What are your thoughts on this ranking ?

Okay so obviously in a financial sense it stands head and shoulders above every recent BP winner, but what I really mean is, I can’t think of another Best Picture winner in recent memory that had absolutely zero pushback on winning and that everyone seemed to agree deserved it.

Even in years when great movies win, there are often people saying that a different movie should have won (I think No Country is a great example of this, since a lot of people still say There Will Be Blood deserved to win more). I’ve never seen anyone say that about Oppenheimer, and that was a pretty stacked year in the BP race as I recall. Even people who maybe would have picked a different movie don’t say that Oppenheimer was undeserved.

Whatever ends up winning on Sunday I think a sizable portion of the audience will be disappointed given that there’s no consensus picks this year, so it just got me thinking about this. What are other examples of years where a winner was seemingly universally accepted? Doesn’t necessarily have to be best picture either that’s just where my thoughts are.

This decade has been so much better for Best Actress than Best Actor. Almost every performance deserved to win their respective year.

thoughts?

To be uncertain of one’s abilities (given her acting past) is fine, but to make fun of her like this before the movie came out was wildly unfair.

Simply put, it dilutes the field and makes getting nominated not nearly as special. Ever since they expanded to 10 nominees, there’s always at least 4 selections that I would bet serious money on to NOT win.

Not based on their performance for their win but in general.

My pick is Nicholas Hoult in The Favourite! He was SO GOOD and brought so much comedy to that movie, while totally keeping up with Emma and Rachel.

She ate that.

She was great in this movie. Top 5 from her filmography

I was floored by John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles as he switched from a friendly charisma to raw, subdued heartbreak during its third act. What do you think?

That movie or performance that everyone says that deserved to win but you are like "Well, actually..."

I think we can all agree—or not—that there is no aspect of the Oscars that goes without debate. So while we all discuss in other threads how the Academy got it wrong this year, what would you say is the least controversial Oscar win since 2000 in the Best Picture, Best Actor/Actress, OR Best Supporting Actor/Actress category?

1. Ellen Burstyn in Requiem For A Dream (lost to Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich)

2. Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive (wasn’t nominated, lost to Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball)

3. Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Vol. 2 (wasn’t nominated, lost to Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby)

4. Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice (lost to Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line)

5. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (lost to Helen Mirren in The Queen)

6. Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road (won for The Reader)

7. Mélanie Laurent in Inglourious Basterds (wasn’t nominated, lost to Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side)

8. Viola Davis in The Help (lost to Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady)

9. Adele Exarchopoulos in Blue Is The Warmest Color (wasn’t nominated, lost to Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine)

10. Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl (lost to Julianne Moore in Still Alice)

11. Cate Blanchett in Carol (lost to Brie Larson in Room)

12. Amy Adams in Arrival (wasn’t nominated, lost to Emma Stone in La La Land)

13. Sally Hawkins in The Shape Of Water (lost to Frances McDormand in Three Billboards)

14. Toni Collette in Hereditary (wasn’t nominated, lost to Olivia Colman in The Favourite)

15. Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story (lost to Renée Zellweger in Judy)

16. Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (lost to Frances McDormand in Nomadland)

17. Kristen Stewart in Spencer (lost to Jessica Chastain in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)

18. Lily Gladstone in Killers Of The Flower Moon (lost to Emma Stone in Poor Things)

19. Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun (probably won’t be nominated)

What do you think about this list?

Nathan Lane for Best Actor in The Birdcage (1996). It’s one of those roles that feels perfect for this particular actor. I think this performance is a comedic tour de force.

For the past three years I have watched all ten best picture nominations. Unfortunately, this year, my streak will be broken. All other 9 movies have been relatively easy to stream (legally or illegally lol), to purchase on Amazon or Apple, or to watch in theaters. For some reason I cannot find 'I'm Still Here' anywhere!!! Although I currently live in rural Illinois, I am a student of the 6th largest college in the nation and still have not seen ANY SCREENINGS of this movie over the past month at my two local theaters. It is incredibly frustrating as I value the continuity of powerful films and yet what is supposably among the best films of the year is completely inaccessible to the regular person. Very disheartening. 

Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.