Last month "Green Book" was crowned the best picture winner at the 91st Academy Awards. That got me thinking. This is 2019. Next year is 2020, which is a brand new decade. Does that mean we now have a complete list of best picture winners for the 2010's? Time for a list? Now I had to stop and think about that for a second because there's two ways of doing this. You could go by the year in which the movies were released OR you could go by the year in which the awards were handed out. There's a good argument for both ways. I've obviously chosen to do this based on the year in which the awards were handed out, mostly because I have plenty of other end-of-decade lists I want to do at this time next year and so doing this best picture winners list now is a way to space things out a bit. But sure, I could've started with "The King's Speech" and gone through whatever 2019 film wins best picture at next year's ceremony. But I'm not. I'm starting with "The Hurt Locker," a 2009 release that actually first debuted at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, but won best picture at the 2010 Academy Awards. See how the release date route can be confusing? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. If this is popular enough, I might go back in time and do the previous decades, too. So let me know what you think!
10- The Hurt Locker (2010)
Speaking of "The Hurt Locker," that's exactly where we're beginning. I might be at a disadvantage here because until last week, "The Hurt Locker" was the one best picture winner from this decade that I hadn't seen. So it was awfully convenient of Netflix to put it up on there service in the beginning of March. Oddly enough, despite this having won best picture, I've heard nothing but bad about it. When I was searching it on Google, there was even one headline I noticed that said something to the effect of "'The Hurt Locker' is now on Netflix so that you can remind yourself of how awful it is." I had a hard time believe that, though. I mean, this won best picture for a reason, right? And Katheryn Bigelow went onto direct "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Detroit," the latter of which I love and the former I've heard nothing but good things. So I definitely didn't want to just jump on a hate bandwagon here, but for the life of me I can't figure out WHY this won best picture. It's one of those movies that's just war for the sake of war. There's no real plot to follow and the characters aren't all that interesting. I was bored the whole movie. Did this win just because it was a movie about the Iraqi War that came out right end of George Bush's presidency? That's the only thing I can think of at this point.
9- The Shape of Water (2018)
When I first walked out of the theater for this movie, I felt quite mesmerized and enchanted. This was such a beautiful movie that felt so fresh and unique. So kudos to this movie for taking me on quite the emotional adventure. However, said feeling lasted about 30 seconds. I was ready to tell the world how unique this was, but then I came to realize that this is not unique at all. Just think about any movie that tells the story about a human, often an outcast, who finds or meets an alien, monster, or creature and develops a relationship or friendship with said creature, only to have to figure out what to do when the government or other organization is trying to get rid of the creature. This covers just about anything from "E.T." to "Beauty and the Beast." This is exactly what "The Shape of Water" is without veering from the path at all. The only thing that makes this unique is, well, things get a bit too awkward with Sally Hawkins and the fish man. I know this wasn't the best field of best picture contenders, but our options did include "Lady Bird" (my favorite movie that year), "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and "Get Out." With those three movies on the table, it was disappointing to see a movie as forgettable as this to walk home with the big prize.
8- The Artist (2012)
A gimmick is what we call this one. I mean, just think about it. They made a silent film in 2011 about a veteran actor who was having troubles transitioning from silent films to talkies. If you loved this movie, did you love it because it's unique and different or because you love classic cinema and this gave you a trip down memory lane? Nostalgia vomit is another term I could use. And because the Academy loves patting themselves on the back, they gave this one best picture because films that pay tribute to classic cinema are the best type of Oscar bait. They'll usually fall for it every time. And yes, to be fair, this is one of the movies I went back and re-watched because it had been a while and I wanted it fresh on my mind before I typed this up. And yeah, if I'm being honest, if I'm in the mood for a movie about the struggles of transitioning from silent film to sound, I'm going to go throw in "Singin' in the Rain" and not "The Artist." However, even though this is a gimmick, it's a well done gimmick. The sound design is excellent and the acting is superb, so the movie does take you on an emotional journey. I just wish that if we were going to have fun by doing a silent film in the modern era that we would've come up with a more unique plot. As is, I'll just stick with my Charlie Chaplin.
7- The King's Speech (2011)
Yeah, we're on a bit of a losing streak here with this decade's best picture winners. This is a fairly weak group of best picture winners, especially when compared to previous decades. However, we are getting slowly better as we progress forward through this list. "The King's Speech" is certainly not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's quite the beautiful character study that is rather inspiring. It's just that I've had this grudge against it for the longest time. 2010 was the year where I had one of the most mind-blowing movie-going experiences of my life in "Inception" while also bawling my face off with "Toy Story 3." And yet the Academy gives the win to "The King's Speech"? It made no sense to me, especially back in early 2011 when I didn't follow the Oscars very closely. However, in the years since I've become much more heavily invested in the Oscars, almost to the point of obsession. So in hindsight, eight years later, this win makes sense. We don't award animated movies, we ignore giant blockbusters, and we certainly don't give Christopher Nolan the time of day. Historical movies that teach a good lesson are the way to go. So it makes sense. And if I separate this movie from the competition, it's a good movie. It was unfair of me to be so harsh on it.
6- Moonlight (2017)
I was get a bit nervous when talking about "Moonlight." I know so many people who would have this movie at the top of this specific list without question. It would also be super high up on many lists all-time of best picture winners. And I certainly don't have anything negative to say about it. It's a very well-made movie with a lot of important themes. But at the same time, it's also about a gay black kid growing up in harsh neighborhoods and what that life is like. I'm not the target audience there. I'm a straight white guy who grew up in a very nice neighborhood. I'll fully admit that I've lived a very privileged life. That certainly doesn't make me any better than someone else. It just means that I don't have the personal experience to connect with "Moonlight" on the same level that many others do. I appreciated the experience that this movie gave me because I do my best to learn different perspectives and this gave me a snapshot of what it's like for many people. But that's the thing. I appreciated it more than I personally loved it. I'm sorry, but I wanted "La La Land" to win best picture that year. That's the movie that connected with me personally on a deep level. And I do feel bad the two movies will be forever connected given the drama behind the announcement.
