# Threedux: With hindsight, what movies should have been Best Picture nominees for 2002?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threedux-with-hindsight-what-movies-should-have-been-best-picture-nominees-for-2002/651552>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 27, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threedux-with-hindsight-what-movies-should-have-been-best-picture-nominees-for-2002/651552 "2013-02-27T20:52:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threedux-with-hindsight-what-movies-should-have-been-best-picture-nominees-for-2002/651552/1 "2013-02-27T20:52:59Z")

</div>

(There are at least a few of us dedicated movie fans enjoying these threads, I hope.)

The Academy doesn’t always nominate the actual best pictures in any given year. Sometimes, with hindsight, the classic movies of that year become more apparent. So let’s take a crack at 2002.

The actual nominees were:

Chicago **\<----- Winner**  
Gangs of New York  
The Hours   
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers   
The Pianist

Here are the [wide-release films of 2002](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_in_film#Wide-release_films), and here are the [limited-release films of 2002](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_in_film#Notable_limited-release_films).

From those lists, my 5 nominees would be:

[The Ring](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298130/?ref_=sr_1)  
[28 Days Later](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/?ref_=sr_1)  
[The Bourne Identity](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258463/?ref_=sr_1) **\<------ Winner**  
[Road to Perdition](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257044/?ref_=sr_1)  
[Catch Me If You Can](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/?ref_=sr_1)

Looking at that list, I realize there is not a lot of high-brow appeal, but I don’t really care. These are the movies which I think best accomplish what they set out to do, and which I think have left a lasting imprint. And I gave the Best Picture nod to The Bourne Identity, because hey, sometimes an action movie really is the best picture. (I welcome criticism/discussion on these topics.) Also, looking at that list, kudos to Tom Hanks for showing up twice.

Your 5 picks?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threedux-with-hindsight-what-movies-should-have-been-best-picture-nominees-for-2002/651552/2 "2013-02-27T21:04:59Z")

</div>

Not the strongest year, that’s for certain. I’d go with:

[28 Days Later](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)  
[Adaptation](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268126/?ref_=sr_1) \<----- Winner  
[About Schmidt](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257360/?ref_=sr_1)  
[Catch Me If You Can](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)  
[Gangs of New York](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217505/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)

Best Foreign Language Film:[Cidade de Deus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/?ref_=sr_1)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threedux-with-hindsight-what-movies-should-have-been-best-picture-nominees-for-2002/651552/3 "2013-02-27T21:19:12Z")

</div>

- 28 Days later (best zombie movie I’ve seen. And I’ve seen a lot of zombie movies).

- Adaptation

- Solaris (not many slow, thoughtful Sci-fi movies out there)

- Jackass (Probably helped that I was a teenager, but I laughed harder at this movie then any other comedy I can remember watching in a theater. So if we’re going to give points for accomplishing what it set out to do… Plus points for originality, other then the other Jackass movies, I don’t think anyone else has made a wide-release film based on the “idiots flim themselves doing stupid stunts” premise.)

-City of God \<---- Winner (good thing **Human Action** reminded me this came out in 2002, or I would’ve given the award to Jackass).

Honourable Mention: Hero, Spiderman, The Ring.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threedux-with-hindsight-what-movies-should-have-been-best-picture-nominees-for-2002/651552/4 "2013-02-27T21:20:06Z")

</div>

Limiting to Oscar-nominated films I saw that year, my 5 nominees for Best Picture would have been:

The Pianist  
LOTR: The Two Towers  
Adaptation  
Far from Heaven \<— winner  
About Schmidt