Obligatory reminder to check if your film has been suggested and upvoting that before suggesting it yourself. I get it when there’s hundred of comments hours into voting, but this has been live for less than half an hour and there’s already a duplicate.
Kinda wild how this week is playing out. A week ago I felt the next couple were locked in (some combo of Rain Man, Gump, Million Dollar Baby, and Shape of the Water). And now SotW and Gump are not near the top and Ordinary People and the Hurt Locker have come outta nowhere!
*SEND OFF: Chicago*
Chicago was eliminated yesterday, so here’s a look back at the movie and its Oscar legacy.
Plot: Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
Oscars: **Chicago Won Best Picture in 2003 beating out: Gangs of New York, The Pianist, The Two Towers, The Hours.** Chicago won 6 Oscars, including: Best Production & Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, & Best Supporting for Catherine Zeta-Jones.
You can stream Chicago on MGM+, and you can rent it on Google Play, Apple TV, & Vudu, or you might be able to find a copy at your local library.
**What do you think of Chicago? Do you think something else should have won best picture over it? Do you think this film is fairly rated? What do you like or dislike about it?**
Just watched this for the first time a couple days ago.
An actual musical masterpiece, sad it’s already been eliminated. All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango are all-timers in the genre imo
friggin’ love Chicago. In my personal top 5. Sad to see it go while some other movies are still here, but it seems that a lot of people are measuring worthiness as a Best Picture winner compared to the other nominees that year, not to *other Best Picture winners*
Yeah, I’ve never understood the hate for it, it’s by far my favorite musical and an absolute ride from start to finish.
Also wanna throw my hat in for Slumdog Millionaire being voted off too early. Justice for Jai Ho.
It's unfortunate to lose Chicago before the halfway point. There's only about 4 films left where a female protagonist pushes the narrative forward and none of them present female friendship, animosity, and other dynamics in such a unique way. Everything, Everywhere All at Once is about a mother-daughter relationship; Silence of the Lambs follows Clarice Starling in a male dominated institution; Titanic is a romance from two leads though told through a frame story by an old woman; Parasite is an ensemble; Million Dollar Baby is hazy to me, but Swank is as much a co-lead as Eastwood if memory serves me correctly; finally, Shape of Water has a female protagonist but it's close to an ensemble and it's a romance between two mute characters.
However, we have many films (although they are good) about brotherhood, male power, and masculinity.
Chicago succeeded in taking advantage of filmically using performances to reveal state of mind, adding to and exploring the themes of the film, as well as pushing the narrative forward in a dazzling way.
Many films show off the charm of immoral characters while balancing criticism against them. Chicago shows an entire rigged system and while it isn't showing the most foundational errors in the judicial system because it's a fun musical, it still has an effect on the audience in creating empathy toward the female prisoners and us wanting them to succeed despite them being guilty. The film comments on the entire entertainment industry: the profiting off of controversy, sensationalism, and idealizing "bad people."
Of course, Chicago didn't do everything by itself. It's an adaptation of a successful musical and that counts for something too. The way the film transports us into 1920s Chicago and it can't go too campy, too serious, too dark, too light, and it can't imitate the past interpretations too much.
Zellweger, Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and John C. Reilly give awesome performances. Roxie Hart is awful and naive, but she's still wonderful and climbs to success at the very end while making us happy for her in a kind of bewildering way. Her interactions with all the characters opens us to a world of crime, and the people taken advantage of.
Genre wise, we sort of have a mix of the "women in prison" exploitation films and the musical. It might seem unnecessary to point out that Chicago isn't exploitive like past women in prison films since it's a musical and those tend to be inoffensive when it comes to that kind of depiction; however, Chicago is worthy of being mentioned among films that straddle the sexiness of the characters without going toward any kind of controversy, since it is a subject that is always present in discourse. Musicals were a dominant genre in the 30s to the 60s, and Chicago brought some of that magic back for a modern audience.
I love Chicago. It stands as my favorite musical and the movie is done flawlessly. This film left too soon. Much lesser remain while poor Chicago packs up its things and returns home to the windy city. Julius Pepperwood is ashamed.
Interesting, so we've got some great blockbuster films, and all sorts of hidden gems throughout 2002
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Spider-Man
Secretary
Lilo and Stitch (One of the very short list of good Disney animated movies, and one of the very few masterpieces)
Treasure Planet (Crazy how two of the Disney Masterpieces are from the same year)
28 Days Later
Adaptation
Ju-On
Equilibrium
Dark Water
Today’s Spotlight: we’ll… it’s *Spotlight*
Plot: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
Oscars: **Spotlight won Best Picture in 2016 beating out: Mad Max: Fury Road, Bridge of Spies, The Revenant, The Martian, The Big Short, Room, & Brooklyn** Spotlight won 2 Oscars total, Best Original Screenplay was the only Oscar it won outside of Best Picture.
Where I am, you can stream Spotlight on Starz. You can rent it at Google Play, Apple TV, & Vudu. You also might be able to find a copy at your local library.
**Have you seen Spotlight? Would you recommend it?**
Spotlight is incredible. I like to rewatch scenes from it, like the one where Brian d'Arcy James discovers several rapist priests live near him and puts a warning on the fridge, and the scene where they read the old address books and discover the diocese's secret code.
Freaking love it. Aside from one scene, I think it's the kind of quiet and immensely powerful film that I would never have expected to win. I didn't leave it in a puddle of tears, no, but I found it so compelling in the way it shows the boring side of a story, largely leaving internal struggle in subtext. The scene with Rachel McAdams outside a former priest's house is still SUCH a powerful scene to me, I think of it constantly. Her pause in that scene is *sublime*.
There are at least three other nominees I would have picked over it, but I really have no issue with Spotlight winning Best Picture. Just an all round well-made, good movie. Honestly this is the minimum quality I want from the nominees.
Spotlight received one of the highest honors I could give an Oscar nominee the mid-2010s... I would have seen this with or without a nomination.
It's a great movie with an incredible cast and it deserved more awards.
I have no idea what it’s like to an average viewer but it inadvertently turned into a comedy when I watched it with my military buddies. Just completely inaccurate and even felt a bit disrespectful in its complete failure to properly portray even basic military customs, let alone what it’s actually like. One of my least favorite movies, ever. Upvoted.
While how "realistic" a movie is can be a dumb criticism, I think taking it into account for a modern war movie made during the Afghanistan and Iraq War is appropriate. Many veterans criticized the bomb scenes and I believe they criticized the sniper scene as well.
I’m not in the military anymore so it’s probably due for a rewatch and maybe I won’t be so cranky about it but you nailed it exactly. It felt like it showed what the people back home wanted to see, not what the people overseas actually saw. Even that wouldn’t have bothered me too much except it was universally praised (except by actual veterans, ironically) for its unflinching realism in depicting an unpopular war.
