Best Picture of 1976

Nominees:
All The President’s Men
Bound For Glory
Network
Rocky
Taxi Driver

Winner:
Rocky

Story: The “Italian Stallion”, Rocky Balboa, is an aspiring boxer in downtown Philadelphia. His one chance to make a better life for himself is through his boxing. He meets and falls in love with Adrian, a girl who works in the local pet store. Through a publicity stunt, Rocky is set up to fight Apollo Creed, the current heavyweight champion who is already set to win. But Rocky really needs to triumph, against all the odds...hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Sylvester Stallone wrote the script in three days after he saw a boxing match between the unknown Chuck Wepner and Muhammad Ali. Unlike Rocky, Wepner was unable to last the distance and was TKO'd in the fifteenth round. Sylvester Stallone sold the rights to make this film with the condition that he be cast in the title role. Producers offered him $150,000 to let Ryan O'Neal play the part. Stallone became the third person to be nominated for both acting and writing in the same year, following Charles Chaplin for The Great Dictator (1940) and Orson Welles for Citizen Kane (1941).

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Rocky? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Crash

Several stories crash together during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters who are mostly racist, a black police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, and a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets. Hilarity ensues.

This was a very powerful movie. The interaction between the characters in the cynical, cyclical story really makes you think about racial issues. There are misunderstandings and stereotyping everywhere. Even the "good guys," the ones seemingly with morals, end up not being so good and even become the worst of all. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is ruled by their own prejudices. Even a little girl who hides under her own bed because she is afraid of being shot by a stranger. You sit and watch and want to yell at the screen "You idiot, why are you doing that!" You like the characters, and hate the characters at the same time and you hope to God that you aren't like that. As Matt Dillon's character asks "You think you know who you are? You have no idea."

Trivia: Arnold Schwarzenegger makes an appearance in the film. Not as an actor, but as the Governor of California - his photo in a frame hangs on the wall of Lt. Dixon's office (Ryan Phillippe's boss).

Best Picture of 2004

Nominees:
The Aviator
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Sideways

Winner:
Million Dollar Baby

Story: Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), a poor thirty-one years old waiter from the very lower classes and with a dysfunctional family, decides to make a difference through boxing. She convinces the experienced hardened boxing trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to coach her and be her manager, with the support of his old partner Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Morgan Freeman), who sees her potential as a boxer. Frankie has a problem of relationship with his daughter, and practically adopts Maggie along her career. Hilary ensues.

Trivia: Sandra Bullock was the first actress attached to play Maggie, and she wanted to pursue Shekhar Kapur as a director. By the time a studio expressed an interest in the project, her commitment to Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) prevented her from doing the film.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Million Dollar Baby? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 2003

Nominees:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost In Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

Winner:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Story: The Fellowship divides to conquer as Frodo and Sam, with the help and hindrance of Gollum, continue their way to Mount Doom. Gandalf and Pippin ride to Minas Tirith to help defend Gondor while Merry remains with Eowyn and the other Rohan fighters. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli seek aid from those that live in the Cursed Mountains. All these battles have one goal in mind: distract the Eye of Sauron and buy Frodo a little more time to destroy the ring. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Return of the King tied with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) to win the most Oscars (11) in a single year. With 35 letters and one punctuation mark, Return of the King has the longest title of any Best Picture Oscar Winner.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Return of the King? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 2002

Nominees:
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist

Winner:
Chicago

Story: Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a married chorus girl with hopes of being a headliner in Vaudeville. Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a former headliner. What do these two have in common? They both are murderesses. Roxie killed her lover when he walked out on her, and Velma killed her husband and sister, who were having an affair. Hilarity ensues. Chicago's newspapers love the nitty-gritty and Velma is at the top of the headlines. But then Roxie comes along and Velma is old news. They find themselves competing for not only the press' attention, but also the focus of their shared lawyer, the suave Billy Flynn (Richard Gere). Add to the mix a sob sister, Roxie's hapless husband Amos, and a warm prison matron who watches out for her girls (if there's something in it for her), and you have Chicago.

