15. The Artist (2011)

Anytime I write about movies and do some sort of ranking, I note that films are subjective. Everyone has a preference and I think every film has at least one fan. For The Artist, I despise it. What hurts even more about The Artist winning is that it wasn’t a great nomination year. I don’t know what else would have won. Moneyball? Hugo? Probably not. The 2013 take on a silent comedy drama has a pretentious odor that I feel alienates an audience including myself.

This is a film I should like as it follows the peaks and downfalls of Jean Dujardin’s character, George Valentin, an actor in the film industry, but it never connected to me and it feels like it never connected to audiences. The Academy has a chi-chi element and favoritism to it and this estranges an audience. It was a bad year nominee wise, but The Artist isn’t a deserving winner. This doesn’t mean I don’t think Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, and Bérénice Bejo were bad because their performances were entertaining. I just think the film is subpar.

14. The King’s Speech (2010)

When you look at Best Picture winners going all the back to the start, you notice a theme. A traditional Best Picture winner is a feel good, triumphant story. We see the films main protagonist go through a life altering struggle and then eventually overcome it. The main protagonist will also go through, usually positive character development. We saw that in 2004 with Million Dollar Baby, in 2018 with Green Book, and 1976 with Rocky. In 2010, we witnessed this theme in full effect. Colin Firth plays King George VI and overcomes a stutter, yada yada yada. It’s a boring film with feel good elements about the repugnant Royal Family.

What makes The King’s Speech win even worse is unlike The Artist in 2011, 2010 was a loaded Best Picture year. Other nominees were The Social Network from David Fincher, Inception from Christopher Nolan, Black Swan from Darren Aronofsky, and The Fighter from David O. Russell. When you look at that competition field, there’s no way The King’s Speech should have won. I still like this better than The Artist, but not much.

13. Green Book (2018)

To follow up The King’s Speech on this list is a movie with the exact same theme as The King’s Speech with Green Book. I have it over The King’s Speech because I enjoyed both lead performances from Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali than Colin Firth, but Green Book isn’t a good film. It’s slightly compelling, yet incorporates far too many schlocky elements. At every turn, Mortensen’s character tries to just get the job done, but when Mortensen will try and bribe people or comply with rules, Ali’s character teaches him the lesson of being who you are isn’t wrong and that you should never swallow your pride. It’s so redundant and gets annoying once it happens the third, fourth, and hundredth time.

While the films theme focuses on race, this wasn’t even the best film with an African American lead to be nominated this year. BlacKkKlansman stomps out every aspect of Green Book and Spike Lee was rightfully upset about this winning Best Picture.

12. CODA (2021)

2021 wasn’t an awesome nomination year and I do think CODA was a correct pick here, but I’m not overzealous about it. It’s a tremendously gripping story that I do show a tad of favoritism to because it was filmed in an area I’m semi-familiar with in Gloucester, Massachusetts. I did also find that the story and angle that Sian Heder took was original. She pulled the best out of her cast of actors and actresses and that was really conveyed to the audience when you watched this. I don’t think that CODA has great re-watchability, but it’s a solid Best Picture winner in a down year of film.

11. The Shape of Water (2017)

Fish sex. Are you kidding? The Shape of Water is a film about fish sex. All jokes aside, while I don’t feel passionate about The Shape of Water and feel that Lady Bird, Get Out, or Dunkirk should have won, I understand its importance and fanfare. Guillermo del Toro is a great director and even though Pans Labyrinth is his best movie, The Shape of Water takes a lot of risky liberties that payoff. While odd, I found the relationship between the Amphibian Man and Elisa to be compelling. You rooted for the two of them in an unrealistic romantic drama. Do I think this should have won Best Picture? Probably not, but it’s a solid film that bends your imagination from the director who does that best.

10. Nomadland (2020)

I think that Nomadland is a divisive winner because it takes a methodical pace, but I actually I enjoy it. In addition, I think that the story of a modern day nomad traveling around looking for work is intriguing. It feels like something that’d happen in the 80s or 90s or maybe even earlier. But when you see Frances McDormand’s character Fern working in an Amazon fulfillment center, you have a realization that this is set in modern times and that people like Fern exist in modern society and work modern jobs. At times it felt like a documentary about the nomadic lifestyle and I loved Chloé Zhao’s direction. Much like CODA and Nomadland, it didn’t have stiff competition and I agree that this should have won Best Picture.

