# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/21 "2011-01-25T01:07:46Z")
1998, followed closely by 1994 and 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, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/22 "2011-01-25T02:13:30Z")
I’m really curious as to who voted for 1990, and why.\* \*OK, Goodfellas was good, but the others??? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/23 "2011-01-25T07:07:01Z")
I missed a lot of big movies in/from the early '90s. Of the 20 films from 1990-1993, I haven’t seen 12 of them! From 1994-1999 I’ve seen all but 3. I chose 1996, even though Jerry Maguire is one of the 3 movies I haven’t seen. It was the year the Academy started paying real attention to indie films. Not that they hadn’t nominated indies before, and not that they always nominated some indies every year after, but there was some sort of shift that year that I can’t explain. Secrets and Lies, Fargo, Shine, it’s still amazing to me those films got nominated. It wasn’t just reflected in the BP lineup. A lot of other fantastic indie films were recognized with various Oscar nominations that year, such as Sling Blade, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Breaking the Waves, Lone Star, Trainspotting, Romeo + Juliet, Angels and Insects, Portrait of a Lady, That Thing You Do!, a few others. Billy Crystal earned my eternal ire that year by, IMO, insulting the indie people in the Oscar audience and making them feel unwelcome by snarking “Who _are_ you people?” ---
**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, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/24 "2011-01-25T13:00:53Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I missed a lot of big movies in/from the early '90s. Of the 20 films from 1990-1993, I haven’t seen 12 of them! From 1994-1999 I’ve seen all but 3. > > I chose 1996, even though Jerry Maguire is one of the 3 movies I haven’t seen. It was the year the Academy started paying real attention to indie films. Not that they hadn’t nominated indies before, and not that they always nominated some indies every year after, but there was some sort of shift that year that I can’t explain. Secrets and Lies, Fargo, Shine, it’s still amazing to me those films got nominated. It wasn’t just reflected in the BP lineup. A lot of other fantastic indie films were recognized with various Oscar nominations that year, such as Sling Blade, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Breaking the Waves, Lone Star, Trainspotting, Romeo + Juliet, Angels and Insects, Portrait of a Lady, That Thing You Do!, a few others. > > Billy Crystal earned my eternal ire that year by, IMO, insulting the indie people in the Oscar audience and making them feel unwelcome by snarking “Who _are_ you people?” Don’t bother seeking out Jerry Maguire; it’s not only not good enough to be nominated, it’s not good, period. The fact that Sling Blade was overlooked pisses me off to this day. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/25 "2011-01-25T13:21:43Z")
I agree, but Billy Bob Thornton did win Best Adapted Screenplay, and his surprise and much-deserved nomination for Best Actor was pretty great. It was totally unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/26 "2011-01-25T14:56:31Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’m really curious as to who voted for 1990, and why.\* > > \*OK, Goodfellas was good, but the others??? I played it safe and voted for 1994, but I quite liked Awakenings, Ghost and Dances With Wolves (and Goodfellas goes without saying). They’re all at least as good as Gladiator, Crash or Braveheart, in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/27 "2011-01-25T20:45:36Z")
I went with the majority. I think it’s the only year without obvious padding. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/28 "2011-01-25T21:32:19Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Don’t bother seeking out Jerry Maguire; it’s not only not good enough to be nominated, it’s not good, period. The fact that Sling Blade was overlooked pisses me off to this day. Agree. [Lone Star](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116905/) also got jobbed (although I think it got a screenplay nomination). Should have been nominated for best picture ahead of _Jerry Maguire_, _Secrets and Lies_ and _Shine_. _Secrets and Lies_ is a good example of one of those critics’-darling movies that get nominated but then ten years later nobody remembers or watches them any more. This year, I think _The Kids Are All Right_ and possibly _The King’s Speech_ (I know-- _blasphemy!_) fall into that category. ---
**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, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/29 "2011-01-25T21:53:58Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Agree. [Lone Star](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116905/) also got jobbed (although I think it got a screenplay nomination). Should have been nominated for best picture ahead of _Jerry Maguire_, _Secrets and Lies_ and _Shine_. > > _Secrets and Lies_ is a good example of one of those critics’-darling movies that get nominated but then ten years later nobody remembers or watches them any more. This year, I think _The Kids Are All Right_ and possibly _The King’s Speech_ (I know-- _blasphemy!_) fall into that category. I did like - and do remember - Secrets & Lies. And I think The King’s Speech will remain unforgotten for many a year. As for Lone Star, that’s one of those films that I’ve always wanted to see but never quite caught. So, I just now put it in my Netflix queue. 🙂 mmm ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773/30 "2011-01-25T22:25:10Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > And I think The King’s Speech will remain unforgotten for many a year. Possibly. It certainly had a couple of strong acting performances. And I enjoyed the movie and rated it highly over at IMDb. But then it occurred to me that even though I enjoyed the movie I probably wouldn’t have much desire to re-watch it. And it seems to me that the movies you want to watch over and over are the ones that become classics. But of course, tastes vary. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-year-had-the-best-group-of-best-picture-nominees-1990s/568773.md?page=1)