Joey Magidson
Earlier in the week, Rolling Stone put out a ranking, by David Fear, of every Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards during the 21st century. It got a bit of traction of whatever we call Film Twitter these days, and it frankly inspired me. Next week on the podcast, Myles and potentially Steve will share their own lists. You can see mine below. Today, however, our Awards Radar Community Question centers on all of your lists. Namely, what would your ranking be?
So, would your ranking have Moonlight number one like Fear does? Would you have more of a franchise and epic feel to yours and go for something like The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King? Obviously, I wouldn’t, but this isn’t about me. There’s also recent options like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Parasite to consider. There are no wrong answers, to be sure, even if I’d be puzzled if you went with Crash or Green Book in the pole position…
For comparison’s sake, this is how I would rank the Best Picture winners of the 21st century:
23. Crash
22. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
21. Green Book
20. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
19. A Beautiful Mind
18. The Artist
17. The King’s Speech
16. The Shape of Water
15. Gladiator
14. Nomadland
13. Slumdog Millionaire
12. 12 Years a Slave
11. Moonlight
10. Chicago
9. Everything Everywhere All At Once
8. No Country for Old Men
7. Million Dollar Baby
6. Spotlight
5. The Departed
4. The Hurt Locker
3. Coda
2. Argo
1. Parasite
Now, it’s your turn. When it comes to the Academy Award winners of the 21st century, which Best Pictures are tops for you? However you rank these Oscar holders, we’re keen to find out. So, go ahead and chime in!
How would you rank the 21st century Best Picture winners? Let us know!
Some are easier to place than others. The middle is the most challenging.
23 . Crash
22. The Lord of the Rings Return of the Kings
21. Green Book
20. Million Dollar Baby
19. The Hurt Locker
18. The Departed
17. Birdman
16. 12 Years A Slave
15. The King’s Speech
14 . Slumdog Millionaire
13. Nomadland
12 . Gladiator
11. The Shape of Water
10. Moonlight
9. A Beautiful Mind
8. No Country For Old Men
7. Argo
6. CODA
5. Parasite
4. The Artist
3. Spotlight
2. Chicago
1. Everything Everywhere’s All At Once
For sure, my top and bottom weren’t hard, at least.
Agree with Kellie that the middle was very difficult…from 5 to 19 is very close for me (all 4 out 5 or higher for me in 5 star ratings). But the top 4 were pretty darn difficult too as they are all timers for me.
Very interesting list. We agree in some very surprising spots!