I’ve seen, ranked, and written a few sentences about every Best Picture winner

I like everything from 74 and above, the films below 74 I dislike. It’s 97 movies, so you’ll certainly be able to find things you disagree with, just be nice :)

1 Midnight Cowboy (1969) In contention for my favorite film of all-time. A grueling subversion of the American dream, a devastating love story, a simultaneously darkly funny and deeply sorrowful look at those forgotten, ignored, and shoved to the margins of society.

2 Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) A thematic powerhouse, tackling a wide range of themes with nuance and poignancy, a technical marvel with the most insane editing I’ve seen, but most importantly it profoundly resonates with me. There may be no inherent purpose in life, no demonstrable meaning, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make our own and the idea that our loved ones can be our meaning is so astonishingly beautiful in its portrayal.

3 No Country for Old Men (2007) The Coen brothers are possibly my favorite working filmmakers, rivaled only by Charlie Kaufman and Scorsese, and while I struggle to pick a favorite Coens film, gun to my head, No Country is their magnum opus. It feels unassailable as a complete work; every character feels like they should be the highlight, every line of dialogue, every scene, the consistent quality of every piece is kind of unbelievable. I love the subversive nature of the film, as it’s a hero’s journey, good vs evil, wise old law man solves the case, etc. until it’s flipped on its head and painted with a heavy coat of gray.

4 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) One of the best-acted films I’ve ever seen, monumental performances all around. Each character is poetically tragic in their own unique way, and McMurphy is one of my favorite “assholes you can’t help but root for” protagonists.

5 Moonlight (2016) Beautiful film that tackles how societal expectations and pressures force us to hide our true selves; our sexuality, our personality, our love. Focused in its cultural and social representations but widely applicable in its exploration of human nature.

6 Schindler’s List (1993) It’s difficult for me to parse it, so I’ll just say it’s an important film executed with the utmost care and tact. Also my favorite Spielberg for what it’s worth.

7 Parasite (2019) A stunning genre blend with smart class commentary that flows seamlessly with its emotionally compelling narrative. Excellent technicals.

8 Silence of the Lambs (1991) Kinda difficult to pick what to gush over. Lector and Clarice are two of the finest characters to ever share the screen, complete with two all-time performances. On the surface it comes off as kinda pulpy but there is such depth and artistry here.

9 American Beauty (1999) Really bummed to see a negative reevaluation of this in recent years. Not to delegitimize anyone’s genuine dislike of it, but I do think it’s become misunderstood. The mundanity of financial security in a lifeless suburbia drives people to do anything to feel something, to break from the pressures to fit into their social boxes. It weighs on each character differently, but their environment squeezes the worst out of each of them nonetheless. Also really funny but not in a way that undercuts the tone.

10 All About Eve (1950) Theatrical in all the best ways; Bette Davis’s larger-than-life performance accompanies non-stop clever dialogue that bites. A commentary on the disposability of women in Hollywood and how they’re pitted against each other, I think it’s one of the best scripts of all-time. If you like Sunset Boulevard and haven’t seen this, do yourself a favor.

11 The Godfather (1972) Hot take, I do think The Godfather is a great film. Michael’s reluctant and then not-so-reluctant decent into the family business is fascinating to behold. How his treatment of women changes over the film is one of my favorite details.

12 Ordinary People (1980) The precursor of Good Will Hunting, American Beauty, maybe even Hereditary? A powerful melodrama exploring the desire to appear “ordinary” over being honest, over dealing with your shit, over grieving, over genuine connection, true feelings bottled up to save face. Fabulous performances from like four people, I can’t narrow it down.

13 All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Emotionally taxing and propulsive. A rock-solid foundation for anti-war cinema, a blueprint that hasn’t changed much in the last century. This is the last film on this list that lives in my top 100.

14 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) No film embodies the word “epic” like this one. My favorite of the trilogy, a massive, emotional, beautiful way to end it. Sean Astin stands out among many great performances.