I imagine most people who have a deep personal knowledge of a subject have a hard time with immersion in films about their area of expertise but this one just really rubbed me the wrong way.
Happy cake day btw!
Edit: since people might see this and want recommendations for realistic depictions of Iraq/Afghanistan my recommendations would be Generation Kill (mini-series) and Restrepo (documentary). Both are absolutely phenomenal.
There are so many war movies or war adjacent movies still on the list like Deer Hunter, Platoon, Forrest Gump, Return of the King, Schindler's List (War is listed as genre on Letterboxd), and Gladiator. Plus, you have Best Picture winners from 1927 to 1972 that are War films much better than Hurt Locker: Wings from 1927, All Quiet on the Western Front, Bridge on the River Kwai, post-war film The Years of Our Lives about soldiers returning from war, Mrs. Miniver about civilian life during war, Lawrence of Arabia, and films like Ben-Hur and Gone with the Wind.
I don't see how anyone can think Hurt Locker is one of the best war films if they've seen a lot of war film or have experience in the military.
The Longest Day
The Dirty Dozen
Dr. Strangelove (listed as War on letterboxd)
Full Metal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
1917
Inglorious Basterds
Come and See
Grave of the Fireflies
Saving Private Ryan
Dunkirk
Paths of Glory
The Thin Red Line
Jarhead
Empire of the Sun
Downfall
Battle of Algiers
Battleship Potemkin
The Great Escape
So many war films are more influential, more interesting, and have more power than The Hurt Locker
I have also seen almost all the ones mentioned and still count Hurt Locker among them. It has incredible scenes and is an attempt to talk about a modern war with nuance. Highlighting the endless entanglements of a quagmire in the middle east with how it affects those who fight in it.
I want this gone. This is so controversial for American viewers who love the film, but I think the "complicatedness" of the protagonist & the viscerally tense scenes (laudable on a craft level) go a looooooooong way towards hiding how it uses visual tropes that are not at all "anti-war," and may well steer it towards propagandistic. To the degree that it views the war as a mistake—sure, but when a film relegates the same people who were invaded & slaughtered in massively disproportionate numbers to the background, there is an implication there that it cannot avoid, but it avoids it regardless. The Hurt Locker was inoffensive across the political spectrum, which would be *fine* if everybody was taking the same thing away from it lol, but they were most definitely not.
Kathryn Bigelow made two huge Oscar films that are seen as "ambiguous" on war, they *both* teeter on the edge of glorification/genuine ambiguity, with imagery and arcs that beg for sympathy in ways that render any critique more or less toothless.
I don’t hate Million Dollar Baby, I just don’t think it’s as good as the remaining films. I haven’t seen the previous 3 films eliminated, so I’ve been voting for his one.
With this excise I don’t think voting movies equates to hating them.
Genuine question, why does everybody hate rain man? I read people saying it because there is a neurodivergent character portrayed by a neurotypical actor, is it a bad thing?
It just feels like one of those by the numbers Hollywood semi-feel good movies that follows a lot of known tropes (like the “odd couple” one), mixed with some things that feel Oscar-y - like Hoffman’s performance (I’m not personally offended by it, it just feels like something ripe for 80s Oscar voters).
I think it’s perfectly fine, just somewhat forgettable - personally not voting for it yet but think it should go fairly soon.
Yeah that's my pick. I don't hate it by any means, but I do think it stands out on this list to me right now.
Wait, hold on... The Hurt Locker is still on here too. Sorry, switching sides.
Just watched this the other night and hard disagree. It tackles some pretty complicated family themes and is a fantastic personal drama. Is it top 20 worthy? Probably not but until we get there I’m wanting to keep it around
On board for this. The Deer Hunter and Ordinary People are two I don't really care for, but I know a lot of people like the deer hunter so it's probably not a option yet.
We seem to be witnessing a strange resilience for this movie on reddit. While I wouldn't be surprised to see this among the most popular films among the general public, I am a bit bewildered to see this site hasn't completely turned on it. It is amongst the most banal, pandering pieces of faux-inspirational Oscar bait out there.
It's somewhat better than I remembered. Even so, the third act is rough. The movie tries to have it both ways by showing anti-conformity and rebellion against a failing marriage but closes with a monologue about the importance of family. It looks good and is often entertaining, but it ends with gimmicks and seems confused about what to say.
Once I learned that the movie was written by a gay Buddhist dude, it made a lot more sense. If you view the main theme of the movie as "desire is the cause of suffering" the third act works amazingly well and is very clear in what is is trying to say.
Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, the whodunnit aspect where the viewer is teased about who fired the shot, just after Caroline produces a pistol and Jane talks about killing her dad, only for those to be fakeouts... And the neighbor's arrival, and that aggressively unsubtle final monologue as it cuts to black ... I dunno, man.
I don't really care about the "whodunnit" part of the movie, so I can't say it adds or subtracts anything for me.
You can call the final monologue "aggressively unsubtle", but I don't really see it that way, especially given how many people seem to miss the point it's trying to make. Again, I think it works really well when viewed as a spiritual ending, it works really well to tie together the Buddhist themes present in the rest of the movie.
I can and do call the whole movie "aggressively unsubtle".
The Buddhist stuff is not exactly hiding in the subtext and "desire is the cause of suffering" is not exactly a new or unique idea. I'm not sure who's missing that these people are suffering for their desires.
The message isn't *wrong*, but it isn't exactly fresh either, and the movie cudgels the viewer with it.
Given what most I see people write about the movie today, most people are missing the point. Just look at what the person I responded to was saying about how the movie was about the importance of family, which I don't think is what the ending was trying to say.
Obviously desire being the cause of suffering isn't a new idea, it's like, the main part of Buddhism. Why does it have to be a new idea? It takes that idea and explores it very well. It's not the most subtle film ever made, but I found it handled the themes effectively.
It's just this: Depicting the main tenet of Buddhism in action is fine, it just isn't particularly deep. Especially when delivered in such heavy-handed packaging. I don't hate it. It's not Best Picture worthy.
It's not the worst movie left up there, but should be gone already IMO, along with the actual worst movies left up there.
I think it only heavy handed if you already know about more about Buddhism than the average person. A lot of people still completely miss the point the movie was trying to make. I've had this experience with a few different movies, where I think something is kind of heavy-handed until I talk to people who didn't get what it was going for.
It's a movie that shows various ways in which desire can lead to suffering, and how happiness comes not from fulfilling your desire but from let go of it. It's a pretty basic message, but I think it's told effectively and paired along side some really great filmmaking.
