1930 – All Quiet on the Western Front
- 1928/1929 – The Broadway Melody
- 1927/1928 – Wings
My Top 10
1. Casablanca
2. How Green Was My Valley
3. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
4. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
5. The Artist
6. Ben-Hur
7. The Bridge On The River Kwai
8. Annie Hall
9. Terms Of Endearment
10. Gone With The Wind
Top 3 Worst
1. Forrest Gump
2. Shakespeare in Love
3. No Country For Old Men
Top 5 Best of Best Picture Winner
1. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
2. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
3. AMADEUS
4. THE GODFATHER
5. ALL ABOUT EVE
Top 5 Worst Best Picture Winner
1. A BEAUTIFUL MIND
2. CHICAGO
3. GLADIATOR
4. DRIVING MISS DAISY
5. ORDINARY PEOPLE
1 superb reproduction rayban wayfarer inspection
New Ray Ban Sunglasses http://bloggers.thaiairways.com.au/
Enthralling video, like my entire life flashed before my eyes, lol. Do this again next year please, but make the clips longer, preferably different from the ones shown here. Or better yet, after Sunday can someone do it? Can’t wait another year.
Not in an order of preference but my favorites
The Hurt Locker
No Country for Old Men
The Departed
The Lord of the Rings Return of the King
Chicago
American Beauty
Schindler’s List
The Last Emperor
Platoon
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Ben Hur
The Bridge Over the River Kwai
All About Eve
Gentlemen’s Agreement
Casablanca
How Green Was My Valley
You Can’t Take it With You
Mutiny on the Bounty
It Happened One Night
Yeah yeah yeah I know everyone will roll their eyes over Valley but I loved it. Always have always will. And the chariot race in Ben Hur in my opinion is pure brilliance. And yes I hate most musicals. Won’t buy into the “burst into song” theory but Chicago just does it for me.
Liked the video a lot. That little clip from Terms of Endearment gave me chills. I don’t care what anybody says, it is one of the most deserved wins ever.
And Crash, I will never forgive Academy, ever. That film was pure garbage and by far the worst best picture winner ever.
The most deserved;
5. The Departed
4. No Country for Old Men
3. Casablanca
2. Amadeus
1. All About Eve
Worst winners
5. Gladiator
4. Braveheart
3. Gandhi
2. Million Dollar Baby
1. Crash
To think I have the DVDs of 64 of them. I’m still searching for the remaining 20. After Sunday it will be 21 for sure.
Who else here is trying to do a Best Picture DVD collection or Netflix file collection?
sometimes a movie makes an impression that is hard to describe or relay to others because of place, time, cultural significance, technology, etc. such is the case with modern moviegoers looking at something like a couple of my guilty pleasures–THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. DeMille’s circus epic captured a phenomenon that is now, ahem..gone with the wind–the canvas bigtop, sawdust-floor, 3 ring American circus that was going the way of vaudeville. it meant more to people at that time and DeMille’s brand of melodrama and corn was generally accepted. still–it has pleasures galore; the documentary-like depiction of the circus, the all-star cast, the fantastic rivalry of Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde on the trapeze (doing their own stunts), the train wreck, and Victor Young’s wonderful score.
Victor Young pops up again scoring (and winning an Oscar for) AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. if you were a kid in the late 50s and 60s and your parents took you to a giant, art deco movie palace with a humongous screen to see Mike Todd’s opus in clear, fantastic 70mm TODD-AO and stereophonic sound (when all you had at home was a B/W tv), it would remain one of your favorites as well. the script is clever, David Niven never better in his perfect role, Cantinflas was brilliant and it had more stars than there were in the heavens. most of you probably see and don’t even realize you’re looking at Ronald Coleman or Marlene Dietrich or Red Skelton or Noel Coward popping up in those famous cameos.
i still love them both. and i’m forever grateful that i saw them on giant screens and not at the multiplex. and yes, they have stupid, corny, boring parts–but so did the LOTR films, and even parts of those made by the modern “gods” of cinema, Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher.
Only 3 times since I have been following the Oscars (1977) have my favourite film of the year been matched with the Oscar winner. And yet the Academy awards are a major event in my life every year (and the three months leading up to it, and occasional bursts during the year). This site and Sasha and Ryan and some of the long term and omnipresent supporters have become like fellow travellers on vacation. We travel to different spots every season, experience some turbulence and drama, but get to visit some pretty amazing sights and sounds in so doing, and are indelibly changed thereafter:
The Elephant Man, Birdy, Amelie, Cinema Paradiso, Fearless, Heavenly Creatures, Boogie Nights, Central Station, In America, Iris, Benjamin Button, Black Swan, Hugo and Pi – these are some of my yearly faves that have touched me or inspired me or altered my experience of movie going and my experience of life.