15 Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) One of those perfectly balanced dramas. It’s the space between too understated and too forward, too reserved and too sentimental. It knows when to make you laugh, and how hard to push a scene so that it feels authentic and impactful but not blunt or sappy. It’s art both imitating reality and being wildly compelling.

16 Anora (2024) My favorite film of 2024 won Best Picture! I think it’s bursting with nuance and complexity that both the performances and the screenplay gradually expose. Beautiful ending. Also maybe the funniest movie of last year.

17 The Sting (1973) A flawless blend of drama and comedy with a consistently whimsical yet anxiety-inducing tone, great performances, and a brilliant screenplay that misleads and surprises without betraying established characterizations and narrative.

18 12 Years a Slave This film is heartbreaking in the truest sense. Nuance is not something that comes to mind regarding depictions of slavery, but this takes a morally blunt issue and forces the viewer to consider the nuances within the context of uniform atrocity.

19 The Godfather Part II (1974) Fredo one of the best, most tragic characters ever put to the screen?

20 The Departed (2006) This has always felt to me like an apology from the Academy for not giving Goodfellas the award some 16 years earlier (or maybe even for Raging Bull 26 years earlier), but at least Scorsese’s legacy BP went to a film that’s damn good in its own right.

21 The Deer Hunter (1978) The strict three act structure serves to portray the distinct phases these characters experience before, during, and after wartime. One of the most immersive war films out there, it is highly character driven with carefully constructed tones that get pulled out from under you often, giving tonal whiplash in the best way.

22 The Shape of Water (2017) Yeah, it’s an extremely blunt political commentary, del Toro has never been known for his subtlety, but I just love the vibe so much. Gorgeous sets, costumes, and cinematography accompanied by a beautiful score and fantastic performances all lead to an emotionally resonant experience.

23 Spotlight (2015) Well-written journalism drama with a lot of effective emotional appeals. Tactfully tackles a very heavy topic. Powerful stuff.

24 Unforgiven (1992) An engaging subversion of the western genre, Unforgiven presents an Old West in which gunslinging folk heroes aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. In the end, the winner is usually whoever can calmly draw their weapon and reliably fire it in the right direction, and no one is even close to resembling a redeemable hero.

25 Dances with Wolves (1990) Okay, the romance kinda sucks and Costner was never a very good actor. But, I find it a powerful film nonetheless. Thinking about the wolf moves me even now; a simple yet poignant symbol for nature and native culture; beautiful, appreciated, free, until it is slaughtered for sport. Not a white savior movie btw.

26 Rocky (1976) Rocky is fleshed out so effortlessly in his meandering about the city; he’s the muscle who refuses to break fingers, he’s the tough guy who makes up jokes to impress the girl who works at the pet shop, he’s the bum who’s no bum at all. He’s so oddly endearing, and Stallone has never been better. 

27 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Harold Russell gives one of the best performances of all-time in his acting debut. Beyond that, this is an incredibly thoughtful depiction of someone with a physical disability and an insightful exploration of a soldier’s struggles upon returning home. It’s lessened significantly by the sappy, feel-good ending, which is easily my least favorite Old Hollywood tendency. Still great.

28 The Sound of Music (1965) Julie Andrews, what an icon. A bit overlong but still a magnetic film and one of my favorite musicals (would be my favorite if Fiddler on the Roof and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory didn’t exist). Edelweiss is a stunningly gorgeous piece of music.

29 Marty (1955) A lovely story about an aging bachelor who overcomes social pressure to embrace happiness. Marty is so sympathetic, so endearing, so very easy to root for. It’s an overall enjoyable watch, but where it really makes its mark is with that fantastic final scene.

30 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Undeniably stunning. The wide shots while they’re riding to Aqaba are my favorites. Lawrence’s characterization and arc are so nuanced and interesting, however I can’t board the “masterpiece” train as I find the third act sloppy in terms of conveying his moral descent.