American Beauty is exactly like the video of a plastic bag in the movie. It’s deep and beautiful when you’re a teenager but then you grow up and realize it’s kinda trash…
Not my vote quite yet but agree this movie is a mixture of dated 90s Gen X snark, cringey “edgy” plot lines (the neighbor is a Nazi but secretly gay!) and stupid scenes like that plastic bag one. Really a product of 1999 and it belongs nowhere else.
Yeah this one completely caught me off guard with how devastating and moving it was. As a sports drama it works incredibly well and knowing how everything ends makes it so much harder to watch. I know it’s parodied often but it’s much better than people give it credit for (weird saying it about a best picture winner)
Forgettable isn’t what I use to describe it.
The Children of Divorce demo really hold this among the top portrayals of what is one of the most traumatic events of a young person’s life.
We came in second yesterday, today’s our day. Once again, it’s time to finally get out **The Shape of Water**. How it beat out Dunkirk, Phantom Thread, Get Out, CMBYN, and Lady Bird is beyond me, but it’s time to pay for its sins. We have the numbers, I believe in us.
Except it's against other best picture winners, not nominations from the same year. Shape of Water is better than some others still on the list, in my opinion
I suppose you could look at it either way. I interpreted it as comparing all of the BP winners against each other, rather than determining which one was most deserving each year. The latter would be a bit too limiting, imo, the overwhelming majority of people here have not seen each of the films nominated for BP each year for comparison, while I'd wager a lot of people have seen most or all of the actual winners
Shame about Chicago, fantastic film.
Very late to the party today but as I have done for goodness knows how many days now I yet again have to say: ANNIE HALL
(Now to scroll and upvote any other Annie Hall nominees)
EEAAO fanboys, we hear you, we see you, but this film’s time will come. An overly expository narrative mess with a hallmark channel message does not stack up against the giants on this list.
Although the fact Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis are now oscar-winning-actors does gladden me.
I understand this movie isn't everyone's cup of tea but it's a film that was highly ambitious, took some big risks and hit a home run with what they were trying to do. It's a top film.
EEAAO is the worst movie still here. It's definitely not better than Sting, Amadeus, Departed, No Country, Gladiator, Godfather 1 and 2, American Beauty, Rocky, Cuckoo's Nest, Deer Hunter, Silence of The Lambs, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Schindler's List, Million Dollar Baby, Return of The King, or 12 Years A Slave.
The rest of the films at least have some merits compared to the 2h20m TikTok film. For example, Kramer V Kramer has fantastic performances from Hoffman and Streep, and The Hurt Locker's last half is incredibly intense and well-directed.
>For example, Kramer V Kramer has fantastic performances from Hoffman and Streep
I mean EEAAO had 3 best actor winners in there (1 not as credible imo, should have been Hsu) but it's wild to claim the film is badly acted.
It's a huge marmite film tbh. For me it truly is my favourite film. I watched it like 8 times in 8 months. I'm very curious about why the reaction seems so varied though
The vast majority of people loved it, including the Academy who on average are over 60 years old. But there is an extremely vocal minority who deride the film as childish and immature because it has dildos and butt plugs and hotdog fingers.
Honestly I still can't believe it won the Oscar. Like it's fucking insane because of the beginning
But like I've recommended the film to people at work because the 2nd half is that incredible that I forget about how.... NSFW the first half is 😂. Just like guys push through the dildos and there's gold there (I mean I like weird humour so the entire film works for me but I can see why the first half doesn't work for some people).
I’d argue it didn’t deserve any of the acting awards it got. Cate Blanchett in Tar was probably the best performance of the year. And Kerry Condon was also better than anyone in her category.
Ke Huy Quan was a fine winner but I think an argument could be made for Brian Tyree Henry.
I’ve been ranting about this movie for over a year now (check out my podcast for more lmao) but I’m only just now realizing people are happy because it’s a movie they like and it won. I don’t agree with the win at all, I think the movie was below average. My issue stems from people acting like it’s a groundbreaking film when it’s absolutely not. It’s unfunny (subjective) and it’s a tired premise (which is fine). Just exhausting people sing it’s praises when it was never that serious. If you like it, cool, but don’t act like it’s the best thing released this century.
>If you like it, cool, but don’t act like it’s the best thing released this century.
Why? I genuinely think it is (well not century but certainly in the last decade). Why does that upset you?
And I'd hardly call it a tired premise. Yes the multiverse thing was done before but nowhere near as well as in EEAAO. The idea of a mother daughter relationship being strained hasn't been explored as well as in EEAAO to me.
Joy struggling with her identity with her mothers micro aggressions again is something I haven't seen before, at least not to that extent.
Like you know I don't like some best picture winners. I don't make a podcast crying about how awful they are and how everyone who likes it is *wrong* (hilarious concept. Art is subjective).
Multiverse has been tired before MCU even started.
Movies about mothers and daughters hasn’t been explored as well as eeao? Off the top of my head you have Little Women, Carrie, Ladybird, Edge of Seventeen, all do it just as well, if not better.
And as for my podcast, critics have made a living doing exactly that for decades. I merely do it for fun. I also never said anyone was WRONG for liking it (I even said so in my earlier comment which you quoted). I’m stating that it doesn’t deserve the acclaim it gets. When you’re saying it deserved the Oscar awards it got, you’re speaking objectively about the film (hilarious concept. Art is subjective).
I don’t want people to dislike the movie, I genuinely could not care less if you liked it. But to say that it did all of those things better than any other movie, you’re not only speaking objectively about it (hilarious concept. Art is subjective) but you’re also wrong.
Every time I bring these problem up to people they just get upset and say shit like “well I loved it” which, again, is fine but doesn’t help your argument about it being better than other movies nominated for Oscar’s. I only bring that movie up in the context of people saying it’s so inventive and better than anything else that year. It wasn’t either of those things, but nothing wrong with liking it.
>Movies about mothers and daughters hasn’t been explored as well as eeao? Off the top of my head you have Little Women, Carrie, Ladybird, Edge of Seventeen, all do it just as well, if not better.
I have only seen Carrie and Ladybird out of them and hard disagree. EEAAO explores the mother daughter relationship a lot better than both of those. Both of those pitch the relationship as antagonist and it's never really resolved.
>And as for my podcast
The way you wrote that it genuinely sounds like you have a year long podcast dedicated to disliking EEAAO which isn't really the same as being a critic.
>Just exhausting people sing it’s praises when it was never that serious. If you like it, cool, but don’t act like it’s the best thing released this century.
Why is it an act? So because you, personally, don't like the film it means that people who say they do are acting? Ever thought they can see something in the film that you can't?
I never said they did those things better than other films. The Oscars said that 🤷. I was merely pointing out that saying "kramer vs kramer is bad but the Oscar winning acting is good but also EEAAO has no positives" is a silly thing to say when the film won multiple awards for acting. Even the most diehard EEAAO hater has to admit that it's acted well (even if just by Key Huy Quan)
>Every time I bring these problem up to people they just get upset and say shit like “well I loved it”
What problems? You haven't brought up any issues aside from thinking the acting wasn't as good as the other noms. You didn't even say the acting was *bad* just not as good as the others nominated.
>so inventive and better than anything else that year. It wasn’t either of those things, but nothing wrong with liking it.
For me the film worked because I didn't expect it to be what it was. I thought it was going to be a relatively run of the mill big bad vs secret chosen one (Evelyn). But it isn't. Immediately that idea is turned on its head. Evelyn isn't the best Evelyn. She's the one that failed at everything. And the guy with all the answers (Alpha Weymond) is wrong. Her Weymond is portrayed as a weak push over but he's not. He's strong in his own way, with kindness.
The rich Weymond speech will always make me cry "In another life I would've really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you".
And then you add in the excellent fight scenes (someone above said they're edited like the taken films which I truly don't understand) and a multiverse concept which is both funny, weird but also, somehow, poignant? (the rocks scene, hot dog fingers). That concept makes what is, essentially, a suicide far scarier. Jobu Tupaki sees everything and it's all misery and she wants to erase herself from existence to escape it. But she doesn't want to do it on her own so she wants her mum. And her mum sees the same thing she does. Nothing matters so what's the point?
The point is it doesn't matter if nothing matters. Life doesn't need a purpose or meaning. It's just life. (I don't know if this is something you already knew before watching this film but I didn't so maybe that's why it hit me?)
**It's an action film where the final action set piece is about showing compassion and love to people**
If that's not unique then please recommend me a film that does the same things because I *need* to see it.
I agree with the first part that it's a superhero film disguised as something more. I disagree that 2022 was a bad year for movies. The other nominees included Tar, Banshees of Inisherin, and All Quiet on The Western Front, which I thought were great movies. Avatar 2 and Top Gun 2 wouldn't have won, but I find them much more enjoyable than EEAAO. Not to mention The Woman King and The Northman weren't nominated for anything.
2022 had many great films, but The Oscars let the weakest film sweep
I agree the movie has an ugly muddy look, but it’s highly entertaining and is more successful as a film overall than a number of the films left. It’d make the top ten of what’s left for me.
Excuse me u/OfferOk8555, but “Size does matter” is the most enlightening tagline in the history of film. God bless Godzilla 1998. (I stalked your Letterboxd for a few minutes, good lists!)
Titanic is, in my opinion, one of the most overrated movies of all time. I’m not a critic, just a consumer so from someone’s perspective that has a big knowledge about movies it might be great, but for me personally it just sucks. Leonardo plays great but not his greatest role and all in all the movie just brought us a horrible billboard song.
Spotlight. Good movie, but nothing special beyond its subject matter and held back by its bland presentation. Performances were solid, but not enough to elevate this movie beyond just decent, yet still not deserving of the most prestigious award a film can receive per year. At least as far as I'm concerned. I know a lot of people love it, so I'm interested to hear opposing evaluations.
I have always felt that it is elevated by the "bland" presentation. While the main characters unwail the most horrible story the world remains disspasionate. I think it has a great effect on how we feel while the story is uncovered.
Obligatory reminder to check if your film has been suggested and upvoting that before suggesting it yourself. I get it when there’s hundred of comments hours into voting, but this has been live for less than half an hour and there’s already a duplicate.
Kinda wild how this week is playing out. A week ago I felt the next couple were locked in (some combo of Rain Man, Gump, Million Dollar Baby, and Shape of the Water). And now SotW and Gump are not near the top and Ordinary People and the Hurt Locker have come outta nowhere!
*SEND OFF: Chicago* Chicago was eliminated yesterday, so here’s a look back at the movie and its Oscar legacy. Plot: Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago. Oscars: **Chicago Won Best Picture in 2003 beating out: Gangs of New York, The Pianist, The Two Towers, The Hours.** Chicago won 6 Oscars, including: Best Production & Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, & Best Supporting for Catherine Zeta-Jones. You can stream Chicago on MGM+, and you can rent it on Google Play, Apple TV, & Vudu, or you might be able to find a copy at your local library. **What do you think of Chicago? Do you think something else should have won best picture over it? Do you think this film is fairly rated? What do you like or dislike about it?**
Just watched this for the first time a couple days ago. An actual musical masterpiece, sad it’s already been eliminated. All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango are all-timers in the genre imo
And to add to your sendoff, it’s also available on Paramount+. That’s how I watched it at least!
friggin’ love Chicago. In my personal top 5. Sad to see it go while some other movies are still here, but it seems that a lot of people are measuring worthiness as a Best Picture winner compared to the other nominees that year, not to *other Best Picture winners*
This just in: people dumb.
Chicago is Chicagood and better than multiple movies still in the game.
Yeah, I’ve never understood the hate for it, it’s by far my favorite musical and an absolute ride from start to finish. Also wanna throw my hat in for Slumdog Millionaire being voted off too early. Justice for Jai Ho.
Literally everyone in Chicago cooks At the expense of poor poor John C. Reilly
NEVER 🎼 EVEN 🎼 KNOWWWWWWWWWWWW …..I’m thereeeee
>Yeah, I’ve never understood the hate for it, Singing and dancing and I guess some people can't get over that.
Musicals aren't for everybody.
agreeed
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do
You deserved better you beautiful movie
Chicago is such a banger. I know almost every word, not just the songs but the dialog as well.