Aww, i’m getting all nostalgic. That’s what happens when an emotive montage of 84 years of movie history is laid out in this form. Sob. 🙂
Surprised to see so many My Fair Lady detractors. Sure it was stagey and probably should have been shot on-location. I also know Audrey Hepburn’s casting decision is controversial to this very day (I personally loved her in this role). And we know that Mary Poppins made more money that year, while Dr. Strangelove is considered to probably the best film of that year in hindsight.
However, I just love the movie so much. I think it’s the brilliance of the source material and the musical score, and the enthusiastic performances of the cast that really elevate this film. I also must say that I think George Cuckor did an excellent job considering he was probably past-his-prime and this movie played against his strengths.
For me, the very best of each decade:
30’s: Gone with the Wind
40’s: Casablanca
50’s: Ben-Hur
60’s: Midnight Cowboy
70’s: The Godfather
80’s: Amadeus
90’s: Schindler’s List
00’s: The Lord of the Rings
If I have to choose one from all, it will be:
The Godfather
5 favorite Best Pictures:
1. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
2. The Godfather – (1972)
3. Titanic – (1997)
4. The French Connection – (1971)
5. No Country For Oldd Men – (2007)
5 Least Favorite
1. Oliver! (1968)
2. My Fair Lady (1964)
3. A Beautiful Mind – (2001)
4. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
5. The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)
I have to admit the only BP film I saw before 1938 was the Life Of Emile Zola.
UNFORGIVEN doesn’t make your list, Sasha?
Question Mark / February 20, 2013
We can argue all day about which of these films were ‘great,’ but I think in the entire history of the Oscars, the Best Picture award has only gone to the undisputed best film of the year (as judged by history and hindsight) about 13 times.
All Quiet On The Western Front
Casablanca
Lost Weekend
Best Years Of Our Lives
From Here To Eternity
On The Waterfront
Bridge On The River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia
Godfather
Silence of the Lambs
Schindler’s List
LOTR: Return of the King
No Country For Old Men
I would say many of these are disputed.
46 it’s a wonderful life (afi top 100)
53 Shane (afi)
54 rear window (they shoot pictures don’t they)
03 personally, I thought all norms but Seabiscuit were better, and city of god
07 there will be blood
http://gawker.com/5428998/there-will-be-blood-wins-the-decade
Sasha, have you seen The Best Years of Our Lives (not among you in bold films)? It seems to be regarded as one of the best Best Picture winners not to mention celebrated as one of the best post-war American films ever made. Harold Russell may have been a little two-dimensional (along with his fiancee in the film) but dang if I do not cry when with his two hooks puts the wedding ring on her finger.
Favorites:
On the Waterfront
Rebecca
All About Eve
The Apartment
Casablanca
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Godfather Parts I & II
Annie Hall
The French Connection
The Hurt Locker
All Quiet on the Western Front
No Country for Old Men
Terms of Endearment (I mean of the contenders, and I do like The Right Stuff, it was by far the best and is still the standard for modern family dramas)
Oliver!- Lion in Winter better, yes, but it was the most deserving musical winner of the ’60s. Reed’s direction should have been a template for Hooper with Les Miserables.
Complicated relationships:
How Green Was My Valley- It’s a fine film, but it beat Kane in a very dirty trick season.
Silence of the Lambs- By far the Best Picture of the year but oh boy the film’s gender politics have not aged well at all.
The Departed- Weak year but was it really the time to honor Marty with a remake of a much better Hong Kong crime trilogy? I could have accepted Gangs since it was the passion project or even Hugo had he still had no statuette.
Rocky- It is still a good film, with the other films in the saga really erasing the film’s really smart ending, but the competition was one of the best.
The Deer Hunter- It really could have been cut an hour with the exact same effect it was going for. And it gave United Artists the idea that Heaven’s Gate could work.
Shakespeare in Love- It is not a bad film, in fact it is a lot of fun. But I was more of fan of The Thin Red Line, even if time has been kind to it versus Spielberg’s a bit too manipulative narrative of Saving Private Ryan (still a good film), it had no shot.
An American in Paris- I mean great musical but over A Place in the Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire?
You Can’t Take it With You- Great play, some nice turns from Stewart and Arthur, but its competition is a little overwhelming.
The King’s Speech- I feel like Tom Hooper will be hated forever for this film and I feel a little bad for him. It still reads like a play and I actually did like the crazy close-ups. I was on team Black Swan, so I was not that too invested in Sony, Sorkin, and Fincher, who I just thought made a good film than anybody thought was possible but did not break that much ground whe you consider it largely being a legal drama.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest- Great performances but I enjoyed the book a lot more, and it was a departure from the Ken Kesey novel. It felt like residue from the whole rebellion spirit of the 60s and I sort of blame Nicholson in lead (as opposed to Kirk Douglas in the stage version) on that.
Least Favorite:
Crash
Million Dollar Baby
A Beautiful Mind
Gladiator
American Beauty
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
Dances With Wolves
Driving Miss Daisy
Out of Africa
Rain Man
Chariots of Fire
Ordinary People
Kramer vs. Kramer
Ben-Hur
Gigi
Around the World in 80 Days
Going My Way
We can argue all day about which of these films were ‘great,’ but I think in the entire history of the Oscars, the Best Picture award has only gone to the undisputed best film of the year (as judged by history and hindsight) about 13 times.
All Quiet On The Western Front
Casablanca
Lost Weekend
Best Years Of Our Lives
From Here To Eternity
On The Waterfront
Bridge On The River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia
Godfather
Silence of the Lambs
Schindler’s List
LOTR: Return of the King
No Country For Old Men
Not to say that there weren’t worthy winners in other years, but even a classic like All About Eve isn’t “undisputed” since Sunset Boulevard has just as many supporters.
Sasha your slogan is lifted from Lawrence of Arabia yet you don’t think it’s genuinely great? What kept you from highlighting it red?
And then why is Sunrise always being left off the Best Picture winners list? It is my understanding that there were 2 BP winners from the 1st Oscars.
Not necessarily my number 1 picks for their respective years but I think all of the following winners are magnificent:
The Artist
The King’s Speech (unfairly maligned, it’s a real gem)
The Hurt Locker
No Country for Old Men
The Departed (but I liked Infernal Affairs more)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (liked Fellowship of the Ring more)
American Beauty
Shakespeare in Love (what a script!)
Titanic (guilty pleasure, on second thought, scratch guilty off, it’s actual pleasure)
The English Patient (Fargo doesn’t even come close)
Schindler’s List (2nd best film of the 90s, Pulp Fiction is tops)
Unforgiven
The Silence of the Lambs
Dances With Wolves
Platoon
Amadeus
Gandhi (most inspiring movie ever)
Ordinary People (2nd best film of the 80s, Raging Bull is tops)
The Deer Hunter
Annie Hall
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Godfather Part II
The Sting
The Godfather
The French Connection
Midnight Cowboy
Oliver!
In the Heat of the Night
A Man for All Seasons
The Sound of Music (its songs will last for eternity)
My Fair Lady (loved Pygmalion too, watch them back to back)
Tom Jones
Lawrence of Arabia (no tricks from David Lean, just pure cinematic genius)
West Side Story
The Apartment
Ben-Hur (epic in every sense)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
On the Waterfront
From Here to Eternity (great acting ensemble)
An American in Paris
All About Eve
All the Kings Men
Hamlet (brilliant! brilliant! brilliant!)
Gentleman’s Agreement
The Best Years of Our Lives
Casablanca (best best picture winner)
Mrs. Miniver
How Green Was My Valley
Rebecca (the only other Hitchcock film I liked more is Notorious)
Gone with the Wind (close to perfection)
The Life of Emile Zola
The Great Ziegfeld (the only movie where I liked Louise Rainer’s acting)
Mutiny on the Bounty
It Happened One Night
Grand Hotel (so fond of this one)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Sunrise (don’t ever leave this out, put an asterisk if you will, but its win is one of the best decisions ever)
My favourites in no partic order:
All about eve, The Apartment, Kramer v Kramer, Sound of Mucus, Annie Hall, Terms of Endearment, Ordinary People, Silence of the Lambs. These titles have endured the most for me over time.
The least or the ones i really do not like or respect:
Slumdog Millionaire, Forest Gump, Rocky, My fair lady, Rainman, Gladiator, Out of Africa, The Artist (a year is enough to know i still don’y care for it)
I see from my choices that my favourites have been actor driven, relationship driven and often sentimental subjects. Likewise, what i dislike about some of the choices are those very qualities.