Trivia: The director wanted Catherine Zeta-Jones to wear her natural long hair in the movie, but she insisted on the short bob. She explained to People magazine that she didn't want her hair to fall over her face and give people a reason to doubt that she did all the dancing herself.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Chicago? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 2001

Nominees:
A Beautiful Mind
Gosford Park
In The Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge

Winner:
A Beautiful Mind

Story: From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Russell Crowe) experienced it all. A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his tragedy, and finally - late in life - received the Nobel Prize. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The problem that John Nash writes on the blackboard in his lecture is a real one (unlike in other movies, where math on boards is usually either too simple or fake). There is an important theorem in mathematical physics that directly says the answer to this is 1. Later, when he discusses the problem with Alicia, he makes additional restrictions for the solution, without which the problem is much harder, so he is pretty confident she didn't solve it.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like A beautiful Mind? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 2000

Nominees:
Chocolat
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Erin Brockovich
Gladiator
Traffic

Winner:
Gladiator

Story: Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a powerful Roman general, loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Before his death, the Emperor chooses Maximus to be his heir over his own son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), and a power struggle leaves Maximus and his family condemned to death. The powerful general is unable to save his family, and his loss of will allows him to get captured and put into the Gladiator games until he dies. The only desire that fuels him now is the chance to rise to the top so that he will be able to look into the eyes of the man who will feel his revenge. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Oliver Reed, who played Proximo, suffered a fatal heart attack during filming. Some of his sequences had to be re-edited and a double, photographed in the shadows and with a 3D CGI mask of Reed's face, was used as a stand-in. Among the changes necessitated by the death of Oliver Reed was the final scene, as it was supposed to have been Proximo who buried the figures in the sand of the Coliseum. The film is dedicated to his memory.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Gladiator? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1999

Nominees:
American Beauty
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Sixth Sense

Winner:
American Beauty

Story: Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) are on the outside, a perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. But inside, Lester is slipping deeper and deeper into a hopeless depression. He finally snaps when he becomes infatuated with one of his daughters friends. Meanwhile, his daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is developing a happy friendship with a shy boy-next-door named Ricky who lives with a homophobic father. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Thora Birch was only 17, so filming her brief nude scene required permission from her parents, who were both on the set during the filming along with child labor representatives.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like American Beauty? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1998

Nominees:
Elizabeth
Life Is Beautiful
Saving Private Ryan
Shakespeare in Love
The Thin Red Line

Winner:
Shakespeare in Love

Story: Young playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) struggles with his latest work "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter". A great fan of Shakespeare's plays is young, wealthy Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) who is about to be married to the cold-hearted Lord Wessex, but constantly dreams of becoming an actress. Women were not allowed to act on stage at that time (female roles were played by men, too), but dressed up as a boy, Viola successfully auditions for the part of Romeo. Soon she and William are caught in a forbidden romance that provides rich inspiration for his play. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: 1998 was the only year that two actors were nominated for Academy Awards for playing the same character in two different films in the same year. Dame Judi Dench was nominated (and won) for Best Supporting Actress for playing Queen Elizabeth I in this movie and Cate Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress for portraying Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998)

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Shakespeare In Love? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1997

Nominees:
As Good As It Gets
The Full Monty
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential
Titanic

Winner:
Titanic

Story: Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) is a treasure hunter looking for a famous diamond among the debris of the Titanic. He finds a sketch in a safebox in which a young woman is wearing the diamond on a necklace. After showing the drawing on a TV program, Rose Dawson (Kate Winslet/Gloria Stuart), an old lady comes forward claiming to be the woman in the drawing. She is brought to the explorer's vessel to help them determine the location of the diamond, but instead she tells everyone the "real" story of Titanic's sinking. She was a 17 year-old rich girl sailing to the USA to get married with Cal Hockley. Her mother was forcing her to get married so she felt trapped inside her own world. During the trip she tries to commit suicide and she is saved by Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a third-class passenger who travels around making pencil drawings. They get to know each other better until they fall in love. Hockley and Rose's mother try to separate them several times...hilarity ensues

Spoiler Warning (Plot and/or ending details follow): Amidst all this confusion the Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks.

Trivia: Jack's sketch of Rose wearing the necklace was drawn by director James Cameron; it's his hands we see drawing the picture. Cameron also drew all the other pictures in Jack's sketchbook.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Titanic? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1996

Nominees:
The English Patient
Fargo
Jerry Maguire
Secrets & Lies
Shine

Winner:
The English Patient

Story: Beginning in the 1930's, "The English Patient" tells the story of Count Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) who is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almasy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics that is later revealed in a series of flashbacks while Almasy is on his death bed after being horribly burned in a plane crash. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: When Twentieth Century Fox was involved in the film, they tried to talk the producers out of casting Willem Dafoe and suggested three choices for the role of Caravaggio: John Goodman, Danny DeVito, or Richard Dreyfuss.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like The English Patient? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1995

Nominees:
Apollo 13
Babe
Braveheart
The Postman (Il Postino)
Sense and Sensibility

Winner:
Braveheart

Story: William Wallace (Mel Gibson) is a Scottish rebel who leads an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks, who wishes to inherit the crown of Scotland for himself. When he was a young boy, William Wallace's father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. Once he loses another of his loved ones, William Wallace begins his long quest to make Scotland free once and for all, along with the assistance of Robert the Bruce. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The extras used for the battle scenes were mostly members of the F.C.A., the Irish version of the Territorial Army. As they were drawn from many different army companies, and the members of these are usually drawn from the same locality, local rivalry between such companies is common. Apparently, some of the battle scenes seen in the movie are far more realistic than you might imagine, with rival companies actually using the occasion to try the beat the tar out of each other.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Braveheart? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1994

Nominees:
Forrest Gump
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption

Winner:
Forrest Gump

Story: The story follows the life of low I.Q. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) and his meeting with the love of his life Jenny. The film chronicles his accidental experiences with some of the most important people and events in America from the late 1950's through the 1970's including a meeting with Elvis Presley, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, fighting in Vietnam, etc. The problem is, he's too slow to realize the significance of his actions. Forrest becomes representative of the baby boomer generation having walked through life blindly. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: All of the still photos of Forrest show him with his eyes closed.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Forrest Gump? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1993

Nominees:
The Fugitive
In the Name of the Father
The Piano
The Remains of the Day
Schindler’s List

Winner:
Schindler’s List

Story: Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a vain, glorious and greedy German businessman who becomes unlikely humanitarian amid the barbaric Nazi reign when he feels compelled to turn his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who managed to save about 1100 Jews from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Steven Spielberg was not paid for this film. He refused to accept a salary citing that it would be "blood money". At his insistence, all royalties and residuals from this film that would normally have gone to him instead are given to the Shoah Foundation, which records and preserves written and videotaped testimonies from survivors of genocide worldwide, including the Holocaust.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Shindler’s List? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1992

Nominees:
The Crying Game
A Few Good Men
Howard’s End
Scent of A Woman
Unforgiven

Winner:
Unforgiven

Story: The town of Big Whisky is full of normal people trying to lead quiet lives. Cowboys try to make a living. Sheriff “Little Bill” (Gene Hackman) tries to build a house and keep a heavy-handed order. The town prostitutes just try to get by. Then a couple of cowboys cut up a prostitute. Unsatisfied with Bill's justice, the prostitutes put a bounty on the cowboys. The bounty attracts a young gun billing himself as “The Schofield Kid”, and aging killer William Munny (Clint Eastwood). Munny reformed for his young wife, and has been raising crops and two children in peace. But his wife is gone. Farm life is hard. And Munny is no good at it. So he calls his old partner Ned (Morgan Freeman), saddles his ornery nag, and rides off to kill one more time, blurring the lines between heroism and villainy, man and myth. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Only the third western to win the Best Picture behind Dances With Wolves (1990) and Cimarron (1931).

