The Oscar Quest: Rankings (Best Picture)

Each time I write up Oscar categories for the Quest, I put rankings at the bottom. I can say what I want, but it really only gains perspective when I show you how I feel about each of the films or performances in relation to the others in the category. Plus, lists are easy to read.

They tend to be slightly different each time. The actual rankings are of course different, but also my methodology behind how I ranked them is different. Each time I do it, I seem to be getting closer to a consensus, so hopefully this one sticks.

The way I’m ranking Best Picture this time is — for the most part, it’s about what films would have held up best as a Best Picture winner. That’s the idea. I’ll vote however I vote, but the rankings are gonna be based on how good of a choice each of the films is, regardless of how I feel about them. There may be some slight skewing on a few categories where my personal preference outweighs what may be objective criticism, but I promise those are limited.

Hopefully I can continue updating this as we go, and whenever I watch another movie again and shift my opinion, I’ll go back and reorganize these lists as I see fit. So that means, if this page is different than the actual category I wrote up, that’s the reason. Ideally one day I’ll have set pages for each of the categories and can just have one master location. I think we’re moving closer to that. I just need to get to a place where I feel my opinions have leveled out. We’re not there yet, but I’m working on it.

Anyway, this is a compilation of my rankings for the Best Picture categories:

2016

1. Moonlight
2. La La Land *
3. Hell or High Water
4. Lion
5. Arrival
6. Hacksaw Ridge
7. Manchester by the Sea
8. Hidden Figures
9. Fences

2015

1. The Revenant *
2. The Big Short
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Spotlight
5. The Martian
6. Brooklyn
7. Room
8. Bridge of Spies

2014

1. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) *
2. Boyhood
3. Whiplash
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. American Sniper
6. Selma
7. The Imitation Game
8. The Theory of Everything

2013

1. 12 Years a Slave
2. Gravity *
3. Her
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. American Hustle
6. Nebraska
7. Captain Phillips
8. Dallas Buyers Club
9. Philomena

2012

1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. Django Unchained *
4. Zero Dark Thirty
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Les Misérables
7. Amour
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. Life of Pi

2011

1. The Artist *
2. Hugo
3. The Descendants
4. The Tree of Life
5. Moneyball
6. War Horse
7. Midnight in Paris
8. The Help
9. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

2010

1. The Social Network *
2. The King’s Speech
3. True Grit
4. Black Swan
5. The Fighter
6. Inception
7. 127 Hours
8. Toy Story 3
9. The Kids Are All Right
10. Winter’s Bone

2009

1. The Hurt Locker
2. Inglourious Basterds *
3. Avatar
4. Up in the Air
5. Precious
6. Up
7. An Education
8. A Serious Man
9. District 9
10. The Blind Side

2008

1. Slumdog Millionaire *
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Milk
4. Frost/Nixon
5. The Reader

2007

1. There Will Be Blood *
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Michael Clayton
4. Atonement
5. Juno

2006

1. The Departed *
2. Letters from Iwo Jima
3. Babel
4. Little Miss Sunshine
5. The Queen

2005

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. Good Night, and Good Luck *
3. Munich
4. Capote
5. Crash

2004

1. The Aviator *
2. Million Dollar Baby
3. Ray
4. Sideways
5. Finding Neverland

2003

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King *
2. Lost in Translation
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
4. Seabiscuit
5. Mystic River

2002

1. The Pianist
2. Gangs of New York *
3. Chicago
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
5. The Hours

2001

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *
2. A Beautiful Mind
3. Gosford Park
4. Moulin Rouge!
5. In the Bedroom

2000

1. Gladiator *
2. Traffic
3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
4. Erin Brockovich
5. Chocolat

1999

1. American Beauty *
2. The Insider
3. The Sixth Sense
4. The Cider House Rules
5. The Green Mile

1998

1. Saving Private Ryan *
2. Shakespeare in Love
3. Life Is Beautiful
4. The Thin Red Line
5. Elizabeth

1997

1. Titanic
2. L.A Confidential *
3. Good Will Hunting
4. As Good as It Gets
5. The Full Monty

1996

1. Fargo *
2. Jerry Maguire
3. The English Patient
4. Shine
5. Secrets & Lies

1995

1. Braveheart
2. Apollo 13 *
3. Sense and Sensibility
4. Babe
5. Il Postino

1994

1. Forrest Gump *
2. Pulp Fiction
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Quiz Show
5. Four Weddings and a Funeral

1993

1. Schindler’s List *
2. The Fugitive
3. The Piano
4. In the Name of the Father
5. The Remains of the Day

1992

1. Unforgiven *
2. A Few Good Men
3. Scent of a Woman
4. The Crying Game
5. Howards End

1991

1. The Silence of the Lambs *
2. JFK
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. Bugsy
5. The Prince of Tides

1990

1. Goodfellas *
2. Dances with Wolves
3. The Godfather Part III
4. Awakenings
5. Ghost

1989

1. Driving Miss Daisy
2. Born on the Fourth of July
3. Dead Poets Society
4. Field of Dreams *
5. My Left Foot

1988

1. Rain Man *
2. Mississippi Burning
3. Dangerous Liaisons
4. Working Girl
5. The Accidental Tourist

1987

1. The Last Emperor *
2. Broadcast News
3. Hope and Glory
4. Fatal Attraction
5. Moonstruck

1986

1. Platoon *
2. The Mission
3. Hannah and Her Sisters
4. Children of a Lesser God
5. A Room with a View

1985

1. The Color Purple *
2. Out of Africa
3. Prizzi’s Honor
4. Witness
5. Kiss of the Spider Woman

1984

1. Amadeus *
2. The Killing Fields
3. Places in the Heart
4. A Passage to India
5. A Soldier’s Story

1983

1. Terms of Endearment
2. The Right Stuff *
3. The Big Chill
4. Tender Mercies
5. The Dresser

1982

1. Gandhi
2. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
3. Tootsie
4. The Verdict *
5. Missing

1981

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark *
2. Reds
3. Chariots of Fire
4. On Golden Pond
5. Atlantic City

1980

1. Raging Bull *
2. Ordinary People
3. The Elephant Man
4. Coal Miner’s Daughter
5. Tess

1979

1. Apocalypse Now *
2. All That Jazz
3. Kramer vs. Kramer
4. Breaking Away
5. Norma Rae

1978

1. The Deer Hunter *
2. Midnight Express
3. Coming Home
4. Heaven Can Wait
5. An Unmarried Woman

1977

1. Annie Hall
2. Star Wars *
3. Julia
4. The Goodbye Girl
5. The Turning Point

1976

1. Rocky *
2. All the President’s Men
3. Network
4. Taxi Driver
5. Bound for Glory

1975

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
2. Nashville
3. Jaws
4. Dog Day Afternoon *
5. Barry Lyndon

1974

1. The Godfather Part II *
2. Chinatown
3. The Conversation
4. Lenny
5. The Towering Inferno

1973

1. The Sting *
2. The Exorcist
3. American Graffiti
4. A Touch of Class
5. Cries and Whispers

1972

1. The Godfather *
2. Cabaret
3. Deliverance
4. Sounder
5. The Emigrants

1971

1. The French Connection *
2. The Last Picture Show
3. A Clockwork Orange
4. Fiddler on the Roof
5. Nicholas and Alexandra

1970

1. Patton
2. Love Story *
3. Five Easy Pieces
4. MASH
5. Airport

1969

1. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid *
2. Midnight Cowboy
3. Z
4. Anne of the Thousand Days
5. Hello, Dolly!

1968

1. The Lion in Winter *
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. Oliver!
4. Funny Girl
5. Rachel, Rachel

1967

1. Bonnie and Clyde
2. The Graduate *
3. In the Heat of the Night
4. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
5. Doctor Dolittle

1966

1. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? *
2. A Man for All Seasons
3. Alfie
4. The Sand Pebbles
5. The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming

1965

1. The Sound of Music *
2. Doctor Zhivago
3. Darling
4. Ship of Fools
5. A Thousand Clowns

1964

1. My Fair Lady
2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb *
3. Mary Poppins
4. Becket
5. Zorba the Greek

1963

1. America America
2. Cleopatra
3. How the West Was Won *
4. Tom Jones
5. Lilies of the Field

1962

1. Lawrence of Arabia *
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. The Longest Day
4. The Music Man
5. Mutiny on the Bounty

1961

1. West Side Story *
2. Judgment at Nuremberg
3. The Hustler
4. The Guns of Navarone
5. Fanny

1960

1. The Apartment *
2. The Sundowners
3. Elmer Gantry
4. The Alamo
5. Sons and Lovers

1959

1. Ben-Hur
2. The Diary of Anne Frank
3. Anatomy of a Murder *
4. Room at the Top
5. The Nun’s Story

1958

1. The Defiant Ones *
2. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
3. Gigi
4. Separate Tables
5. Auntie Mame

1957

1. The Bridge on the River Kwai *
2. 12 Angry Men
3. Witness for the Prosecution
4. Sayonara
5. Peyton Place

1956

1. Giant *
2. Around the World in 80 Days
3. The Ten Commandments
4. The King and I
5. Friendly Persuasion

1955

1. Marty *
2. Mister Roberts
3. Picnic
4. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
5. The Rose Tattoo

1954

1. On the Waterfront *
2. The Caine Mutiny
3. The Country Girl
4. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
5. Three Coins in the Fountain