Sasha, knowing you only recently watched Mrs Miniver, i’m curious which other BP winners you haven’t seen?
Sunrise, if you count it (i dont), is the only one I haven’t seen.
I forgot Braveheart – which was absolutely the worst
my favorite:
Sunrise (if it counts)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Gone With the Wind
Casablanca
On the Waterfront
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Midnight Cowboy
The Godfather I and II
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Amadeus
The Silence Of the Lambs
Shakespeare in Love
my least favorite (lets call it that): The Broadway Melody, Cavalcade, West Side Story, Rain Man, Dances With the Wolves, A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, Crash and The King’s Speech
I haven’t seen many from the 30’s and 40’s.
These would be my “great” films off that list. But it must be noted that not all of these great films deserved to win that year. I try not to let that spoil my opinion on them though. Out of this year’s nominees, the only ones I would genuinely call great and would deserve inclusion on this list would be Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Amour and Zero Dark Thirty. Here’s my picks:
No Country For Old Men
The Departed
Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
American Beauty
Forrest Gump
Schindler’s List
Unforgiven
The Silence Of The Lambs
Amadeus
Terms Of Endearment
Gandhi
The Deer Hunter
Annie Hall
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
The Godfather Part 2
The Sting
The Godfather
The French Connection
Lawrence Of Arabia
West Side Story
The Apartment
The Bridge On The River Kwai
On The Waterfront
From Here To Eternity
All About Eve
Casablanca
Gone With The Wind
It Happened One Night
All Quiet On The Western Front
Oh, and @baltimorechop: If you’re including Director winners in split years, you absolutely must also include The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre.
Loved the video montage! Looking at the list, I think the Academy has done a pretty good job picking great films (with some obvious glaring exceptions). In fact I would highlight quite a few more as “greats” than you have done, Sasha. Although the past 12 years seems the weakest period to me.
Sasha, thank you for highlighting Shakespeare in Love as a great film. It’s been rather unfairly maligned and is among my favorite films. However, I too am surprised you didn’t highlight Lawrence of Arabia as one of the “greats.” Have you had a chance to see it on the big screen? It’s one of those films that needs to be seen in a theater to really experience it, although I still love it on TV. I’ve been very lucky to have seen it on the big screen about 10 times.
@ScreenGuy61: The Best Years of Our Lives is a masterpiece! One of the greatest films every made.
My top 10 greats of the Academy choices:
1962: Lawrence of Arabia
1974: The Godfather Part II
1946: The Best Years of Our Lives
1972: The Godfather
1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1950: All About Eve
1960: The Apartment
1993: Schindler’s List
1943: Casablanca
1939: Gone With the Wind
10 worst:
2005: Crash
2002: A Beautiful Mind
1994: Forrest Gump
1976: Rocky
1952: Greatest Show on Earth
1995: Braveheart
2006: The Departed
2000: Gladiator
1951: An American in Paris
1938: You Can’t Take it With You
I find it interesting that the editor had three opportunities to showcase the most nominated actor in Academy history, and yet they chose not to. Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter, Kramer v. Kramer, and Out of Africa.
When you look at Sasha’s chart, the 1970’s look like a fairly healthy decade for AMPAS, especially with both Godfather movies recognized, not to mention Annie Hall and The Deer Hunter.
Sasha, you didn’t highlight Lawrence of Arabia as one of the “great” movies. Was that an oversight, or did you intend to leave it off? Personally, I’ve never loved Lawrence of Arabia in quite the way I’m supposed to. I’ve always felt like a bad cinephile for feeling that way, but…
I wish that MacLaine and Nicholson were in it instead of Lawrence and Cooper.
Of the ones I’ve seen, I’ved loved 28 of them and consider them to be great films. I’ve actually yet to see a Best Picture winner that I hate. The Academy has decent taste in my opinion.
Yeah, Rufus – I missed it, though.
One thing of note – on the very outside chance that Oscar does the right thing this year, I’ll have a new #1 film on my Oscar favorite list. That’s how much Life of Pi means to me.
Otherwise, nobody’s cracking the solid top ten.
If I were adding Best Direction winners in split years, I would add:
1940 – The Grapes of Wrath
1949 – A Letter to Three Wives
1951 – A Place in the Sun
1972 – Cabaret
2005 – Brokeback Mountain
No reason to forget Best Direction winners. All 9/10 for me.