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Unforgiven? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1991

Nominees:
Beauty and the Beast
Bugsy
JFK
The Prince of Tides
The Silence of the Lambs

Winner:
The Silence of the Lambs

Story: Young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer, named Buffalo Bill, who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), who used to be a respected psychiatrist. FBI agent Jack Crawford believes that Lecter, who is also a very powerful and clever mind manipulator, has the answers to their questions to help locate the killer. Clarice must first try and gain Lecter's confidence before he will give away any information. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Was the first movie to be available on home video BEFORE winning Best Picture. Became only the third movie ever to win the Grand Slam (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writing) and first since One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Silence of the Lambs? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1990

Nominees:
Awakenings
Dances With Wolves
Ghost
The Godfather, Part III
Good Fellas

Winner:
Dances With Wolves

Story: Lt. John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Indian tribe. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe, and discovers a white woman who was raised by the Indians. He gradually earns the respect of these native people, and sheds his white-man's ways. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: To add realism to the movie, a language coach was brought in to teach Lakota to cast members who did not know how to speak it. Because of the difficulty in learning the language, the "gendered speech" aspects of the language were omitted from the lessons. When native speakers of Lakota saw the finished film, they found it amusing to hear Lakota warriors talking like women.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Dances With Wolves? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1989

Nominees:
Born on the Fourth of July
Dead Poets Society
Driving Miss Daisy
Field of Dreams
My Left Foot

Winner:
Driving Miss Daisy

Story: An elderly Jewish widow (Jessica Tandy) living in Atlanta can no longer drive. Her son insists she allow him to hire a driver, which in the 1950s meant a black man. She resists any change in her life but, Hoke (Morgan Freeman), the driver is hired by her son. She refuses to allow him to drive her anywhere at first, but Hoke slowly wins her over with his native good graces. Hilarity ensues. It covers over twenty years of the pair's life together as they slowly build a relationship that transcends their differences.

Trivia: Jessica Tandy won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Daisy Werthan. At age 81, she is the oldest winner of a Best Actress Oscar. So convinced was she that she would lose out, Jessica Tandy had a $100 bet with her agent that she wouldn't win the Oscar for Best Actress. When she paid up on Oscar night, she told him that it was the best bet she had ever lost.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Driving Miss Daisy? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1988

Nominees:
The Accidental Tourist
Dangerous Liaisons
Mississippi Burning
Rain Man
Working Girl

Winner:
Rain Man

Story: Charley (Tom Cruise) is a hustler. He has been on his own long enough to know how to work people and situations. He finds that the father who threw him out as a teenager has died. He left Charley with a now antique convertible and something more important, a previously unknown brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Raymond is Autistic, but is able to calculate complicated mathematical problems in his head with great speed and accuracy. Their father has left his fortune to Raymond who doesn't even understand what money is for. Charley is enraged by what has happened and by his father keeping Raymond's existence from him for his entire life. He kidnaps Raymond from his residential home but then finds that Raymond will only fly Qantas. The two begin a long road trip that will lead them to an understanding of each other. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The scene in the airport was cut by most airlines on their plane trips... except Qantas. They even promoted one of the movie's writers to first class once when he traveled on their airline.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like Rain Man? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?

Best Picture of 1987

Nominees:
Broadcast News
Fatal Attraction
Hope and Glory
The Last Emperor
Moon Struck

Winner:
The Last Emperor

Story: A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The first feature film granted permission by the Chinese government to be filmed in the Forbidden City. A documentary produced and directed by Lucy Jarvis for NBC Films Ltd. in 1973 named "The Forbidden City" was the first western film permitted to film within the Forbidden City.

So, tell me what you think? Did you like The Last Emperor? Would you have picked another movie as Best Picture? Why?