Big Magilla wrote:
There are those who think that Emil Jannings' Oscar in the first year of the Academy Awards should have been rescinded because he later made films in Nazi Germany whether he himself was a Nazi or not. It shouldn't have been, and it wasn't. You can't change the past.
Frankly, I don’t give a shit if Jannings was a nazi or not. The Last Command is a masterpiece and he gives a stunning performance in it.
People do, though, find it difficult to watch films with an actor they learn uncomfortable things about. They may not want to watch a film because of that but ranking it lower for that reason doesn't seem fair.
There are those who think that Emil Jannings' Oscar in the first year of the Academy Awards should have been rescinded because he later made films in Nazi Germany whether he himself was a Nazi or not. It shouldn't have been, and it wasn't. You can't change the past.
For better or worse, I never had a problem to compartmentalize and enjoy a movie without ever thinking about the horrible things the actors/directors involved did in real life. Perhaps it's the same mindset that allows me to appreciate the artistic value of Birth of a Nation while rejecting its vile politics.
People do, though, find it difficult to watch films with an actor they learn uncomfortable things about. They may not want to watch a film because of that but ranking it lower for that reason doesn't seem fair.
There are those who think that Emil Jannings' Oscar in the first year of the Academy Awards should have been rescinded because he later made films in Nazi Germany whether he himself was a Nazi or not. It shouldn't have been, and it wasn't. You can't change the past.
OscarGuy wrote:How many people shifted American Beauty down their list years after its release?
Why should anyone do that? Because of Kevin Spacey?
Following that logic everybody should hate Robin Hood because it was revealed that Erroll Flynn was a Nazi spy.
I'm using the different sections Anonymous used below to rank the winners. However, I'm not ranking them. They are in order of release date.
LOVE/ALL TIME FAVORITES
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Rebecca (1940)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Casablanca (1943)
All About Eve
From Here to Eternity (1953)
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Gigi (1958)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Sound of Music (1965)
A Man For All Seasons (1966)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
The Godfather (1972)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
The English Patient (1996)
Parasite (2019)
REALLY, REALLY LIKED/SOLID WINNERS
Sunrise (1927)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mutiny on the Bountu (1935)
Mrs Miniver (1942)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
West Side Story (1961)
The Sting (1973)
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Ordinary People (1980)
Gandhi (1982)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Platoon (1986)
Schindler's List (1993)
Titanic (1997)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
The Return of the King (2003)
The King's Speech (2010)
THEY'RE FINE, I'M NOT MAD
Grand Hotel (1932)
Cavalcade (1933)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Hamlet (1948)
All the King's Men (1949)
Marty (1955)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The French Connection (1971)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Amadeus (1984)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
American Beauty (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
Chicago (2002)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
The Departed (2006)
No Country of Old Men (2007)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Birdman (2014)
Nomadland (2020)
CODA (2021)
EH:
Wings (1927)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
An American in Paris (1951)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Tom Jones (1963)
Oliver! (1968)
Rocky (1976)
Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
Out of Africa (1985)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Unforgiven (1992)
Crash (2005)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
The Artist (2011)
Argo (2012)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Spotlight (2015)
Moonlight (2017)
The Shape of Water (2017)
Green Book (2018)
UGH/THE WORST:
The Broadway Melody (1929)
Cimarron (1931)
Going My Way (1944)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Patton (1970)
Rainman (1988)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Here's my approximate rankings. Some of these movies I haven't watched in 40 years - (Gandhi and Kramer vs Kramer come to mind). I think an interesting project would be to sit down and watch all of the winners in order over a month or two (or whatever). I might try to do that at some point in the distant future.
1. The Best Years of Our Lives
2. The Apartment
3, It Happened One Night
4. The Bridge on the River Kwai
5. You Cant Take It with You
6. Lawrence of Arabia
7. One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest
8. Marty
9. The Lost Weekend
10. Rocky
11. Schindlers List
12. Million Dollar Baby
13. Going My Way
14. The Godfather
15. Slumdog Millionaire
16. Ben-Hur
17. The English Patient
18. Patton
19. A Man for All Seasons
20. 12 Years a Slave
21. The Departed
22. The Artist
23. In the Heat of the Night
24. The Godfather Part II
25 Ordinary People
26. Argo
27. No Country for Old Men
28. My Fair Lady
29. How Green Was My Valley
30. Rebecca
31. Wings
32. Oliver!
33. The Sound of Music
34. Spotlight
35. Unforgiven
36. Forrest Gump
37. Titanic
38. The Silence of the Lambs
39. Gone with the Wind
40. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
41. Amadeus
42. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
43. Chariots of Fire
44. Kramer vs. Kramer
45. Gladiator
46. CODA
47. The Kings Speech
48. West Side Story
49. Parasite
50. Green Book
51. Mrs. Miniver
52. The Last Emperor
53. From Here to Eternity
54. An American in Paris
55. Gentleman’s Agreement
56. Platoon
57. Chicago
58. Shakespeare in Love
59. A Beautiful Mind
60. Dances With Wolves
61. Out of Africa
62. Terms of Endearment
63. Gandhi
64. The Sting
65. Casablanca
66. Nomadland
67. Around the World in 80 Days
68. On the Waterfront
69. The Greatest Show on Earth
70. Hamlet
71. Braveheart
72. Moonlight
73. Birdman
74. The Hurt Locker
75. Driving Miss Daisy
76. Rain Man
77. The Shape of Water
78. Crash
79. All About Eve
80. The Great Ziegfeld
81. Grand Hotel
82. All the Kings Men
83. The Life of Emile Zola
84. American Beauty
85. The Deer Hunter
86. Mutiny on the Bounty
87. The Broadway Melody
88. Cimarron
89. All Quiet on the Western Front
90. Midnight Cowboy
91. Annie Hall
92. Gigi
93. Tom Jones
94. The French Connection
95. Cavalcade
I never made a comprehensive list of Oscar winners before though if I did one twenty years ago, American Beauty would rank higher than it does now. I should probably revisit it to see if I properly placed it as low as I did.
I'm holding off putting CODA on the list because if I did it now, it would fall between The Broadway Melody and A Beautiful Mind with only Braveheart below it. I'm not sure it will change after the dust settles, but it won't get much higher. I love that our deaf actors are getting the recognition they deserve, I just wish it was for something more substantial.
How do you rank 95 films? I wouldn't know how to start. It's easier to come up with a top 10 or 25.....but after that it starts becoming difficult. I mean how do you know which film ranks 73 for instance?
I bet none of you could blindly replicate your list and come up with it in the same order.
LOVE/ALL TIME FAVORITES:
01. Casablanca
02. Rebecca
03. Lawrence of Arabia
04. Sunrise
05. Parasite
06. The Silence of the Lambs
07. Unforgiven
08. Annie Hall
09. All About Eve
10. The Apartment
11. No Country for Old Men
12. Schindler's List
13. The Godfather
14. On the Waterfront
15. The French Connection
16. The Godfather Part II
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
18. Moonlight
19. Nomadland
20. The Deer Hunter
21. West Side Story
22. An American in Paris
23. How Green Was My Valley
REALLY, REALLY LIKED/SOLID WINNERS:
24. Argo
25. Platoon
26. Amadeus
27. Grand Hotel
28. 12 Years a Slave
29. The Shape of Water
30. The Bridge on the River Kwai
31. Chicago
32. The Hurt Locker
33. The Best Years of Our Lives
34. Midnight Cowboy
35. All The King's Men
36. Marty
37. The Departed
38. Spotlight
39. My Fair Lady
40. It Happened One Night
41. Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
42. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
43. The Last Emperor
44. Hamlet
THEY'RE FINE, I'M NOT MAD:
45. Slumdog Millionaire
46. From Here to Eternity
47. Oliver!
48. The Sting
49. Terms of Endearment
50. The Artist
51. Titanic
52. Shakespeare in Love
53. Gandhi
54. Mutiny on the Bounty
55. The Life of Emile Zola
56. The Sound of Music
57. Gone With The Wind
58. Wings
59. Gladiator
60. Ordinary People
61. Patton
62. Million Dollar Baby
63. In the Heat of the Night
64. The Lost Weekend
65. You Can't Take It With You
66. Chariots of Fire
67. The King's Speech
68. All Quiet in the Western Front
69. Kramer vs. Kramer
70. CODA
71. Gentleman's Agreement
72. The English Patient
EH:
73. Going My Way
74. Ben-Hur
75. Dances With Wolves
76. Mrs. Miniver
77. Out of Africa
78. American Beauty
79. Driving Miss Daisy
80. Rain Man
81. Forrest Gump
82. Cimarron
83. Braveheart
84. A Man for All Seasons
85. Green Book
86. The Great Ziegfeld
UGH/THE WORST:
87. Rocky
88. Gigi
89. Tom Jones
90. A Beautiful Mind
91. The Greatest Show on Earth
92. The Broadway Melody
93. Around the World in Eighty Days
94. Crash
95. Cavalcade
OSCAR WINNERS RANKED
1 How Green Was My Valley
2 The Best Years of Our Lives
3 All Quiet on the Western Front
4 All About Eve
5 The Apartment
6 Midnight Cowboy
7 Schindler's List
8 Casablanca
9 Gone with the Wind
10 Lawrence of Arabia
11 The Godfather
12 The Godfather Part II
13 The Bridge on the River Kwai
14 From Here to Eternity
15 On the Waterfront
16 West Side Story
17 My Fair Lady
18 The Sound of Music
19 A Man for All Seasons
20 Tom Jones
21 Sunrise
22 12 Years a Slave
23 In the Heat of the Night
24 Rebecca
25 Parasite
26 Marty
27 Oliver!
28 Gigi
29 The Silence of the Lambs
30 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
31 Ordinary People
32 Mrs. Miniver
33 Terms of Endearment
34 Forrest Gump
35 Rain Man
36 Mutiny on the Bounty
37 Ben-Hur
38 Platoon
39 The Deer Hunter
40 Wings
41 Patton
42 The Last Emperor
43 Driving Miss Daisy
44 Million Dollar Baby
45 Slumdog Millionaire
46 Chicago
47 You Can't Take It with You
48 Titanic
49 It Happened One Night
50 The Departed
51 Annie Hall
52 Spotlight
53 Going My Way
54 Chariots of Fire
55 The Sting
56 Dances with Wolves
57 Unforgiven
58 The English Patient
59 Shakespeare in Love
60 American Beauty
61 No Country for Old Men
62 The Hurt Locker
63 Nomadland
64 Argo
65 Green Book
66 The Shape of Waer
67 Amadeus
68 Gandhi
69 Kramer vs. Kramer
70 The Lost Weekend
71 All the King's Men
72 Moonlight
73 The French Connection
74 The King's Speech
75 The Artist
76 An American in Paris
77 Gentleman's Agreement
78 Grand Hotel
79 Hamlet
80 Birdman
81 Rocky
82 The Life of Emile Zola
83 The Great Ziegfeld
84 Cimarron
85 Out of Africa
86 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
87 Crash
88 Gladiator
89 Around the World in 80 Days
90 The Greatest Show on Earth
91 Cavalcade
92 The Broadway Melody
93 A Beautiful Mind
94 Braveheart
