Alright, here are the Best Picture winners for the last ten years.
1990 - Dances With Wolves
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs
1992 - Unforgiven
1993 - Schindler’s List
1994 - Forrest Gump
1995 - Braveheart
1996 - The English Patient
1997 - Titanic
1998 - Shakespeare in Love
1999 - American Beauty
Which one is the best and which one is the worst?
I go with Schindler’s List as the best. It had the greatest impact, made a powerful statement, was -reasonably- historically accurate, had great acting and was simply the most well-done.
As for the worst, I know many will chime in with venomous condemnations of Titanic but I would vote for The English Patient. Everything that Elaine (Benes - you know, from Seinfeld) said about the movie is absolutely true. This movie drags on endlessly at a slug’s pace, is extremely hard to follow and just seems rather pointless. I have seen every movie on this list more than once and have tried to sit through The English Patient for a second go around. I just can’t do it.
Best:Schindler’s List
It was (and remains) provocative, brutally realistic, and the most morally, spiritually, philosophically, mentally, and emotionally powerful film I’ve ever seen.
A close second: American Beauty
Any other decade, and this would have topped. Schindler’s List is an entirely different kind of film; AB is a slightly more traditional format…but unique, potent, and both disturbing and beautiful at the same time.
Worst:Forrest Gump
I think I was from the wrong generation to appreciate this film fully. It all seemed a little silly to me, and though it was a good film, it wasn’t particularly marvelous. I felt like I was sitting through a Baby Boomer’s memoirs while watching this, and found the experience rather forgetful.
Meanwhile…what about the films that lost the Academy Awards? What were the best and worst of them from this past decade?
My two nominees for best: The kid flicks, Babe and Beauty and the Beast.
I say that The Shawshank Redemption should have beaten Forrest Gump for best picture. Hell, it should have beaten almost any of the other Best Picture winners.
Best: Braveheart (I know, big surprise from the guy in the kilt…so sue me. It’s the only movie that has ever gotten me choked up. More than once. In the same viewing.)
Worst: Dances with Wolves - I tried to watch it, because I had heard how well (and respectfully) it portrayed the Lokota Sioux. I didn’t even last 'till Dunbar got shipped out west. Couldn’t stand all the Costnerizing. Man, what an ego - some day, I’ll have someone who’s seen the movie watch it with me so they can fast forward through all the non-Lokota scenes, and I’ll be able to know what was so great about the movie.
Shakespeare in Love? Well, it was a really good movie, and I laughed myself silly just spotting all the quotes that made their way into the dialogue, but best picture? There had to be a better choice. This one should have been first-runner-up picture - if the Best Picture has to step down, it will assume the Best Picture’s duties…
Yeah yeah, I liked Titanic, but I did get ODed on the publicity. I was one of the few movies that I saw more than twice in the first theater release.
With all due respect to the significance of Shindler’s List, it isn’t a movie I’d choose to watch on a Friday night, its important, but not very entertaining. It moves slow, and has several flaws that no one has the cander to critisize. Its best to just tip your hat, and give the movie its due, but a good movie is one I enjoy watching over and over, not one that I should watch.
Note: I never saw Dances With Wolves, Shakespeare In Love, or The English Patient. I have a feeling any or all of these three would take over the cellar.
I agree I’d take Shawshank Redemption over most all of these movies, with the likely exception of Titanic and Braveheart.
Over here in the UK the Oscars are routinely slated as honouring the worst of mainstream cinema. But I think that, out of the ten Best Picture winners, only three were bad. Unforgiven, The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love were enjoyable. Schindler’s List and American Beauty join LA Confidential as my three favourite American films of the decade.
Wow…never saw Unforgiven or English Patient, so I guess I can’t judge those.
Best: Braveheart.
Tough choice here, since American Beauty and Braveheart are two of my all time favorite movies. Schindler’s List was outstanding, but I can only watch that about once every 5 or 6 years, so I can’t give it my vote, since I’m partly voting on which I’d want to see most again and again.
Worst: I really can’t discern one. Of the ones I’ve seen, I liked all of them. Maybe DWW, but I still really liked that.
Though I really enjoyed Shakespeare in Love, after watching Saving Private Ryan, I feel this should have won in 98. What a movie. I was bawling like a 5 year old during the final scene.
I just have to hijack for a quick second. I’ve seen all the movies in the list except “American Beauty.” Tonight I rented it. The kids were in bed, my husband (who’s already seen it) is away, so I was gonna settle in and savor.
Best picture from that list: Unforgiven. A drastically underrated re-imagining of the American Western. A lot of people didn’t get the point of it, but that’s okay.
Worst: Forrest Gump. A truly irritating film that basically tongued the prostate of the American Baby Boomer generation. Pandering apologia. If it made you feel good, then, well, good for you – you and your insecurities got suckered. Now leave me alone.
I think I’d also give my “best” vote to Unforgiven; it’s the “worst” that has a lot of contenders. But as mediocre as Forrest Gump was, it did not suck like Titanic. Titanic sucked like sucking was its job and it was up for a promotion. The plot made me wince, the dialogue appalled me, and the characters caused me psychosomatic pain. It was a spectacle in the most demeaning sense of that word, full of loud noises and shiny objects. As the movie ended, my overwhelming feeling was that of being deeply offended by the whole endeavor. I don’t know how anyone involved in that movie sleeps at night (Ranier Wolfcastle answer: “On piles of money.”).
Schindler’s List is the best film on he list, easy. It’s the best written and directed, and the best photographed and acted by very wide margins. Of all those movies I would argue that Liam Neeson’s performance is the best of any actor in any of those films.
I’d say the worst of the bunch is “The English Patient,” which IMO is one of the worst films to ever win Best Picture. Titanic," with “Dances With Wolves” are close seconds.
The sad part is that I’d say fewer than half the films on the list deserved Best Picture. “Dances With Wolves,” “Titanic,” “The English Patient,” “Shakespeare In Love” and “American Beauty” were all terrible choices. They were good films, but in each case there were better films that could have been given the award.
But if you think THIS list is mediocre, take a look at the winners from the 80’s. A more boring lineup of films would be impossible to imagine.
I’m surprised as the level of vitriol “Forrest Gump” has always received; I thought it was a fantastic movie. And conversely I’m endlessly surprised at how much people love The Shawshank Redemption, which was good but not that good.
My choice for the biggest ripoff of the decade would be either Goodfellas or The Sixth Sense.
I would rank them as such:
No-Brainer Classic:
Schindler’s List
Excellent:
Unforgiven
The Silence of the Lambs
Very Good:
Braveheart
Forrest Gump
Bad Choice, But Still A Really Good Movie:
Titanic
Dances With Wolves
Shakespeare in Love
American Beauty
Here is a list of the Best Picture winners from the 1980’s:
1980 - Ordinary People
1981 - Chariots of Fire
1982 - Gandhi
1983 - Terms of Endearment
1984 - Amadeus
1985 - Out of Africa
1986 - Platoon
1987 - The Last Emperor
1988 - Rain Man
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy
If you asked me to name the ten best films of the 1980’s, I am confident none of these films would make it. Maybe Gandhi.
Three questions/points:
Is there any human being on Earth would could watch a movie marathon consisting of these ten films and NOT die of boredom? I mean, you might wake up for “Platoon” or some of the funny parts of “Rain Man,” but what a boring lineup.
Is there anyone who was not actually part of the cast and crew of “Out of Africa” who remembers what it was about? Note: You can’t say it was about Africa and get credit.
The following films were released in the 1980’s and did NOT win Best Picture:
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Glory
The Killing Fields
Back to the Future
Full Metal Jacket
The Color Purple
Field of Dreams
The Last Emperor has the amazing distinction of beating out FOUR films that were all better than it was: Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, and Moonstruck.
So if you thought the 1990’s had some bad choice, have a look at the 1980’s choices. Eeeeyuck.
Hope and Glory maybe, but we’ll have to agree to disagree on the other three. Last Emperor is, IMHO, an amazing film.
I’ll certainly give you Terms of Endearment, Out of Africa, Rain Man, and Driving Miss Daisy, though. The last is an especially egregious offense, winning as it did the same year Do the Right Thing came out.
[quote]
Worst: Forrest Gump. A truly irritating film that basically tongued the prostate of the American Baby Boomer generation. Pandering apologia. If it made you feel good, then, well, good for you – you and your insecurities got suckered. Now leave me alone.
[quote]
All true, and well-said, to boot. And not only that, but Tom Hanks turned in one of the worst fake Southern accents in the history of film. It was an accent unto itself.
Forrest Gump is one annoying movie, all the way around. Do Baby Boomers never tire of staring at their own navels?
I will also agree that the list of 80’s winners is pretty pathetic. For my money, of those winners, only Gandhi, Amadeus and Platoon earned their statues.
I can’t agree with you about The Color Purple, RickJay. That movie sucked out loud. It was supposed to be set in rural Georgia (where I grew up), but I didn’t recognize anything familiar in the movie. All I saw was a whole bunch of cliches. Ruined the movie for me.
Some other fine non-winners from the 80’s (IMHO):[ul][li]The Untouchables[/li][li]Blade Runner[/li][li]Ran[/li][li]The Shining[/li][li]A Christmas Story[/li][li]Stand By Me[/li][li]This Is Spinal Tap[/li][li]Brubaker[/li][li]Angel Heart[/li][li]Radio Days[/li]Big[/ul]
Oh yes, and some good 80’s films from Down Under:[ul][li]Breaker Morant (1980) - I cannot believe that Ordinary People beat this one out in 1980. Was Breaker Morant even nominated?[/li][li]Gallipoli (1981)[/li][li]The Year My Voice Broke (1987)[/li][/ul]