Terms of Endearment is a masterpiece, and one of the best “mother/daughter -films” ever made. Score is fabulous.
I must add that I really hate when videos get embedded that play automatically when you open the page. Even when you re-open it after posting or refreshing to see if there are new posts. It’s really annoying.
I must add that I really hate when videos get embedded that play automatically
me too. I’ll see if we can find a way to fix that
Oh, Steve, Thanks for reminding me. You Can’t Take it With You is on TCM in a couple of days, sorry don’t recall when. But it’s set to be recorded by my TiVo. Looking forward to watching it. (My TiVo is now filled with classic films, TCM in February always is awesome.)
Yeah, Sasha. I think “Ordinary People” is to me what “Terms of Endearment” is to you. I can’t NOT love it even though for many people it will forever be known as “that ‘made-for-tv’ movie that beat Raging Bull.”
Of this year’s nine, the three which looked like they would rank among the best of those winners featured in the video (only based on the footage used in the video) are:
Amour (standard, I loved it)
Life of Pi (standard, I loved it)
Lincoln
I didn’t love Lincoln. I liked it. But it looks right. It’d sound right on Sunday night too.
And since we’re sharing (I won’t bore with the whole list of 85)
Top 11
1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
2. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
3. Annie Hall (1977)
4. The Godfather (1972)
5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1928)
6. From Here to Eternity (1953)
7. All About Eve (1950)
8. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
9. On the Waterfront (1954)
10. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
11. The Hurt Locker (2009)
Bottom 10
76. Rocky (1976)
77. Forrest Gump (1994)
78. Cavalcade (1933)
79. Grand Hotel (1932)
80. Going My Way (1944)
81. Cimarron (1931)
82. The Broadway Melody (1929)
83. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
84. Crash (2005)
85. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Sasha, As always, thanks for sharing. I think it’s interesting that at least two of the films on your “genuinely great list” would (for me) fall into the category of “actor-driven” movies that aren’t particularly innovative, pivotal, or even cinematic: “Terms of Endearment” and “You Can’t Take It with You”.
Sometimes when a movie strikes an emotional chord with us or especially moves us, it is elevated in our esteem. We’re all guilty of it, and it just serves as further proof how the nuances of subjectivity can play into our evaluation of art. “The Best Years of Our Lives” is one of those films for me. I think it is “genuinely great” but I have problems separating out my emotional reaction to the film from my analysis of its cinematic elements.
I can’t not love Terms of Endearment. When it comes to acting, writing and directing to me it’s tops. Sure, it’s not what anyone would consider a masterpiece but to me personally it’s a great film.
When it comes to acting, writing and directing to me it’s tops. Sure, it’s not what anyone would consider a masterpiece but to me personally it’s a great film.
If MacLaine and Nicholson were in Silver Linings instead of Weaver and DeNiro then Silver Linings would win Best Picture.
Nice.
If you want to have some fun, Erik Lundegaard has a great site where you can drag and drop your favorite BP winners in order of your preference:
http://www.eriklundegaard.com/ranking-best-picture-winners.php
Watched Wings again last night on TCM, All Quiet on the Western Front a few days ago. Really enjoyed them both.
I absolutely hated You Can’t Take it With you. I’ve seen them all (including Sunrise), and here are the one’s I’d give at least a 9/10 to:
2009 – The Hurt Locker
2006 – The Departed
2000 – Gladiator
1999 – American Beauty
1996 – The English Patient
1994 – Forrest Gump
1993 – Schindler’s List
1992 – Unforgiven
1991 – The Silence of the Lambs
1988 – Rain Man
1987 – The Last Emperor
1986 – Platoon
1984 – Amadeus
1972 – The Godfather
1970 – Patton
1967 – In the Heat of the Night
1962 – Lawrence of Arabia
1960 – The Apartment
1957 – The Bridge on the River Kwai
1954 – On the Waterfront
1945 – The Lost Weekend
1943 – Casablanca
1939 – Gone with the Wind
1935 – Mutiny on the Bounty
1929/1930 – All Quiet on the Western Front
25, not bad. Some that I think are the worst: Around the World in 80 Days, You Can’t Take it With You, Cimarron, Tom Jones, A Beautiful Mind
Breathtaking! so perfectly edited;
I just finished reading “The Return of the King” and when I saw Viggo as Aragorn my heart stopped.
The Music is timeless!
Chilling. Great piece of music, too.