If I Ran The Oscars... (1991 - )

IF I RAN THE OSCARS...
(1991 - )

With Bong Joon-Ho's wonderful 'Parasite' continuing to break box-office records as well as my recent re-watch of every Best Winner from the 1970's, the Oscars have been on my mind a lot recently - specifically how often the Academy manages to get it so disastrously wrong. From 'Driving Miss Daisy' to 'Crash' to 'How Green Was My Valley', the coveted award for Best Picture has gone to the wrong film time and time again and while many of the winners are indeed great cinema, it is the snubs and the omissions that usually dominate the proceedings and the media headlines. So, as another awards season comes to an end, I am going back through the last 28 years of my life to prove that the films that win Best Picture aren't always necessarily the very best films of the year.

To be clear, I will only be selecting movies that were nominated in their respective years because as much as I love such wonderful oddities as 'The Raid : Berendal', 'Berberian Sound Studio' or 'A Monster Calls' (all 3 of which topped my lists for their individual years), there was no way they would ever be in contention for the big prize. This is merely a facetious bit of fun that is not in anyway intended to offend those who are enamoured with the movies I feel were undeservedly awarded - that is unless you like 'Shakespeare In Love'...

1991 - WINNER
'The Silence Of The Lambs'
Dir. Jonathan Demme

MY CHOICE -
'Beauty & The Beast'
Dirs. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise


1992 - WINNER
'Unforgiven'
Dir. Clint Eastwood

MY CHOICE -
'A Few Good Men'
Dir. Rob Reiner


1993 - WINNER
'Schindler's List'
Dir. Steven Spielberg

MY CHOICE -
'Schindler's List'
Dir. Steven Spielberg



Schindler's List : The first of two Spielberg films to win Best Picture in my alternative universe


1994 - WINNER
'Forrest Gump'
Dir. Robert Zemeckis

MY CHOICE -
'The Shawshank Redemption'
Dir. Frank Darabont


1995 - WINNER
'Braveheart'
Dir. Mel Gibson

MY CHOICE -
'Apollo 13'
Dir. Ron Howard


1996 - WINNER
'The English Patient'
Dir. Anthony Minghella

MY CHOICE -
'Fargo'
Dir. Joel Coen


1997 - WINNER
'Titanic'
Dir. James Cameron

MY CHOICE -
'Good Will Hunting'
Dir. Gus Van Sant



Good Will Hunting : The chemistry between Robin and Matt is far more captivating than that of Kate and Leo


1998 - WINNER
'Shakespeare In Love'
Dir. John Madden

MY  CHOICE -
'Saving Private Ryan'
Dir. Steven Spielberg


1999 - WINNER
'American Beauty'
Dir. Sam Mendes

MY CHOICE -
'The Green Mile'
Dir. Frank Darabont


2000 - WINNER
'Gladiator'
Dir. Ridley Scott

MY CHOICE -
'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'
Dir. Ang Lee


2001 - WINNER
'A Beautiful Mind'
Dir. Ron Howard

MY CHOICE -
'The Lord Of The Rings : The Fellowship Of The Ring'
Dir. Peter Jackson


2002 - WINNER
'Chicago'
Dir. Rob Marshall

MY CHOICE -
'Gangs Of New York'
Dir. Martin Scorsese



Gangs Of New York : Knife wielding maniacs win over glitzy song numbers every time


2003 - WINNER
'The Lord Of The Rings : The Return Of The King'
Dir. Peter Jackson

MY CHOICE -
'The Lord Of The Rings : The Return Of The King'
Dir. Peter Jackson


2004 - WINNER
'Million Dollar Baby'
Dir. Clint Eastwood

MY CHOICE -
'Million Dollar Baby'
Dir. Clint Eastwood


2005 - WINNER
'Crash'
Dir. Paul Haggis

MY CHOICE -
'Brokeback Mountain'
Dir. Ang Lee


2006 - WINNER
'The Departed'
Dir. Martin Scorsese

MY CHOICE -
'Little Miss Sunshine'
Dirs. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris


2007 - WINNER
'No Country For Old Men'
Dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen

MY CHOICE -
'There Will Be Blood'
Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson



There Will Be Blood : Oil be damned, what a film


2008 - WINNER
'Slumdog Millionaire'
Dir. Danny Boyle

MY CHOICE -
'Slumdog Millionaire'
Dir. Danny Boyle


2009 - WINNER
'The Hurt Locker'
Dir. Kathryn Bigelow

MY CHOICE -
'Up'
Dirs. Bob Peterson and Pete Docter


2010 - WINNER
'The King's Speech'
Dir. Tom Hooper

MY CHOICE -
'Black Swan'
Dir. Darren Aronofsky


2011 - WINNER
'The Artist'
Dir. Michel Hazanavicius

MY CHOICE -
'Hugo'
Dir. Martin Scorsese


2012 - WINNER
'Argo'
Dir. Ben Affleck

MY CHOICE -
'Life Of Pi'
Dir. Ang Lee



Life Of Pi : The second film by Ang Lee to win the top prize. Well, at least in my mind anyway


2013 - WINNER
'12 Years A Slave'
Dir. Steve McQueen

MY CHOICE -
'12 Years A Slave'
Dir. Steve McQueen


2014 - WINNER
'Birdman : Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance'
Dir. Alejandro G. Innaritu

MY CHOICE -
'Whiplash'
Dir. Damien Chazelle


2015 - WINNER
'Spotlight'
Dir. Tom McCarthy

MY CHOICE -
'Room'
Dir. Lenny Abrahamson


2016 - WINNER
'Moonlight'
Dir. Barry Jenkins

MY CHOICE -
'La La Land'
Dir. Damien Chazelle


2017 - WINNER
'The Shape Of Water'
Dir. Guillermo Del Toro

MY CHOICE -
'Get Out'
Dir. Jordan Peele


Get Out : Jordan Peele's creepy masterpiece is the only horror movie to deserve the Best Picture award 


2018 - WINNER
'Green Book'
Dir. Peter Farrelly

MY CHOICE -
'BlackKklansman'
Dir. Spike Lee


2019 - WINNER
'Parasite'
Dir. Bong Joon-Ho

MY CHOICE -
'Parasite'
Dir. Bong Joon-Ho