9. Argo (2012)

My favorite genre of films are thrillers and the trait of good one is that it makes me feel physically uncomfortable. It makes me sit up on the couch and sweat a little. You want to look away as your stomach turns but you’re so gripped that you just can’t. In many parts of Argo, I feel this way. While I do think that Ben Affleck casting himself as a Hispanic person in his own movie is a wild move that didn’t really work, I’m a sucker for films about American historical events that you never heard about. We all know about the big events in our countries history like 9/11, the Kennedy assassination, and Watergate, but this event was an unexplored one that really blew me away.

While I didn’t love Affleck’s casting, I found some of the best moments that let you breathe to come from John Goodman and Alan Arkin. Those two together led to hilarity in a serious film which worked. The final 20 of this film were intense. When you’re seeing these Americans led by Afflecks character, Tony Mendez, making their way through the airport in Iran, you feel like you cannot breathe. Once their plane takes off you feel sudden relief and a sense of victory.

8. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

I’m not sure why, but in my freshman year history class we watched Slumdog Millionaire. It wasn’t until years later that I actually returned to it and rewatched it. It’s a good movie. Best Picture worthy? Eh, I’m not too sure. My favorite aspect of it is the order in which Danny Boyle shoots it. I enjoy seeing where every answer Jamal Malik uses comes from in his past. Seeing the question be asked then getting a flashback that doesn’t feel like a drawn out and antiquated flash back was an A+ move by Boyle. Dev Patel’s performance as a young actor in this spring boarded him into larger roles like The Green Knight which is awesome to see. What hangs over Slumdog Millionaire winning Best Picture, though, is that The Dark Knight wasn’t nominated and probably should have won the award.

7. Spotlight (2015)

I don’t know if Spotlight necessarily should have won Best Picture this year because of the competitors like Mad Max: Fury Road, The Big Short, and Room, but it’s still a very good film. Tom McCarthy’s direction and writing were clear and kept good pacing which works masterfully. While some films about journalism can struggle with pacing, like The Post and True Story, Spotlight never drags. A hinderance in this film is Mark Ruffalo’s performance. He’s so incredibly over the top and bad, but great roles from Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d’Arcy James make up for it.

One tiny gripe I battle with about Spotlight is how it glorifies these reporters and makes them like superheroes. The real heroes in this story are the sexual abuse victims who came forward. The Boston Globe reporters acted as a vehicle to get the story out which was great, but the real story is that The Boston Herald had a jump on the story and were doing the same work as The Boston Globe. The historical accuracy hurts the ranking of Spotlight for me. It’s still in my top ten because it’s entertaining, but knowing what I know regarding the case I can put it above certain other films.

6. 12 Years A Slave (2013)

I think that 12 Years A Slave is a fantastic film, but the reason I don’t put it in the top five is that it doesn’t offer itself to be very re-watchable. It’s remarkably intense. Steve McQueen does a great job not holding back on displaying the suffering that slaves endured. The idea of making the viewer uncomfortable from McQueen was riveting because this stuff happened. Actions like this did occur and neglecting to acknowledge them would be wrong to do. Performance wise we see four or five that secure your attention. Lupita Nyong’o and her emotion steal the show along with Michael Fassbender’s sadistic behavior. Chiwetel Ejiofor gives his career best performance along with Sarah Paulson.

When I look at the other films nominated this year, I do think that 12 Years A Slave is a proper winner even though it isn’t my favorite of the nominees. I adore The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club and think Her is a great technical film, but 12 Years A Slave is a masterpiece that depicts the sinister actions committed against African Americans in our country’s history.

5. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

In ten years we may look back at Everything Everywhere All At Once and say, “This maybe didn’t age great.” At this point though, I have it in my top five of the last fifteen years. It proved that the Academy can have fun and respect directors, producers, and actors who take chances on making an outside the box film. The Daniels Duo broke the mold with Everything Everywhere All At Once because at times when watching this film that’s disconnected from reality, it feels relatable. Everything Everywhere All At Once can make you cry or laugh and then be taken aback by seeing Jamie Lee Curtis with long, fat fingers or Ke Huy Quan fighting security guards.