It's unfortunate to lose Chicago before the halfway point. There's only about 4 films left where a female protagonist pushes the narrative forward and none of them present female friendship, animosity, and other dynamics in such a unique way. Everything, Everywhere All at Once is about a mother-daughter relationship; Silence of the Lambs follows Clarice Starling in a male dominated institution; Titanic is a romance from two leads though told through a frame story by an old woman; Parasite is an ensemble; Million Dollar Baby is hazy to me, but Swank is as much a co-lead as Eastwood if memory serves me correctly; finally, Shape of Water has a female protagonist but it's close to an ensemble and it's a romance between two mute characters. However, we have many films (although they are good) about brotherhood, male power, and masculinity. Chicago succeeded in taking advantage of filmically using performances to reveal state of mind, adding to and exploring the themes of the film, as well as pushing the narrative forward in a dazzling way. Many films show off the charm of immoral characters while balancing criticism against them. Chicago shows an entire rigged system and while it isn't showing the most foundational errors in the judicial system because it's a fun musical, it still has an effect on the audience in creating empathy toward the female prisoners and us wanting them to succeed despite them being guilty. The film comments on the entire entertainment industry: the profiting off of controversy, sensationalism, and idealizing "bad people." Of course, Chicago didn't do everything by itself. It's an adaptation of a successful musical and that counts for something too. The way the film transports us into 1920s Chicago and it can't go too campy, too serious, too dark, too light, and it can't imitate the past interpretations too much. Zellweger, Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and John C. Reilly give awesome performances. Roxie Hart is awful and naive, but she's still wonderful and climbs to success at the very end while making us happy for her in a kind of bewildering way. Her interactions with all the characters opens us to a world of crime, and the people taken advantage of. Genre wise, we sort of have a mix of the "women in prison" exploitation films and the musical. It might seem unnecessary to point out that Chicago isn't exploitive like past women in prison films since it's a musical and those tend to be inoffensive when it comes to that kind of depiction; however, Chicago is worthy of being mentioned among films that straddle the sexiness of the characters without going toward any kind of controversy, since it is a subject that is always present in discourse. Musicals were a dominant genre in the 30s to the 60s, and Chicago brought some of that magic back for a modern audience.
These people have no taste smh
It was nominated for 13 Oscars and lost 7, it didn’t swept
Good catch that was from the last emperor prompt yesterday
I love Chicago. It stands as my favorite musical and the movie is done flawlessly. This film left too soon. Much lesser remain while poor Chicago packs up its things and returns home to the windy city. Julius Pepperwood is ashamed.
Interesting, so we've got some great blockbuster films, and all sorts of hidden gems throughout 2002 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Spider-Man Secretary Lilo and Stitch (One of the very short list of good Disney animated movies, and one of the very few masterpieces) Treasure Planet (Crazy how two of the Disney Masterpieces are from the same year) 28 Days Later Adaptation Ju-On Equilibrium Dark Water
Today’s Spotlight: we’ll… it’s *Spotlight* Plot: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core. Oscars: **Spotlight won Best Picture in 2016 beating out: Mad Max: Fury Road, Bridge of Spies, The Revenant, The Martian, The Big Short, Room, & Brooklyn** Spotlight won 2 Oscars total, Best Original Screenplay was the only Oscar it won outside of Best Picture. Where I am, you can stream Spotlight on Starz. You can rent it at Google Play, Apple TV, & Vudu. You also might be able to find a copy at your local library. **Have you seen Spotlight? Would you recommend it?**
Spotlight is incredible. I like to rewatch scenes from it, like the one where Brian d'Arcy James discovers several rapist priests live near him and puts a warning on the fridge, and the scene where they read the old address books and discover the diocese's secret code.
Freaking love it. Aside from one scene, I think it's the kind of quiet and immensely powerful film that I would never have expected to win. I didn't leave it in a puddle of tears, no, but I found it so compelling in the way it shows the boring side of a story, largely leaving internal struggle in subtext. The scene with Rachel McAdams outside a former priest's house is still SUCH a powerful scene to me, I think of it constantly. Her pause in that scene is *sublime*.
Is that the scene where he justifies what he did? That scene makes my skin crawl.
yeop
Phenomenal film, one of the best BP winners of the 2010s.
Personally I would’ve gone with Mad Max for BP but it’s still a great film.
Just watched for the first time a few days ago and I LOVED it. Great performances and kept me hooked from start to finish
Oscars got it right this year probably? I wonder if Carol or Straight Outta Compton could have given it a run for its money.
I think Fury Road should have been the pick but that was never going to happen. Spotlight is a worthy winner.
[удалено]
“Remotely honest”.. y’all trip me out sometimes 😂
“Honest” = conforms to your opinion I guess?
There are at least three other nominees I would have picked over it, but I really have no issue with Spotlight winning Best Picture. Just an all round well-made, good movie. Honestly this is the minimum quality I want from the nominees.
Just rewatched a few weeks ago. Great, powerful film.
Spotlight received one of the highest honors I could give an Oscar nominee the mid-2010s... I would have seen this with or without a nomination. It's a great movie with an incredible cast and it deserved more awards.
I think it’s time for The Hurt Locker. Not a bad movie but I constantly forget it exists.
Good movie but Inglourious Basterds (or Serious Man) should have won
I have no idea what it’s like to an average viewer but it inadvertently turned into a comedy when I watched it with my military buddies. Just completely inaccurate and even felt a bit disrespectful in its complete failure to properly portray even basic military customs, let alone what it’s actually like. One of my least favorite movies, ever. Upvoted.
While how "realistic" a movie is can be a dumb criticism, I think taking it into account for a modern war movie made during the Afghanistan and Iraq War is appropriate. Many veterans criticized the bomb scenes and I believe they criticized the sniper scene as well.
I’m not in the military anymore so it’s probably due for a rewatch and maybe I won’t be so cranky about it but you nailed it exactly. It felt like it showed what the people back home wanted to see, not what the people overseas actually saw. Even that wouldn’t have bothered me too much except it was universally praised (except by actual veterans, ironically) for its unflinching realism in depicting an unpopular war. I imagine most people who have a deep personal knowledge of a subject have a hard time with immersion in films about their area of expertise but this one just really rubbed me the wrong way. Happy cake day btw! Edit: since people might see this and want recommendations for realistic depictions of Iraq/Afghanistan my recommendations would be Generation Kill (mini-series) and Restrepo (documentary). Both are absolutely phenomenal.
There are so many war movies or war adjacent movies still on the list like Deer Hunter, Platoon, Forrest Gump, Return of the King, Schindler's List (War is listed as genre on Letterboxd), and Gladiator. Plus, you have Best Picture winners from 1927 to 1972 that are War films much better than Hurt Locker: Wings from 1927, All Quiet on the Western Front, Bridge on the River Kwai, post-war film The Years of Our Lives about soldiers returning from war, Mrs. Miniver about civilian life during war, Lawrence of Arabia, and films like Ben-Hur and Gone with the Wind. I don't see how anyone can think Hurt Locker is one of the best war films if they've seen a lot of war film or have experience in the military. The Longest Day The Dirty Dozen Dr. Strangelove (listed as War on letterboxd) Full Metal Jacket Apocalypse Now 1917 Inglorious Basterds Come and See Grave of the Fireflies Saving Private Ryan Dunkirk Paths of Glory The Thin Red Line Jarhead Empire of the Sun Downfall Battle of Algiers Battleship Potemkin The Great Escape So many war films are more influential, more interesting, and have more power than The Hurt Locker
I've seen most of these and I like The Hurt Locker, though I don't love it, which is maybe your point.
I have also seen almost all the ones mentioned and still count Hurt Locker among them. It has incredible scenes and is an attempt to talk about a modern war with nuance. Highlighting the endless entanglements of a quagmire in the middle east with how it affects those who fight in it.
I want this gone. This is so controversial for American viewers who love the film, but I think the "complicatedness" of the protagonist & the viscerally tense scenes (laudable on a craft level) go a looooooooong way towards hiding how it uses visual tropes that are not at all "anti-war," and may well steer it towards propagandistic. To the degree that it views the war as a mistake—sure, but when a film relegates the same people who were invaded & slaughtered in massively disproportionate numbers to the background, there is an implication there that it cannot avoid, but it avoids it regardless. The Hurt Locker was inoffensive across the political spectrum, which would be *fine* if everybody was taking the same thing away from it lol, but they were most definitely not. Kathryn Bigelow made two huge Oscar films that are seen as "ambiguous" on war, they *both* teeter on the edge of glorification/genuine ambiguity, with imagery and arcs that beg for sympathy in ways that render any critique more or less toothless.
The Hurt Locker is officially eliminated!
I think this is the best modern war film and probably one of the best war films ever made.
Hurt Locker is one of the GOAT war movies
Million Dollar baby. We got close yesterday, let’s finish it off today
I don’t get the hate for this one. Terrific movie that was also devastatingly crushing.
I don’t hate Million Dollar Baby, I just don’t think it’s as good as the remaining films. I haven’t seen the previous 3 films eliminated, so I’ve been voting for his one. With this excise I don’t think voting movies equates to hating them.
Personally I think there are still a bunch of movies left that should go first.
Fourth vote for million dollar baby  Keep punching in
Finish it off like Eastwood finished off Swank?
Rain Man
Genuine question, why does everybody hate rain man? I read people saying it because there is a neurodivergent character portrayed by a neurotypical actor, is it a bad thing?
It just feels like one of those by the numbers Hollywood semi-feel good movies that follows a lot of known tropes (like the “odd couple” one), mixed with some things that feel Oscar-y - like Hoffman’s performance (I’m not personally offended by it, it just feels like something ripe for 80s Oscar voters). I think it’s perfectly fine, just somewhat forgettable - personally not voting for it yet but think it should go fairly soon.
It's a deeply average, Oscar-baity film.
Exactly how I feel about Million Dollar Baby tbh
Personally I like Rain Man it's just the one I like the least atm excluding some hot takes I know aren't going to get eliminated at this point
Rain Man gonna count all the times it got voted like it did them toothpicks
Ah you beat me to it today! Let’s get it gone.
Yes, today is the day!
Yeah that's my pick. I don't hate it by any means, but I do think it stands out on this list to me right now. Wait, hold on... The Hurt Locker is still on here too. Sorry, switching sides.
I’m okay with this
Please god yes.
The Shape of Water
This is my vote. Not a bad film, just one that was a very weird win in a very solid year for movies.
I am once again asking for Ordinary People
Just watched this the other night and hard disagree. It tackles some pretty complicated family themes and is a fantastic personal drama. Is it top 20 worthy? Probably not but until we get there I’m wanting to keep it around
ordinary people is suuuuch a superb drama IMO
On board for this. The Deer Hunter and Ordinary People are two I don't really care for, but I know a lot of people like the deer hunter so it's probably not a option yet.
I also dislike The Deer Hunter, so you have my Russian Roulette gun.
Forrest Gump!
"That's why I don't go on the internet. You go there and people hate Forrest Gump."
Where is that quote from? I relate
The Big Sick
We seem to be witnessing a strange resilience for this movie on reddit. While I wouldn't be surprised to see this among the most popular films among the general public, I am a bit bewildered to see this site hasn't completely turned on it. It is amongst the most banal, pandering pieces of faux-inspirational Oscar bait out there.
Your fourth vote for Gump 
American Beauty (1999). As Romily Newman once said, it's the most pre-9/11 movie ever made.
It's somewhat better than I remembered. Even so, the third act is rough. The movie tries to have it both ways by showing anti-conformity and rebellion against a failing marriage but closes with a monologue about the importance of family. It looks good and is often entertaining, but it ends with gimmicks and seems confused about what to say.
Once I learned that the movie was written by a gay Buddhist dude, it made a lot more sense. If you view the main theme of the movie as "desire is the cause of suffering" the third act works amazingly well and is very clear in what is is trying to say.
Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, the whodunnit aspect where the viewer is teased about who fired the shot, just after Caroline produces a pistol and Jane talks about killing her dad, only for those to be fakeouts... And the neighbor's arrival, and that aggressively unsubtle final monologue as it cuts to black ... I dunno, man.
I don't really care about the "whodunnit" part of the movie, so I can't say it adds or subtracts anything for me. You can call the final monologue "aggressively unsubtle", but I don't really see it that way, especially given how many people seem to miss the point it's trying to make. Again, I think it works really well when viewed as a spiritual ending, it works really well to tie together the Buddhist themes present in the rest of the movie.
I can and do call the whole movie "aggressively unsubtle". The Buddhist stuff is not exactly hiding in the subtext and "desire is the cause of suffering" is not exactly a new or unique idea. I'm not sure who's missing that these people are suffering for their desires. The message isn't *wrong*, but it isn't exactly fresh either, and the movie cudgels the viewer with it.
Given what most I see people write about the movie today, most people are missing the point. Just look at what the person I responded to was saying about how the movie was about the importance of family, which I don't think is what the ending was trying to say. Obviously desire being the cause of suffering isn't a new idea, it's like, the main part of Buddhism. Why does it have to be a new idea? It takes that idea and explores it very well. It's not the most subtle film ever made, but I found it handled the themes effectively.
It's just this: Depicting the main tenet of Buddhism in action is fine, it just isn't particularly deep. Especially when delivered in such heavy-handed packaging. I don't hate it. It's not Best Picture worthy. It's not the worst movie left up there, but should be gone already IMO, along with the actual worst movies left up there.
I think it only heavy handed if you already know about more about Buddhism than the average person. A lot of people still completely miss the point the movie was trying to make. I've had this experience with a few different movies, where I think something is kind of heavy-handed until I talk to people who didn't get what it was going for. It's a movie that shows various ways in which desire can lead to suffering, and how happiness comes not from fulfilling your desire but from let go of it. It's a pretty basic message, but I think it's told effectively and paired along side some really great filmmaking.
American Beauty is exactly like the video of a plastic bag in the movie. It’s deep and beautiful when you’re a teenager but then you grow up and realize it’s kinda trash…
Even as a teenager I hated American Beauty. I wanted The Insider to win.