31 Rain Man (1988) Obviously a ridiculous and problematic portrayal of autism, but I still can’t help but like the film. I expected a sappy, sentimental redemption arc for Charlie, but what we get is much more nuanced. Cruise is too good at playing assholes.

32 Gladiator (2000) 14 year old me’s favorite movie. This is the closest we’ve gotten to a classic sword-and-sandal epic in a long time. Melodrama with popcorn-munching entertainment and emotional beats that are somehow both corny and effective.

33 The Lost Weekend (1945) A profoundly empathetic look at alcoholism and how it affects not just the life of the alcoholic, but also the lives of those who love the alcoholic. Rushed, unnaturally optimistic ending and the score uses a theremin and sounds like an alien invasion is imminent.

34 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) An interesting battle of philosophies between three characters who each represent a distinct wartime ethos. The end crescendos into a final statement reinforcing the pointless of it all. There are lulls but it’s overall a worthwhile epic.

35 Amadeus (1984) Salieri is a brilliantly conceived character and just as brilliantly portrayed by F. Murray Abraham. I couldn’t help but root for him in his war against God. Thematically intriguing and wildly entertaining.

36 A Man for All Seasons (1966) Rich dialogue and a fantastic cast, this is a well-crafted and engaging film despite me not giving a shit about the subject matter or the protagonist’s crusade.

37 Gandhi (1982) A wonderful performance from Ben Kingsley, and this may be a whitewashed version of Gandhi but it nonetheless presents moving philosophies regarding class, colonialism, and the nuances of revolution.

38 Oppenheimer (2023) An interesting character study bolstered by a stellar central performance and the audio and visual mastery we’ve come to associate with Nolan. I have minor pacing and dialogue gripes.

39 The Last Emperor (1987) Technical proficiencies help to construct the immersive Forbidden City and it is filled with political intrigue and is anchored by a strong central character. When we leave the Forbidden City in the third act, it gets less interesting a little sloppy but certainly not uninteresting.

40 Out of Africa (1985) Everyone seems to hate this one but I found it kind of charming and, at times, moving. It’s definitely slow, but it has a rhythm that becomes somewhat hypnotic. Bummer the protagonist and her lover are colonizers and the film does nothing to address this in a meaningful way.

41 Rebecca (1940) A fascinating thriller that effectively captures the fear of being swallowed by someone else’s shadow. Some of Hitchcock’s best atmospheric filmmaking. Unfortunately the exposition-heavy final act doesn’t work for me.

42 On the Waterfront (1954) A moderately engaging character study carried by the Brando performance. The romance sucks and a few plot contrivances made me roll my eyes.

43 Ben-Hur (1959) Overlong but also compelling and technically impressive. It’s so sorrowful, I honestly think I’d prefer it as a tragedy with much of the last hour taken out. If you think about the narrative of the first two acts as a complete story, I think it works.

44 Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) A blunt but resonant social/political commentary. A lot of the sentiments are pretty progressive for its time. The ending unfortunately undercuts several characters and nullifies others. Still a well-written film otherwise.

45 The French Connection (1971) I dig bleak, grounded character studies. If the subject is an irredeemable asshole, sign me up. This film should be a favorite of mine for this reason, I just feel it’s a shallow study that places atmosphere above substance. Still like it quite a bit, gritty and grimy visually and a great ending.

46 Annie Hall (1977) The dialogue is quick, the acting is loose and natural. Diane Keaton brings Annie to life and the juxtaposition of the two leads is entertaining. I wasn’t emotionally affected but the screenplay is so good I was engaged and entertained. Subtitle scene is peak.

47 Casablanca (1942) It’s a witty film that got quite a few big laughs out of me and I find the political landscape to be fascinating. Rick is a decent protagonist and the gradual revelation of his guarded selflessness is interesting. Otherwise this is a serviceable drama with an ensemble of memorable characters and a flat romance. The film failed to emotionally resonate with me.

48 Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) A sprawling epic of old, too fragmented and tangential to coalesce into something great, but it’s a lot of fun with an absurdly over-the-top villain, some endearing character relationships, and simple-yet-interesting moral dilemmas.

49 Birdman (2014) A fine movie that overflows with technical achievement and a career-best performance from Michael Keaton. However, some dialogue feels clunky at times and I think the ending is detrimental thematically.

50 Chicago (2002) It’s a fun, breezy movie that flies by, and in turn it holds surprisingly little weight given the dark subject matter. Justice for Amos, what a tragic character. If the film wanted to, it really could’ve pulled my heartstrings with Amos but it ultimately only brushes with pathos.

51 All the King’s Men (1949) Citizen Kane but far less nuanced and poetic. A biting political commentary that holds significant relevance today, it’s basically “drain the swamp”, except Willie Stark is actually a cunning, smart public speaker. Just promise to get rid of corruption then once you’re in, pile on top of it.

52 Platoon (1986) I love a good anti-war film, but I think Platoon falls short of its anti-Vietnam contemporaries. There’s a layer of melodrama that lessens its impact and Sheen’s performance and the closing monologue are both less than mediocre. I still like it of course.

53 Argo (2012) A competent and effective thriller that got my heart racing but failed to emotionally resonate and is ultimately unexceptional.

54 Grand Hotel (1932) An ensemble of over-the-top performances and silly melodrama culminate in a worthwhile ending that presents some solid twists and a compelling critique of the ultra-wealthy.

55 Mrs. Miniver (1942) The first half is full of saccharine, insipid family drama that is more annoying than anything else. The second half is mildly stimulating at its worst and quite moving at its best. There are worthwhile insights into life on the British home front during WW2, many of which are poignant.

56 In the Heat of the Night (1967) To its credit, this is a more thoughtful and nuanced depiction of race relations in American than both Green Book and Driving Miss Daisy and it’s several decades older than both. But the third act really brings it down, the crime/mystery aspect of the film is so paper thin that the reveal is mundane. I also don’t like how Virgil wins the chief’s favor because he’s intelligent and capable, feels like a misguided handling of the characters.

57 Titanic (1997) The ship sinking is a phenomenal sequence of tense, emotional storytelling, it’s like an hour long and I feel like I hold my breath the entire time. The rest of the movie is middling melodrama.

58 Oliver! (1968) Consistently high song quality (I adore “Boy for Sale”), but Oliver himself is kind of a nothing character, a vehicle to tell the stories of the more interesting side characters. The end is rushed and unsatisfying. Great villain.

59 Shakespeare in Love (1998) Silly and overconfident in its intelligence, but the romance ended up landing for me and I think the revisionist history is a fun twist. It’s an even movie, easy to watch and it flows along nicely, but ultimately pretty pedestrian.

60 Patton (1970) Some expensive-looking and lifeless battle scenes accompany a wholly convincing George C. Scott performance, but it really meanders and also paints a gray portrait of a truly evil man.

61 The Apartment (1960) I’m sorry, I really don’t get it. The lonely people-pleaser with no backbone is a worthwhile character exploration and Jack Lemmon is good, but I didn’t find it especially funny and I found Baxter to be entirely unsympathetic.

62 The Hurt Locker (2008) It fails to strike the necessary (to me) balance between empathizing with the combatants and criticizing the powers that sent them there. While it’s critical of war and mostly succeeds as a grounded character study, it doesn’t seem aware of the notion that the US being there is what is causing the violence. Some very well-crafted, tense sequences.

63 Forrest Gump (1994) It’s a mawkish idealization of the American dream; anyone can make it with a solid moral foundation, a work ethic, blind obedience to authority and all that bootstrap bullshit. But it’s also extremely watchable. It’s funny, breezy, and heartfelt at times. Jenny’s character is thematically off-putting.

64 The Life of Emile Zola (1937) Pretty solid biopic/courtroom drama that stretches itself a bit too thin but has quick, satisfying dialogue and effective emotional appeals even if the climax is a bit underwhelming and rushed.