My initial watch didn’t sell me on Everything Everywhere All At Once, but after a rewatch I’ve warmed up to it and enjoyed the quirky elements and fun nuances that I missed. Again, we may look back in ten years and think that this was a poor pick, but currently it was a great choice by the Academy and one that will change the way the Academy forever votes on Best Picture.

4. The Hurt Locker (2009)

What’s most shocking about The Hurt Locker winning is that it was the first time a female directed film won Best Picture. I’m glad it was a talented director like Bigelow, but it’s a shame she was the first at the 82nd Academy Awards. A more impressive part of the win is that Bigelow battled tough competition. Other nominated films included Avatar, Up, and Inglorious Basterds. Very rarely will a director approach a war film with a thriller aspect and Bigelow blew it out of the water. The tension that The Hurt Locker builds is second to none and Mark Boals writing is tight. There are no holes in the plot that you can poke through like some other war flicks, but The Hurt Locker breaks the mold.

The two lead performances from Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie also do a phenomenal job roping you into the film’s plot. The scene in this film that is the climax of stress and emotion is towards the end. When James is unable to disarm the suicide bomb strapped to the man against his will, you generate a feeling of disappointment for the characters and it’s an unsatisfying release of anxiety.

3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

In my initial watch of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), I didn’t entirely love it. Following another watch, I fell head over heels for the dialogue. Alejandro González Iñárritu writes and directs what I’d consider to be some of the greatest conversational scenes of the past decade. That coupled with the inner struggle of Michael Keaton’s character and Birdman is outstanding. While it looks like a schizophrenic episode, I bought in on a second watch. What could have hurt Birdman is the use of so many stars, but they all deliver entertaining performances. Obviously Michael Keaton is great, but Edward Norton and Zach Galifianakis are dynamite. The same applies to Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough, and Naomi Watts.

Now while I do have it at three, this wouldn’t be my vote for Best Picture this year. In this class of nominated films, I find Whiplash, Boyhood, and The Grand Budapest Hotel to be better as a whole, but in the pantheon of the last fifteen Best Picture winners, I think it’s one of the best we’ve seen. 2014 is just the strongest class of nominees ever assembled.

2. Moonlight (2016)

If you have Moonlight as the best Best Picture winner of the last fifteen years, I wouldn’t fight you on it. It’s a beautiful film that blends a coming-of-age nature with LGBTQ+ themes and drug use. The tackling of difficult situations through harsh ways of bullying and language only makes you feel more compelled. Barry Jenkins walked the balance beam of making you want to turn the film off because of the uncomfortable harsh reality of life and wanting to dive further into the life of Chiron. Like a few of the films on this list, I needed multiple rewatches of Moonlight to grasp the nuances and I’ve only grown fonder of it with every watch.

When you speak to anyone about their favorite act of Moonlight, the answer will always differ. I fell in love with act one, I. Little. I’d say mostly because of the performance Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe deliver. They are truly moving and the care they show for Chiron is heartwarming when you consider what Chiron is going through. Act two, II. Chiron, I observe to be the most difficult to watch when you see Chiron get betrayed by Kevin. You feel sad and enraged all at once and rewatching it never feels easy. Act three, III. Black, is the most emotional because it’s the mending of relationships and also the realization that some relationships just will never be the same.

1. Parasite (2019)

Here is your champ. Like I said, if you have Moonlight here I completely get it. I just think that Parasite is the greatest Best Picture winner of the last fifteen years. What’s crazy to me is that I don’t even think this is Bong Joon-ho’s best movie. I’d give that crown to Memories of Murder in 2003. Joon-ho does get a boost because he mends two of my favorite genres and executes greatly by combining black comedy humor and thriller tension. The execution of combining the two genres works because you’ll see a scene that incorporates a whiff of humor, but Joon-ho follows that up with a scene that jangles the viewer and makes you feel further on edge. The writing of this is tight and Parasite weaves tighter with a runtime of two hours and twelve minutes.

I think that Parasite did receive some help facing a weaker class of nominees, but it would have won in most years. People will argue that “weak class” comment, but let’s be adults. Parasite wasn’t going to lose to Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Joker, or Little Women. The only film that’d come close would be Marriage Story. Maybe 1917.