We’re now at the end of awards season with the Oscars concluding on Sunday and it would seem that this year, Argo has Best Picture in the bag due to the Academy’s Ben Affleck guilt. Now that many of us are already suffering from Argo fatigue, I felt it was appropriate to look back to the other Best Picture nominees of the last ten years. So let’s take ourselves way back to 2003 and break this mother down.
2003
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander the Far Side of the Yawn
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
Even if you are not a fantasy film kind of person, we can all appreciate the technical brilliance of LOTR along with the heartbreaking tale of friendship. So yeah, this one was a deserving winner and ten years later this film stills holds up very well. As for the other nominees: Lost in Translation is still a beautiful film and I will never understand the obsession with horse films like Seabiscuit.
2004
Million Dollar Yawn
The Aviator
Ray
Sideways
Look, I understand that Clint Eastwood is a legendary director but I am just not a fan and I think Million Dollar Baby is yeah, obviously great and Oscar-y but Lord, was it boring. Sideways, on the other hand, is a greatly underrated film with so many great performances and is simply better a better film.
2005
Crash (NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!)
Brokeback Mountain (YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!)
Goodnight and Good Luck
Munich
Ok, I’ll keep this short: CRASH SUCKS FOR SO MANY REASONS AND NOT JUST BECAUSE CHRIS “LUDICRIS” BRIDGES IS IN IT. It won because the Academy thought it was an “edgy” choice when really it was actually pretty safe. Brokeback Mountain, alternatively, is a film that will be hailed as classic and deservedly so because it a beautiful, compelling film that should have won. Now that’s over, can I ask if I’m I the only person who has never heard of the George Clooney directed Goodnight and Good Luck?
2006
The Departed
Babel
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
The Departed is easily one the best gangster films of all time and deserved this win so we’ll quickly move on.
2007
No Country for Old Men
Atoneyawnment
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood
Quick story: despite being a self-confessed film geek, I have never seen No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood. I know that some people would crucify me for this and because of this I will not pass judgement on this year. I will, however, note how cool it is that Juno, a teen comedy, is Oscar nominated?
2008
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Yawn of Benjamin Yawn
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog is a superb film that is definitely deserves the win here. I mean, it has a dance sequence at the end! The Reader definitely does not have that, does it? Benjamin Button, however, is mind-numbingly dull and it’s hard to believe that a film so overlong is based on a short story.
2009
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
An Education
The Blind Yawn
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Yawn
Up in the Air
Up
Ah yes, 2010 was the year in which the Academy decided to mix it up a bit and so they gave us another five films, which is great except the fact that IT IS TOO MANY FILMS. Anyway, Inglorious Basterds should have won this one. And it’s hilarious to think that Avatar was a frontrunner this year. Will anyone remember these films in ten years time? Of course not! Surely, the Academy won’t make this dumb mistake again?
2010
The King’s Yawn
Black Swan
Inception
The Kids are All Right
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Yawn
Winter’s Bone
Fun fact: They made that mistake again. Another fun fact: I saw all these films back in 2010 so if you would like to send me a medal in the post, please feel free to do so. Just like the year before, this is far too many films and, also like the year before, half of them suck. In my opinion, The Social Network was not just the film of 2010 but the film of the decade. Everything about it is flawless. Even Justin Timberlake’s foray into acting doesn’t ruin it.
2011
The Artist
The Descendents
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of What
War Horse
Last year, the Academy made an even dumber mistake by cutting it from ten films to nine films and by doing so they missed the opportunity to nominate undoubtedly the best film of 2011: Drive. Overall, 2011 sucked for films. It sucked bad. So on that note, the charming Midnight in Paris deserved to win.
So, will Argo win on Sunday? Probably. Will it matter? Probably not. If we’ve learnt anything today, it’s that majority of the Best Picture winners of the last ten years don’t always deserve it and are often forgettable Oscar baiting films anyway.
Beth Johnston
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