5- Green Book (2019)
OK, fine. Hate me if you want for putting the white man's racism movie above "Moonlight," but that's just how it goes when I'm typing up my personal choices. The bottom half of this list had a lot more negativity, but the top half of this list is where things become a lot more positive. And I couldn't help myself with being totally charmed by "Green Book." I didn't expect it to WIN best picture after I saw it in November, but when they announced it as the shocking upset over "Roma," I wasn't angry either. In my mind, there were only three deserving candidates out of the eight nominees and "Green Book" was one of them, with "BlacKkKlansman" and "A Star is Born" being the other two. Yes, I know the movie didn't dive as deep as they could've and I'm fully aware of what Don Shirley's family has said about this, but I'm fine with a user friendly movie about the troubles of racism and in a game of "he said, she said," I can only go by what I saw on the screen. I loved the buddy, road trip comedy feel that this movie gave. Both Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali knocked it out of the park with their performances as they shared a special onscreen bond that made it a joy to watch their journey unfold. It was two very different characters coming together to overcome the troubles of the day.
4- Argo (2013)
I think the 2013 best picture class may be the best overall class this decade. Case in point, "Argo" is listed here as my fourth favorite best picture winner, but it's towards the bottom in its own class as "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" are easily better movies than it. Those are some of my personal favorites of the decade, actually. And I haven't even seen "Zero Dark Thirty," "Amour" or "Beasts of the Southern Wild," but I've heard great things about those three as well. So yeah, of course I was a little disappointed to see "Argo" win against such heavyweights, but on its own this is a fascinating story of the great lengths they went to in creating a fake studio and a fake screenplay in order to rescue a group of hostages in Iran. They did such a good job with this rouse that I read that after the fact, they got a whole bunch of screenplays sent to them from filmmakers here in a America that thought they were an actual studio ran by the CIA. Sure, the nail-biting elements of this movie's finale were a complete work and the movie also didn't get Canada enough credit for their role in this. But this was still a well executed film that got the spirit of the story right. Great effort from Ben Affleck in a time where his casting as Batman was not well received.
3- 12 Years a Slave (2014)
This was a tough one to place. As this decade's "Schindler's List," this is an absolutely amazing film that I think is important for every adult to watch at least once in their lives so they can truly understand the dark history that was slavery in the United States during the 1800's. This specific story is extremely tragic as it tells the true story of a black man who was born and raised a free man, but got mugged one day as an adult by a couple of white thugs and sold into slavery. And this does not hold back when it comes to the horrors of slavery. At the same time, though, it's very honest as it shows that there were slave owners that treated their slaves very well. But when we got to Michael Fassbender's portrayal of a down-right cold-hearted evil slave owner, things got real brutal and this became a very hard movie to watch. Thus I saw it once in theaters, put it as my No. 2 film of that year, behind only "Gravity," and never had a desire to watch it again. Because, yeah, like "Schindler's List," you don't just casually throw in "12 Years a Slave" when you're bored on a Friday night. As I said, it's a movie that every adult should watch once for educational purposes, but no one needs to watch twice. With just one watch, though, the movie will be forever printed on your mind.
2- Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2015)
One of my favorite movie-going experiences is when you find that film that completely blows your mind and leaves you lost in thought for days, which is exactly what happened to me with "Birdman." I'll never forget the feeling I had when the credits rolled and I walked out of the theater to my car, resulting in a fantastic drive home as I got to spend some quality time with myself and my thoughts. "Birdman" is a movie that immediately grabs you as some magical editing tricks give the illusion that the whole movie was filmed in one take, much like Hitchcock's "Rope." Sure, you can call that a gimmick if you want, but that's not why this movie is good. It's simply one of the many things that make this nearly a perfect movie. The story itself is about an old, washed-up actor who used to play a popular superhero, but fell off the map and is trying to make a comeback by writing and directing his own play. Not only was that reflective of Michael Keaton's own career at the time, which successfully relaunched him back into stardom, but it provided an excellent base for some fascinating characters and extraordinary themes. I said this when I initially reviewed the movie and it still holds true now. This is the perfect type of movie that could be studied in film classes for years to come.
1- Spotlight (2016)
As a whole, this decade is far from the best when it comes to the class of best picture winners. Perhaps if nominees like "La La Land," "Boyhood," "Lady Bird," "Django Unchained" or "Inception" had actually won, it would be a different conversation. That said, a top three consisting of "Spotlight," "Birdman" and "12 Years a Slave" is certainly not a bad trio of films to top this list. "Spotlight" is my personal choice for my favorite best picture of the decade because it's the one that felt most personal to me. I'm a recent Journalism graduate and even though I haven't found "the dream job" yet, "Spotlight" is a movie that came out right as I was in the thick of things in regards to my studies and it showcased the power of investigative journalism, thus giving me a great feeling that I was on a great path and that I can make a true difference in this world if I work hard enough in this field. It was also an eye-opening film as I had no idea how serious the situation was with child molestation in the Catholic church, so I feel that this was also one of the most important films of the decade. It was also the one year this decade where I felt my favorite movie of the year actually won best picture. Even though I officially listed it as No. 3 that year, it was more of a three-way tie for No. 1 for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment