# Which year had the best group of Best Picture nominees? (1990s) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773 "2011-01-24T12:53:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/1 "2011-01-24T12:53:10Z")
[(See the Poll for the 2000s here)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=594178) It is certainly not necessary to have seen every film; just consider your general impressions. **1990** Awakenings Dances with Wolves Ghost The Godfather, Part III Goodfellas **1991** Beauty and the Beast Bugsy JFK The Prince of Tides The Silence of the Lambs **1992** A Few Good Men The Crying Game Howards End Scent of a Woman Unforgiven **1993** The Fugitive In the Name of the Father The Piano The Remains of the Day Schindler’s List **1994** Forrest Gump Four Weddings and a Funeral Pulp Fiction Quiz Show The Shawshank Redemption **1995** Apollo 13 Babe Braveheart Il Postino Sense and Sensibility **1996** The English Patient Fargo Jerry Maguire Secrets & Lies Shine **1997** As Good as It Gets The Full Monty Good Will Hunting L.A. Confidential Titanic **1998** Elizabeth Life is Beautiful Saving Private Ryan Shakespeare in Love The Thin Red Line **1999** American Beauty The Cider House Rules The Green Mile The Insider The Sixth Sense ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/2 "2011-01-24T13:39:53Z")
I’ll go with 1994: four great movies, and one massively popular (but still good) one. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/3 "2011-01-24T15:57:12Z")
I hate FORREST GUMP but still voted for 94 (which looks like the runaway winner so far); PULP FICTION and FOUR WEDDINGS both have been massively influential in very different ways, SHAWSHANK is a personal favorite, and QUIZ SHOW was pretty good as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/4 "2011-01-24T18:18:20Z")
Looking these over, I am amazed at how many mediocre films were nominated for best picture. Jerry Maguire? Life is Beautiful? Cider House Rules? Awakenings? mmm ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/5 "2011-01-24T18:45:26Z")
1994 is the clear winner with 1993 in second place. No other year comes close to those two, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/6 "2011-01-24T18:57:47Z")
1994 easily. Three of my favorite movies and I liked Quiz Show quite a bit and thought it was very well done. I never understood the Gump dislike but that, Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption are three movies that compel me to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/7 "2011-01-24T19:00:05Z")
The 1990’s decade is also a clear winner of the decade that followed. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/8 "2011-01-24T19:08:06Z")
I’m pretty astounded at all the 94 love, because all you have to do is remove the Tarantino and you have a pretty weak tea year. I’d easily put the 93 or 96 slate against that year head-to-head. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/9 "2011-01-24T21:00:34Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > The 1990’s decade is also a clear winner of the decade that followed. QFT. I vote (like many others) for 1994, but would also like to give a shout-out to '91 which has three excellen movies in JFK, Silence of the Lambs, and Beauty and the Beast (each of them completely different from the other). I never thought about the fact that two Stephen King stories were nominated for B. Picture. I can see the line on the poster for _The Green Mile_ right now… “From the creative mind that brought you _Children of the Corn_ and _Maximum Overdrive_…” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/10 "2011-01-24T21:03:15Z")
You know what? Had I bothered to see the poll results before I voted, I would have voted for 1991 just to give it some props. I hate seeing it out there with 0 votes… that makes Beast angry - and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/11 "2011-01-24T21:15:08Z")
1999 automatically loses for having “The Sixth Sense” among its nominees. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/12 "2011-01-24T21:21:13Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I’m pretty astounded at all the 94 love, because all you have to do is remove the Tarantino and you have a pretty weak tea year. I’d easily put the 93 or 96 slate against that year head-to-head. Yeah, I went with '96. _Forrest Gump_ was horrible, and I never got the _Shawshank Redemption_ love. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/13 "2011-01-24T21:45:35Z")
My reaction upon reading the thread title was '94, but after actually looking at the choices, I don’t think so. It’s hard for me to judge really because I’ve only seen all five movies for '99. Every other year, I have missed at least one. Maybe one of the ones I’ve missed is really great and my answer would change. Since I liked all five of the movies in '99(although my least favorite won), I’ll go with that. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/14 "2011-01-24T22:33:12Z")
Without reading what’s been posted so far, I will make a fearless prediction: There will be at least one, but likely many more, variations on “1994?! Butbutbut…_Forrest Gump_ was the worst movie EVAR and _Shawshank_ is sooooo overrated!!” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/15 "2011-01-24T22:57:14Z")
1994 wins even though I’d agree Shawshank Redemption is still really, really overrrated. (I think Forrest Gump was a masterpeice.) As compared to the 2000s, though, it seems to me there’s a lot more very strong years here. As much as I think Shawshank’s overrated it beats a lot of the weak sisters in the 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/16 "2011-01-24T23:38:44Z")
**1998** _Elizabeth_, _Shakespeare in Love_, and _Saving Private Ryan_ are each in their own way near the pinnacle of the art form. _Life Is Beautiful_ is a step below, but still a fine film. _The Thin Red Line_, I’ll admit, just isn’t my cup of tea, but overall, '98 is an amazing lineup. 1996 and 1993 are also very strong. I also don’t get the '94 love, except that both _Pulp Fiction_ and _Shawshank_ have followings that are, erm, a bit _fanatical_. Don’t get me wrong, they’re excellent movies, but… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/17 "2011-01-24T23:48:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Without reading what’s been posted so far, I will make a fearless prediction: > > There will be at least one, but likely many more, variations on “1994?! Butbutbut…Forrest Gump was the worst movie EVAR and Shawshank is sooooo overrated!!” Eh, the one I think is overrated is _Pulp Fiction_. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/18 "2011-01-25T00:14:01Z")
In order of best to worst: 1994 1997 1992 (Unforgiven carries the year) 1993 1998 1991 1996 1995 1999 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/19 "2011-01-25T00:18:38Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > In order of best to worst: > > 1994 > 1997 > 1992 (Unforgiven carries the year) > 1993 > 1998 > 1991 > 1996 > 1995 > 1999 Regarding 1992 (A Few Good Men The Crying Game Howard’s End Scent of a Woman Unforgiven) aside from A Few Good Men - which I thought was very average - this was a real strong year (OK, I didn’t see Howard’s End). Unforgiven is a masterpiece, and The Crying Game and Scent of a Woman are outstanding films. Hoo-Ah! mmm ---
**Author:** ![Edwardina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Edwardina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edwardina)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/20 "2011-01-25T00:39:22Z")
I voted for 1991, primarily because I am a sucker for the underdog, because I think Beauty and the Beast is the most forgotten of the great Disney films, and because of Silence of the Lambs (!!!). Don’t get me wrong, Pulp Fiction is definitely a classic, too, and I love Four Weddings And A Funeral, but even so I choose 1997 as my runner-up year. Too bad that the least worthy film of the 1997 bunch was the one that won Best Picture. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773.md?page=2)