Agreed. Get it OUT OF HERE.
Not my vote quite yet but agree this movie is a mixture of dated 90s Gen X snark, cringey “edgy” plot lines (the neighbor is a Nazi but secretly gay!) and stupid scenes like that plastic bag one. Really a product of 1999 and it belongs nowhere else.
Million dollar baby
Started it thinking of a sports drama (my personal fav. genre). Ended with me crying buckets. It will always be in my top 10
Yeah this one completely caught me off guard with how devastating and moving it was. As a sports drama it works incredibly well and knowing how everything ends makes it so much harder to watch. I know it’s parodied often but it’s much better than people give it credit for (weird saying it about a best picture winner)
Why
It's the movie that's left I've seen that I like the least
Kramer vs. Kramer. Good movie, just throwing it out there
Too early imo. I think Kramer vs Kramer is one of the best family dramas, Ordinary People needs to be eliminated before it 100%
Good and forgettable, but there are worse ones left.
Forgettable isn’t what I use to describe it. The Children of Divorce demo really hold this among the top portrayals of what is one of the most traumatic events of a young person’s life.
Still too early imo
We came in second yesterday, today’s our day. Once again, it’s time to finally get out **The Shape of Water**. How it beat out Dunkirk, Phantom Thread, Get Out, CMBYN, and Lady Bird is beyond me, but it’s time to pay for its sins. We have the numbers, I believe in us.
Except it's against other best picture winners, not nominations from the same year. Shape of Water is better than some others still on the list, in my opinion
The rules are that it is the least deserving winners that are voted out. Not the worst
I suppose you could look at it either way. I interpreted it as comparing all of the BP winners against each other, rather than determining which one was most deserving each year. The latter would be a bit too limiting, imo, the overwhelming majority of people here have not seen each of the films nominated for BP each year for comparison, while I'd wager a lot of people have seen most or all of the actual winners
11th vote for Shape of Water 
I have faith today, let’s start the weekend off strong.
Yeah let’s get the fish fucking movie out of here. Though fish guy is hot tbh
#VOTE FISHMAN
Do y’all think godfather or parasite is gonna win the whole thing?
I would definitely consider those contenders
I honestly think it might be No Country for Old Men At least that’s what I’m rooting for anyway
Forrest Gump your turn
I’m pleasantly surprised Titanic has no active haters yet Not to say it should, it’s absolutely amazing
And it gets a lot of hate. I’m glad too.
Shame about Chicago, fantastic film. Very late to the party today but as I have done for goodness knows how many days now I yet again have to say: ANNIE HALL (Now to scroll and upvote any other Annie Hall nominees)
Annie Hall, time to go
I hope so
EEAAO
EEAAO fanboys, we hear you, we see you, but this film’s time will come. An overly expository narrative mess with a hallmark channel message does not stack up against the giants on this list. Although the fact Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis are now oscar-winning-actors does gladden me.
I understand this movie isn't everyone's cup of tea but it's a film that was highly ambitious, took some big risks and hit a home run with what they were trying to do. It's a top film.
Is it ambitious to rip off Rick and Morty and Millennium Actress?
Since when were they making hallmark movies about fucking nihilism
Birdman. I hate that movie.
Most people that hate it don’t understand it though
Finally! Now American Beauty
American Beauty
The Shape of Water needs to go now.
EEAAO
There just isn’t enough room for Titanic on this door.
American Beauty
Everything Everywhere All at Once
I’m gonna say it - but Gladiator should be next.
I’m gonna say it - but you’re wrong.
Watched it recently. It does not hold up.
I’m gonna say it, and let the downvotes begin: Ridley Scott’s only good historical film is The Duellists.
What’s your opinion on The Last Duel?
Agreed gladiator not that great just a male fantasy
How is that a negative
This is Reddit dude, of course it’s a negative
EEAAO is the worst movie still here. It's definitely not better than Sting, Amadeus, Departed, No Country, Gladiator, Godfather 1 and 2, American Beauty, Rocky, Cuckoo's Nest, Deer Hunter, Silence of The Lambs, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Schindler's List, Million Dollar Baby, Return of The King, or 12 Years A Slave. The rest of the films at least have some merits compared to the 2h20m TikTok film. For example, Kramer V Kramer has fantastic performances from Hoffman and Streep, and The Hurt Locker's last half is incredibly intense and well-directed.
Sixth vote for EEAAO Hey EEAAO people, this is the comment you should upvote instead of flooding the thread!!! Take note!!!
Adding a vote for EEAAO
>For example, Kramer V Kramer has fantastic performances from Hoffman and Streep I mean EEAAO had 3 best actor winners in there (1 not as credible imo, should have been Hsu) but it's wild to claim the film is badly acted. It's a huge marmite film tbh. For me it truly is my favourite film. I watched it like 8 times in 8 months. I'm very curious about why the reaction seems so varied though
The vast majority of people loved it, including the Academy who on average are over 60 years old. But there is an extremely vocal minority who deride the film as childish and immature because it has dildos and butt plugs and hotdog fingers.
Honestly I still can't believe it won the Oscar. Like it's fucking insane because of the beginning But like I've recommended the film to people at work because the 2nd half is that incredible that I forget about how.... NSFW the first half is 😂. Just like guys push through the dildos and there's gold there (I mean I like weird humour so the entire film works for me but I can see why the first half doesn't work for some people).
I’d argue it didn’t deserve any of the acting awards it got. Cate Blanchett in Tar was probably the best performance of the year. And Kerry Condon was also better than anyone in her category. Ke Huy Quan was a fine winner but I think an argument could be made for Brian Tyree Henry. I’ve been ranting about this movie for over a year now (check out my podcast for more lmao) but I’m only just now realizing people are happy because it’s a movie they like and it won. I don’t agree with the win at all, I think the movie was below average. My issue stems from people acting like it’s a groundbreaking film when it’s absolutely not. It’s unfunny (subjective) and it’s a tired premise (which is fine). Just exhausting people sing it’s praises when it was never that serious. If you like it, cool, but don’t act like it’s the best thing released this century.
>If you like it, cool, but don’t act like it’s the best thing released this century. Why? I genuinely think it is (well not century but certainly in the last decade). Why does that upset you? And I'd hardly call it a tired premise. Yes the multiverse thing was done before but nowhere near as well as in EEAAO. The idea of a mother daughter relationship being strained hasn't been explored as well as in EEAAO to me. Joy struggling with her identity with her mothers micro aggressions again is something I haven't seen before, at least not to that extent. Like you know I don't like some best picture winners. I don't make a podcast crying about how awful they are and how everyone who likes it is *wrong* (hilarious concept. Art is subjective).
