(2006) Best Best Picture Winner of the Decade
The Departed and Million Dollar Baby were the most deserving winners in their categories. I voted for The Departed if only because Baby's uneasy anti-welfare, black-people-need-to-just-get-jobs position rubs me slightly the wrong way. Had Brokeback Mountain won as it should have, it would be no. 2 on my list, bumping Eastwood's film to no. 3 and Marty's triumph would still well, triumph.
As others have said, a quite depressing list. Had to go for Million Dollar Baby, not because it's perfect, but because at least it represents a type of filmmaking, a vision of cinema, which I can feel represented by. And if the alternative on this board is The Lord of the Rings (which unbelievably seems to have more or less the same number of votes), I have no doubts on which side I should be.
- OscarGuy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 13668
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 12:22 am
- Location: Springfield, MO
- Contact:
What you're underestimating is fan sentiment. LOTR was considered superior to the Star Wars flms in that they shared a consistent view and theme that the original trilogy lacked. It has already gone down into the lexicon as a success and I don't see it dimming in the future. It will be looked at as one of history's greatest trilogies and will long be remembered for being the film that finally broke the glass ceiling at the Oscars for fantasy and, to a minor extent, sci-fi.Sabin wrote:As I look across this decade, I really ask myself what movies are going to last?
Certainly not 'American Beauty', 'Gladiator', or 'A Beautiful Mind', all of which have already wilted with age. I think 'Chicago' and 'Shakespeare in Love' have a backlash of sorts against them despite their quality, and 'Crash' is already looked upon as a modern day 'Greatest Racist Show on Earth'.
I think 'Million Dollar Baby' will age well and so will 'The Departed' because of their genre-trappings. But how will history view 'Return of the King'? It's either seen as the weakest 'LOTR' or the strongest, but most everybody agrees it's needlessly long in the final stretch. Will it be a fantasy 'Lawrence of Arabia' or just another 'Ben-Hur'? I lean more towards the latter.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
As I look across this decade, I really ask myself what movies are going to last?
Certainly not 'American Beauty', 'Gladiator', or 'A Beautiful Mind', all of which have already wilted with age. I think 'Chicago' and 'Shakespeare in Love' have a backlash of sorts against them despite their quality, and 'Crash' is already looked upon as a modern day 'Greatest Racist Show on Earth'.
I think 'Million Dollar Baby' will age well and so will 'The Departed' because of their genre-trappings. But how will history view 'Return of the King'? It's either seen as the weakest 'LOTR' or the strongest, but most everybody agrees it's needlessly long in the final stretch. Will it be a fantasy 'Lawrence of Arabia' or just another 'Ben-Hur'? I lean more towards the latter.
Certainly not 'American Beauty', 'Gladiator', or 'A Beautiful Mind', all of which have already wilted with age. I think 'Chicago' and 'Shakespeare in Love' have a backlash of sorts against them despite their quality, and 'Crash' is already looked upon as a modern day 'Greatest Racist Show on Earth'.
I think 'Million Dollar Baby' will age well and so will 'The Departed' because of their genre-trappings. But how will history view 'Return of the King'? It's either seen as the weakest 'LOTR' or the strongest, but most everybody agrees it's needlessly long in the final stretch. Will it be a fantasy 'Lawrence of Arabia' or just another 'Ben-Hur'? I lean more towards the latter.
"How's the despair?"
I keep going back and forth between the two great films on the list, Chicago and Million Dollar Baby. But that scene in which Swank's family comes to the nursing home nags at me -- Haggis's caricatures and condescension were even too much for even Eastwood to overcome, so I go with Chicago.
Wow, somebody voted for Crash.
Wow, somebody voted for Crash.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Shakespeare in Love and Chicago are still unquestionably the best of this line-up, with the romantic bard getting my vote.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster