So that really is it, after five long years and over five hundred films I've finally come to the end of my Big Oscar Challenge. Don't worry though there's more on the way as at some point I plan to create a list ranking every Best Picture winner and also I'm currently in the process of moving the blog onto a snazzier Wordpress format. But for now at least let's look back at the Academy's most recent decisions in the Best Picture category.
Ceremony 82 (2010)
Winner: The Hurt Locker
Nominees: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
The Hurt Locker felt like a timely winner in the Best Picture category primarily due to what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time. Although some of the fellow nominees have their plus points I feel that The Hurt Locker's win is more than justified.
Ceremony 83 (2011)
Winner: The King's Speech
Nominees: 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone
Did the Right Film Win? No
As much as I love the story in The King's Speech, it feels like a film that doesn't truly reflect the time period in which it was made. Instead I would of rather had The Social Network or Inception as the winner this year as both have something to say about modern technology and both are more visually spectacular that this year's eventual victor.
Ceremony 84 (2012)
Winner: The Artist
Nominees: The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
I feel like this was a year of right place, right time for The Artist which is a film that I had problems with but was the best of a rather tired bunch of nominees. Of the alternatives I would say that The Descendants is possibly a better film and The Help feels more like classic Oscar bait. But in the end I'm glad that this movie about movies won over the academy as it is still a joy to watch.
Ceremony 85 (2013)
Winner: Argo
Nominees: Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
Not as good of a collection of films as the past couple of years but a couple of gems in amongst the more obvious Oscar picks. Argo for me was a quality selection for the win with only Amour or possibly Beasts of the Southern Wild being adequate replacements.
Ceremony 86 (2014)
Winner: 12 Years a Slave
Nominees: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street
Did the Right Film Win? No
Although some people loved 12 Years a Slave I think it's possibly Steve McQueen's worst film to date. Meanwhile the brilliant Gravity shone from a technical standpoint and was also an incredibly easy watch given its reduced time limit. Additionally I think that Captain Phillips would've been another fine alternative as I was gripped from beginning to end by Paul Greengrass' fraught tale.
Ceremony 87 (2015)
Winner: Birdman
Nominees: American Sniper, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash
Did the Right Film Win? No
Although Birdman was an enjoyable enough film I thought that it won primarily due to the fact that it focused on older actors and the movie business as a whole. Compare that with Boyhood, a film that documents the first years of the 21st century and prevents a tale that is truly universal. More than that I can't believe that Richard Linklater was overlooked for directing a film that took him a massive twelve years to complete.
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