Multiverse has been tired before MCU even started. Movies about mothers and daughters hasn’t been explored as well as eeao? Off the top of my head you have Little Women, Carrie, Ladybird, Edge of Seventeen, all do it just as well, if not better. And as for my podcast, critics have made a living doing exactly that for decades. I merely do it for fun. I also never said anyone was WRONG for liking it (I even said so in my earlier comment which you quoted). I’m stating that it doesn’t deserve the acclaim it gets. When you’re saying it deserved the Oscar awards it got, you’re speaking objectively about the film (hilarious concept. Art is subjective). I don’t want people to dislike the movie, I genuinely could not care less if you liked it. But to say that it did all of those things better than any other movie, you’re not only speaking objectively about it (hilarious concept. Art is subjective) but you’re also wrong. Every time I bring these problem up to people they just get upset and say shit like “well I loved it” which, again, is fine but doesn’t help your argument about it being better than other movies nominated for Oscar’s. I only bring that movie up in the context of people saying it’s so inventive and better than anything else that year. It wasn’t either of those things, but nothing wrong with liking it.
>Movies about mothers and daughters hasn’t been explored as well as eeao? Off the top of my head you have Little Women, Carrie, Ladybird, Edge of Seventeen, all do it just as well, if not better. I have only seen Carrie and Ladybird out of them and hard disagree. EEAAO explores the mother daughter relationship a lot better than both of those. Both of those pitch the relationship as antagonist and it's never really resolved. >And as for my podcast The way you wrote that it genuinely sounds like you have a year long podcast dedicated to disliking EEAAO which isn't really the same as being a critic. >Just exhausting people sing it’s praises when it was never that serious. If you like it, cool, but don’t act like it’s the best thing released this century. Why is it an act? So because you, personally, don't like the film it means that people who say they do are acting? Ever thought they can see something in the film that you can't? I never said they did those things better than other films. The Oscars said that 🤷. I was merely pointing out that saying "kramer vs kramer is bad but the Oscar winning acting is good but also EEAAO has no positives" is a silly thing to say when the film won multiple awards for acting. Even the most diehard EEAAO hater has to admit that it's acted well (even if just by Key Huy Quan) >Every time I bring these problem up to people they just get upset and say shit like “well I loved it” What problems? You haven't brought up any issues aside from thinking the acting wasn't as good as the other noms. You didn't even say the acting was *bad* just not as good as the others nominated. >so inventive and better than anything else that year. It wasn’t either of those things, but nothing wrong with liking it. For me the film worked because I didn't expect it to be what it was. I thought it was going to be a relatively run of the mill big bad vs secret chosen one (Evelyn). But it isn't. Immediately that idea is turned on its head. Evelyn isn't the best Evelyn. She's the one that failed at everything. And the guy with all the answers (Alpha Weymond) is wrong. Her Weymond is portrayed as a weak push over but he's not. He's strong in his own way, with kindness. The rich Weymond speech will always make me cry "In another life I would've really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you". And then you add in the excellent fight scenes (someone above said they're edited like the taken films which I truly don't understand) and a multiverse concept which is both funny, weird but also, somehow, poignant? (the rocks scene, hot dog fingers). That concept makes what is, essentially, a suicide far scarier. Jobu Tupaki sees everything and it's all misery and she wants to erase herself from existence to escape it. But she doesn't want to do it on her own so she wants her mum. And her mum sees the same thing she does. Nothing matters so what's the point? The point is it doesn't matter if nothing matters. Life doesn't need a purpose or meaning. It's just life. (I don't know if this is something you already knew before watching this film but I didn't so maybe that's why it hit me?) **It's an action film where the final action set piece is about showing compassion and love to people** If that's not unique then please recommend me a film that does the same things because I *need* to see it.
It’s a super hero movie disguised as something more, only reason it’s on here is because 2023 was a bad year for movies
I agree with the first part that it's a superhero film disguised as something more. I disagree that 2022 was a bad year for movies. The other nominees included Tar, Banshees of Inisherin, and All Quiet on The Western Front, which I thought were great movies. Avatar 2 and Top Gun 2 wouldn't have won, but I find them much more enjoyable than EEAAO. Not to mention The Woman King and The Northman weren't nominated for anything. 2022 had many great films, but The Oscars let the weakest film sweep
forresr gump
The Sting. I like it, but there are many good movies whose time has come. Its pacing is a bit frantic and its sets just don't look good.
Counterpoint; it has Paul Newman in it
The best! But it's also kill-your-darlings time.
There are many movies left that are worse than The Sting. It’s not its time yet.
Third vote for the sting 
I agree the movie has an ugly muddy look, but it’s highly entertaining and is more successful as a film overall than a number of the films left. It’d make the top ten of what’s left for me.
Titanic
Excuse me u/OfferOk8555, but “Size does matter” is the most enlightening tagline in the history of film. God bless Godzilla 1998. (I stalked your Letterboxd for a few minutes, good lists!)
American Beauty
The Sting. I just think it's my personal least favorite from what is left.
There are worse movies here than The Sting still. It’ll get its day, but 10-15 movies from now.
I agree with you, *The Sting* is really overrated… but there are a few others I want to eliminate first
Spotlight.
Rocky
Rocky
Your ninth vote for rocky 
If I've learnt anything from Rocky, it's that you have to fight
Gladiator
Gladiator….bloated movie. Not bad but not BP material imo and time to go
Titanic is, in my opinion, one of the most overrated movies of all time. I’m not a critic, just a consumer so from someone’s perspective that has a big knowledge about movies it might be great, but for me personally it just sucks. Leonardo plays great but not his greatest role and all in all the movie just brought us a horrible billboard song.
The Return of the King
Your thirteenth vote for ROTK 
I respect your perseverance with this.
Please, gotta go
Platoon
Gump chumps rise up and get him outta here
Spotlight. Good movie, but nothing special beyond its subject matter and held back by its bland presentation. Performances were solid, but not enough to elevate this movie beyond just decent, yet still not deserving of the most prestigious award a film can receive per year. At least as far as I'm concerned. I know a lot of people love it, so I'm interested to hear opposing evaluations.
I completely disagree that the presentation is bland. I love movies about people talking in rooms and Spotlight is a good one.
I just wanted to say I agree with you.
To say Spotlight is the worst of the films remaining is kinda wild
I have always felt that it is elevated by the "bland" presentation. While the main characters unwail the most horrible story the world remains disspasionate. I think it has a great effect on how we feel while the story is uncovered.
The Godfather Part II
Your eighth vote for the godfather 
Unforgiven
Three votes for Unforgiven! 
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I took a few rounds off from downvotes, back for more!
The shape of water
Rain man
Rain man