Ranking 10 Years of Best Picture Nominees

So for the last ten years, since the Academy moved to ten spots for Best Picture nominations, I've committed to watching every Best Picture nominee. That's 89 films. Some of which I've seen many times since, some I've not watched again, and a couple I wished I'd never watched. The winners by year have been bolded and I've included some occasional thoughts. Do let me know your thoughts too! What should be higher, lower or am I spot on?

So here we go, with all objectivity out the window and only subjectivity left, this is Phil's rankings of the last ten years of Best Picture nominees:

89. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

Taking a proud spot at the bottom of this crucial list, the only film nominated for Best Picture in the last ten years that I thought was simply bad. It was distasteful, badly made, and had an irritating lead (though Max von Sydow is a glimmer of excellence in an otherwise poor film). It stands at 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is about half of what most nominees get (for reference, the next 'worst' film is The Blind Side at 66%, a whopping 20% clear). I'm with Andrea Peyser who called it 'Extremely, incredibly exploitive' in her review. The handling of a subject such as the devestating effects of 9/11 deserves better, more thoughtful treatment and, less importantly, the Oscars deserve better films.

88. Bohemian Rhapsody  (2018)
89. The Kids Are All Right (2010)
90. Lion (2016)
91. The Post (2017)
92. The Blind Side (2009)
93. American Sniper (2014)
94. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
95. Moneyball (2011)
96. War Horse (2011)
97. American Hustle (2013)
98. Hidden Figures (2016)
99. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
100. Selma (2014)
101. Hugo (2011)
102. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
103. Les Misérables (2012)
104. The Theory of Everything (2014)
105. The Imitation Game (2014)
106. Phantom Thread (2017)
107. Her (2013)
108. Hell or High Water (2016)

67. Green Book (2018)

 

The lowest ranking of the Best Picture winners. This is not a bad film but it is forgettable (see also Argo at 62), and that is where it's success came from. A safe commentary on racism that appealed to everyone but dazzled no one. It falls at the better end of mostly forgettable films (see numbers 88-68) which suggests, whilst still one of the better films of the year, it's not going to survive in cinematic memory like those just a few further up the list. 

66. The Fighter (2010)
67. Philomena (2013)
68. Winter's Bone (2010)
69. Life of Pi (2012)
70. Argo (2012)
71. Precious (2009)
72. Vice (2018)
73. A Serious Man (2009)
74. The Help (2011)
75. Room (2015)

56. Avatar (2009)

 

Despite being pipped to the post for Oscar glory by small-budget The Hurt Locker, Avatar has left its mark on cinema history, developing groundbreaking technology, and taking more money in its box office than any film that came before it. Only in uniting 11 years worth of superhero films in the MCU's Avengers: Endgame has anyone even come close to beating that record, and they only managed it with a re-release.  Before that, the record was held by Avatar director, James Cameron with Titanic. Was Avatar the best movie of the last ten years? Evidently not. But it was one of the most spectacular cinematic experiences I've had (and I saw it three times in the cinema). It's worth taking a moment to remember the magic that it brought to the big screen, particularly in a world of CGI lions singing Hakuna Matata and endless streams of superheroes. 

55. 127 Hours (2010)
56. Boyhood (2014)
57. Lincoln (2012)
58. Black Panther (2018)
59. An Education (2009)
60. The Martian (2015)
61. Darkest Hour (2017)

48. The Tree of Life (2011)

 

Of all the films on this list, why would I pull out The Tree of Life for a brief comment? It falls somewhere around the middle of this list (despite my own five-star review) and it's not a film we talk about a lot. But it is, and I say this reservedly, the best looking, most beautiful film on the list. Terrence Malik guides us, in a dream-like state, through an exploration of life - its purposes, its meanings and its relationships, not just with one another, but with the world we live in. It's safe to say, there's no other film like it on this list.  

47. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
48. Dunkirk (2017)
49. The Big Short (2015)
50. Roma (2018)
51. Up (2009)
52. The Revenant (2015)
53. The Descendants (2011)
54. Midnight in Paris (2011)
55. Bridge of Spies (2015)
56. BlacKkKlansman (2018)
57. The Shape of Water (2017)
58. Spotlight (2015)
59. The King's Speech (2010)
60. Gravity (2013)
61. True Grit (2010)

32. Amour (2012)

One of two films on this list that have actually made it into my academic study* (the other falls at number 8), Amour is a beautiful and painful film about love and life. It may be one you haven't seen - thus me highlighting it here - and if that's the case, you should correct that. Six years after the previous foreign-language film made it to the Best Picture race (Babel - 2006) and six years before last year's Roma, Amour was tragically under appreciated. It was a small, heartbreaking movie that wrongly passed under many radars. J'adore Amour.

*Full title: The Shocking Nature of Violence in Films; Film Violence, Aesthetics and Context: An In-Depth Analysis of Audience Reception of Representations of Violence

31. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
32. Arrival (2016)
33. A Star Is Born (2018)
34. Captain Phillips (2013)
35. Nebraska (2013)
36. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
37. Moonlight (2016)
38. The Favourite (2018)
39. Fences (2016)
40. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
41. Toy Story 3 (2010)
42. The Artist (2011)
43. District 9 (2009)

18. Inception (2010)

 

Christopher Nolan's boggling masterpiece left everything spinning back in 2010: tops, corridors, and our minds. Its stunning set pieces, action paced plot, and ensemble cast have solidified their place in cinematic history. Who can forget the first time they saw Paris fold in on itself, or how they felt after the corridor fight sequence, or the tension in that final shot; did it wobble? Will it fall?! We may never know but what we do know is this was something unique, hugely creative, with jaw-dropping visuals, from one of the best, most influential directors of the current age.

17. Get Out (2017)
18. Inglorious Basterds (2009)
19. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
20. Lady Bird (2017)
21. Brooklyn (2015)
22. La La Land (2016)

11. Call Me by Your Name (2017)

 

Just falling shy of the top ten is a beautiful piece of cinema. Gentle, loving film-making; the type of film-making we just don't see much of these days. Director Luca Guadagnino lets his camera wander in a day-dream-like manner through the stunning landscapes of rural Italy, watching his characters as they go about exploring relationships, sexuality, faith and much more. They're not in a rush, and neither is the viewer, allowing the audience time to understand Oliver and Elio as they begin to understand one another. We're not just a witness to their relationship, but participants in it, feeling what they feel, experiencing what they experience. It makes the long shot over the credits of Elio all the more heartfelt and real. Pitch perfect performances combined with a genuine artist behind the camera - this is fine fine film-making and a true rarity. 

Well then - only ten left to go. Click here for the top ten!