65 The Artist (2011) An interesting homage to the silent era that is also quite shallow and ultimately unexceptional.

66 Gone with the Wind (1939) There is a cap on how much I can enjoy pro-Confederacy propaganda that not only justifies but glorifies chattel slavery. This is that cap. The romance underneath it all is quite layered and there’s some beautiful use of light, cinematography, and set design.

67 A Beautiful Mind (2001) Giving this a little more love than I want to because I genuinely enjoyed it and the twist the first time I saw it. Revisiting, I find Crowe’s theatrical, mumbling performance off-putting. The sentimentality gets me a bit in the closing scenes, but it’s still all a bit over-the-top to fully work for me.

68 How Green Was My Valley (1941) I’m somehow not a John Ford fan despite my love for classic westerns. There’s a lot here I want to love but the way it’s executed is so cold and distant while trying for emotional resonance. It’s a pretty movie to look at, with sharp dialogue and solid performances, but I merely enjoyed it superficially.

69 Nomadland (2020) An interesting exercise but it’s too discordant to have a real impact. Some pretty frames and a solid performance from McDormand.

70 From Here to Eternity (1953) A melodrama that is saved by a poignant ending. Themes and characterization come crashing through in the last few scenes, otherwise Monty Clift gives a good performance but the majority of the film I found uninteresting.

71 CODA (2021) Representation is important and this centers a vastly underrepresented group and does so with nuance. The family dynamic is interesting. The screenplay is milquetoast and dated and it’s formally as unambitious as they come.

72 The King’s Speech (2010) Your granddad’s second favorite movie (this is no one’s favorite movie). At least the films below this mostly aren’t immediately forgettable. It’s wholly inoffensive but I don’t know how anyone considers this the best movie of 2010.

73 The Great Ziegfeld (1936) A sprawling biopic that has the promise of a cynical character study akin to Citizen Kane but fails to critique its very flawed protagonist in any meaningful way. There are some technically insane musical numbers with massive, intricate, evolving sets. It has some strong scenes sprinkled throughout, but is too long and meandering for much of the runtime.

74 An American in Paris (1951) Beautiful musical numbers and dance sequences disguised as a movie. Seriously, the thinnest of plots, and they don’t even have the decency to have a real ending and all the side characters amount to nothing. Still a fun watch overall.

75 Braveheart (1995) Probably one of my hotter takes, but this is such a silly movie and it doesn’t know it, or rather it acts like it’s serious which in turn adds to the silliness. There’s also this glorification of suffering that I find really off-putting, but that’s just a mainstay of Mel Gibson’s films.

76 Slumdog Millionaire (2008) I can’t take this film seriously. It’s the most extreme, gruesome, shocking events they can come up with and he happens to learn the answers to the questions during these events and they also tell a cohesive story? I’m grateful it gave us Dev Patel’s career at least.

77 West Side Story (1961) A visually interesting musical that suffers from Old Hollywood cheese. The gang stuff is fun-ish but the Romeo and Juliet romance is just terrible to watch, not helped by the performances nor the dialogue.

78 Terms of Endearment (1983) Really solid performances all around, but with the writing it ends up feeling like a soap opera by the end. It’s 1980s Hollywood indulging in its worst tendencies which often resulted in family dramas that feel a bit too much like daytime television.

79 You Can’t Take It with You (1938) Anti-government, anti-taxation, and pro-lower class. You may ask, how does one simultaneously be against providing for the lower class and for the lower class? Well, as Capra railed against FDR’s social programs in real life, his fairytale answer to an impoverished America is presented here as “if you’re nice to your neighbors, other poor people with provide financial assistance and the wealthy will willingly help out.” Brilliant. I also just don’t like screwball comedies.

80 The English Patient (1996) An unintentionally unlikeable protagonist in a film that so desperately craves to be emotionally devastating but is effectively the exact opposite.