1953

1. From Here to Eternity
2. Roman Holiday *
3. Shane
4. Julius Caesar
5. The Robe

1952

1. The Quiet Man *
2. High Noon
3. Moulin Rouge
4. The Greatest Show on Earth
5. Ivanhoe

1951

1. A Streetcar Named Desire *
2. A Place in the Sun
3. An American in Paris
4. Decision Before Dawn
5. Quo Vadis

1950

1. All About Eve
2. Sunset Boulevard *
3. Born Yesterday
4. Father of the Bride
5. King Solomon’s Mines

1949

1. All the King’s Men
2. Battleground *
3. The Heiress
4. A Letter to Three Wives
5. Twelve O’Clock High

1948

1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre *
2. The Red Shoes
3. Hamlet
4. Johnny Belinda
5. The Snake Pit

1947

1. Gentleman’s Agreement *
2. Miracle on 34th Street
3. Great Expectations
4. The Bishop’s Wife
5. Crossfire

1946

1. The Best Years of Our Lives
2. It’s a Wonderful Life *
3. Henry V
4. The Yearling
5. The Razor’s Edge

1945

1. The Lost Weekend *
2. Mildred Pierce
3. Spellbound
4. Anchors Aweigh
5. The Bells of St. Mary’s

1944

1. Double Indemnity *
2. Going My Way
3. Since You Went Away
4. Gaslight
5. Wilson

1943

1. Casablanca *
2. The Ox-Bow Incident
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls
4. The Song of Bernadette
5. Heaven Can Wait
6. In Which We Serve
7. The Human Comedy
8. The More the Merrier
9. Watch on the Rhine
10. Madame Curie

1942

1. Mrs. Miniver
2. Random Harvest *
3. Yankee Doodle Dandy
4. The Magnificent Ambersons
5. The Pride of the Yankees
6. 49th Parallel
7. Wake Island
8. The Pied Piper
9. Kings Row
10. The Talk of the Town

1941

1. Citizen Kane *
2. How Green Was My Valley
3. The Maltese Falcon
4. Sergeant York
5. Here Comes Mr. Jordan
6. Blossoms in the Dust
7. The Little Foxes
8. Suspicion
9. Hold Back the Dawn
10. One Foot in Heaven

1940

1. The Grapes of Wrath *
2. The Great Dictator
3. Rebecca
4. The Philadelphia Story
5. Foreign Correspondent
6. The Letter
7. The Long Voyage Home
8. Our Town
9. Kitty Foyle
10. All This, and Heaven Too

1939

1. Gone With the Wind *
2. The Wizard of Oz
3. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
4. Stagecoach
5. Goodbye, Mr. Chips
6. Love Affair
7. Ninotchka
8. Wuthering Heights
9. Dark Victory
10. Of Mice and Men

1938

1. Grand Illusion *
2. The Adventures of Robin Hood
3. You Can’t Take It With You
4. Pygmalion
5. Boys Town
6. Jezebel
7. Test Pilot
8. The Citadel
9. Alexander’s Ragtime Band
10. Four Daughters

1937

1. A Star Is Born *
2. The Awful Truth
3. Captains Courageous
4. Lost Horizon
5. The Good Earth
6. The Life of Emile Zola
7. Dead End
8. Stage Door
9. In Old Chicago
10. One Hundred Men and a Girl

1936

1. The Great Ziegfeld
2. Dodsworth *
3. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
4. San Francisco
5. Libeled Lady
6. Anthony Adverse
7. The Story of Louis Pasteur
8. Romeo and Juliet
9. Three Smart Girls
10. A Tale of Two Cities

1935

1. Mutiny on the Bounty
2. The Informer
3. Top Hat *
4. Ruggles of Red Gap
5. Alice Adams
6. Captain Blood
7. Les Misérables
8. A Midnight Summer’s Dream
9. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
10. David Copperfield
11. Naughty Marietta
12. Broadway Melody of 1936

1934

1. It Happened One Night
2. The Thin Man *
3. The Gay Divorcee
4. Imitation of Life
5. Cleopatra
6. The Barretts of Wimpole Street
7. The House of Rothschild
8. Here Comes the Navy
9. Flirtation Walk
10. One Night of Love
11. Viva Villa!
12. The White Parade

1932-1933

1. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang *
2. 42nd Street
3. A Farewell to Arms
4. Lady for a Day
5. State Fair
6. Cavalcade
7. Little Women
8. Smilin’ Through
9. The Private Life of Henry VIII
10. She Done Him Wrong

1931-1932

1. Grand Hotel *
2. The Champ
3. Bad Girl
4. One Hour With You
5. The Smiling Lieutenant
6. Five Star Final
7. Shanghai Express
8. Arrowsmith

1930-1931

1. Cimarron
2. The Front Page
3. Skippy *
4. Trader Horn
5. East Lynne

1929-1930

1. All Quiet on the Western Front *
2. The Love Parade
3. The Big House
4. The Divorcee
5. Disraeli

1928-1929

1. The Broadway Melody *
2. In Old Arizona
3. Alibi
4. The Hollywood Revue of 1929
5. The Patriot (LOST)

1927-1928

Outstanding Production:

1. Wings
2. Seventh Heaven *
3. The Racket

Unique or Artistic Production:

1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans *
2. The Crowd
3. Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness

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