81 Hamlet (1948) Stiff and overdone. Screenplay needs an edit, this is nearly the entire play. A lot of pretty cinematography mostly (maybe all?) shot on a soundstage, which gives it an ethereal vibe.

82 Wings (1927) Visually and technically impressive but bogged down by a sappy and kind of meandering narrative. The romance does not need to be here. Definitely worth YouTubing the aerial combat scenes which were filmed by mounting cameras to planes then having actors fly the planes and operate the cameras.

83 Going My Way (1944) Meandering and mawkish with very few worthwhile moments sprinkled in. Too many pointless subplots detract from a merely decent A plot.

84 It Happened One Night (1934) While I respect this film for being foundational to the romantic comedy genre, more specifically screwball comedies, I don’t particularly enjoy the genre so it may go without saying that I don’t love a film that inspired it, as it spawned a lot of tropes that I despise.

85 My Fair Lady (1964) I like Hepburn as much as the next guy but she’s miscast. Rex Harrison is even worse with his talk-singing. Higgins’s character ruins this film, a caricature of the classist elite who appears to be the villain but is inexplicably given a happy ending and treated as morally good by the film.

86 Green Book (2018) The type of Hollywood movie in which racism is tied up in a neat little bow and served on a friendship platter. The white character gets along with the black character, “real racists” are painted as cartoonish villains who stand out like a sore thumb, and often a well-meaning white person has an arc in which they realize black people aren’t so bad after all, or maybe the white character saves the helpless black character from racists’ tyranny (or both!), and it’s a heartwarming, feel-good ending in which all is well in the world because a family of racists invite a black man to Christmas dinner. Schlocky.

87 Million Dollar Baby (2004) Misery porn with no point other than to say, “Wasn’t that sad? Oscar please.” Cheap sentimentality and comically reductive stereotypes made into villains. The first half is a decent sports drama.

88 Chariots of Fire (1981) Yeah, that iconic song sure is in this movie! One of the primary conflicts in the film is an athlete refusing to run a race on a Sunday because it’s the Christian Sabbath. Might as well sedate me. Posh Brits run and the stakes could not be lower, I just didn’t care it takes itself so seriously.

89 Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Green Book 1.0 except with a far more irredeemable and unsympathetic white character, a schmaltzy 80s score, and schmaltzy 80s sentimentality.

90 Crash (2004) It makes so much sense that the same guy is responsible for both Crash’s and Million Dollar Baby’s screenplays. This is so confident in its nonexistent profundity as it artlessly conveys the most contrived soap opera scenarios with unfounded seriousness. It is laughable in every respect, with the most baffling character arcs and redemptions that result in confused themes.

91 Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) Cantinflas was clearly very talented and funny, which makes it all the more disappointing that this is essentially 3 hours of aimless “comedy” sketches with one-note characters. And they play that note over and over and over for each of our leads.

92 Cavalcade (1933) Hopelessly uninteresting. Impossible to connect with the characters who are no more than empty husks. The time jumps make it even worse. The politics of this film is essentially a call to return to the good ol’ days when the poor knew their place and the rich could lounge comfortably atop the struggling masses.

93 Gigi (1958) Literally pedophilic, and even if it didn’t celebrate the grooming of an underage girl, it’s incredibly dull.

94 Tom Jones (1963) Is the fart joke the best part of this movie? One could make the case. So holistically incompetent and off-putting it borders on unwatchable.

95 The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) One of the more bizarre Academy decisions alongside Tom Jones. It’s a bunch of long, documentary-like circus acts with painful melodrama sprinkled in between. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) didn’t even get a BP nom by the way.

96 Cimarron (1931) A manifest destiny propaganda film. Imagine if Killers of the Flower Moon sided with the white invaders of Osage land, was ugly and dull, and contained every racial stereotype you can think of and some you can’t think of.

97 The Broadway Melody (1929) The first sound film to win Best Picture, but I wish it were silent. Atrocious in every respect. Grating from start to finish.

The list and my long-form write-ups can be viewed here: https://boxd.it/scJSa