The one thing that inspires the most debate amongst every group of cinephiles is that of the Academy Awards. The Academy represents the best of the best, the pinnacle of movies for any given year.
It’s something we all debate and bet on, as the annual Oscar pool for the Inside Pulse Movie Staff reaches epic proportions. You’d be amazed what Danny Cox and Jenny Rushing bet last year against Heath Ledger winning for The Dark Knight. But how do you rank a decade’s worth of Oscar winners and nominees against one another? That’s what we decided to do, in order to determine which film really was the best the Motion Picture Academy had to offer.
How’d we come up with list? The IP Movies Staff submitted individual lists of 10 apiece, ranking the top 10 with one sole criterion: Being nominated or having won Best Picture between 2000 and 2009. Ranking each in order, with 10 points for First Place and one for Last, we’ve come up with the ten best films that have been nominated (or won) an Oscar. Ties go the Oscar Winner.
With all of us having voted, we’ve tabulated the scores. Here are the top ten, complete with commentary on each.
Others receiving votes: Crash, Capote, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Juno, No Country for Old Men
10. Milk
The end of this decade was a turn in the opposite direction from how the decade began. In the year 2000, we had just elected George W. Bush as president of the United States, the country was excited to have Bush Jr in office, and we were hopeful in where we were headed. After W.’s tumultuous eight year run as President, with war in the Middle East and a shrinking economy, America elected its first black President, Barack Obama to bring us hope in the new decade. Among the many many debates over the past ten years, gay rights has been one of the issues at the forefront of conversation. In 2008, in the midst of heated Presidential debate when the country was already at the height of partisanship, California attempted to re-enact its ban on gay marriage with the very controversial Proposition 8. It was during this time of heightened awareness that Milk was released in theaters.
The fate of political activist Harvey Milk (Sean Penn, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his role) is already known to the audience before the film starts, but the opening scene sets the tone for the film: Harvey Milk sits slouched at his personal desk, recording his will. “In the event that I am killed by assassination…” This tender introduction to the man reassures us that this will not just be another documentary, but an intimate portrait worthy of the legend. We see Harvey Milk as he turns 40, with very little self-confidence as he believes he hasn’t accomplished a thing in his life. He shyly begins a relationship with Scott Smith (James Franco) and the two decide to elope to San Francisco. They decide to open a camera shop in the once conservative Irish/Catholic Castro Street neighborhood.
Harvey and Scott pioneered the now predominantly gay Castro Street, and Harvey’s magnetic charm helped him gain popularity within the community. After three unsuccessful attempts at running for office, Harvey finally wins a seat on the California Board of Directors for District 5, becoming the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. While in office, Harvey butts heads with conservative Dan White (Josh Brolin), mainly over Proposition 6, which was a law that would ban gays and lesbians or anyone supporting gay rights from working in public schools. The battle over Proposition 6 becomes mentally and emotionally draining for both White and Milk, but White is the one who suffers the most. Prop 6 was defeated on November 7, 1978, but White was already on his downward spiral. He resigns from office, but asks to be reinstated and is turned down by Mayor Moscone (Victor Garber). When he asks a second time for reinstatement and is a second time rejected, he shoots Moscone and then shoots Milk, killing him.
Many actors were tied to the role of Harvey Milk before Sean Penn was decided upon. His performance here is like no other performance we’ve seen from Penn. He’s given us roles like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Matthew Poncelet from Dead Man Walking, and his Oscar winning Jimmy Markum from Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River, but never before have we seen him so exuberant and infectious. Josh Brolin had the privilege of portraying two real-life public figures in 2008, Dan White and George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s W. The two have more in common than the real-life persons probably would care to admit. Outstanding supporting roles by James Franco, Emile Hirsch, and Diego Luna helped form the personal life of Harvey Milk, allowing us to care for him even more. And when his death inevitably comes and the mourners begin packing the streets of San Francisco, it’s the insight into Milk’s personal life that has formed such a bond with the audience that we want to mourn right along with them. This film had been in development hell since 1984 when the award-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk was released. Perhaps Gus van Sant’s artful direction and Dustin Lance Black’s carefully written screenplay were just waiting for the right time. 2008 was it.
— Jenny Rushing
9. There will be Blood
It’s hard to think this film was ignored at both the Academy Awards and on this list. As much as No Country for Old Men deserved to win an Oscar, There will be Blood deserved to win as well.
— Danny Cox
8. Michael Clayton
If there was a turning point in George Clooney’s career when you thought “wow, this guy really can act” instead of “hey, that’s George Clooney” it was Michael Clayton. Already a great actor, and perhaps the one guy who has the “movie star” type of persona from yesteryear, Clooney had already won an Academy Award for Syriana. But it was Clayton, itself a tremendous film, that was a sign that he had arrived.
Following the tale of a corporate fixer (Clooney) in the middle of a crisis of conscience, trying to clean up the mess his brilliant but troubled friend Arthur (Tom Wilkinson) made of a recent case with billion dollar ramifications, it develops into something much more then that. And Clooney just carries the film on his back, shedding the sort of ‘rock star’ persona he normally brings onto the screen and into this man of ill repute.
— Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz
7. Good Night, and Good Luck
It didn’t have big star in the lead role. It didn’t have big explosions or musical numbers. It wasn’t even in color. But George Clooney’s second directorial effort was truly a film worthy of a Best Picture nod. And frankly it was robbed of the Award by the bloated, clichéd Crash. Not only did it have a solid cast (including Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr. and Frank Langella amongst others) lead by David Strathairn (also nominated), but the story of McCarthyism and it effects on our freedom of speech was delivered at a time when this fifty year old story seemed all too familiar and was a wonderful indictment of the current administration at the time. This film didn’t need all the razzle-dazzle that other films need to get noticed by audience goers and critics alike. It was the superior acting, directing and writing that made people take their seats in the theater. And frankly, I’m shocked and saddened by how low on this list this film is. Surely Good Night & Good Luck is leaps and bounds better than Moulin Rouge. Alas, this is just one man’s opinion.
— Mike Noyes
6. Frost/Nixon
Based on the stage play and directed by Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon recounts the historical interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon. Frost viewed it as an opportunity to better his career, and Nixon saw it as a way to get his story out to the American public and claw his way back from political death. Whether either understood the real significance of the interviews at the time is unclear, but today Frost’s interviews with the former president stand as a hallmark of investigative journalism and a powerful moment when the United States public exacted some measure of justice from the man they felt nearly ruined their country.
Howard captures the importance of this moment brilliantly by jumping back and forth through time. The majority of the movie takes place in 1977, covering the period when Nixon resigned to just after the interviews, but interspersed throughout are brief interview scenes where the characters involved reflect on that moment. This allows for a sense of immediacy while still giving it the proper sense of history, and even though everyone knows how it turns out, the drama of the situation and the hurdles Frost and his team had to overcome are still moving.
In some ways it seems unfair to single out one particular actor (or, indeed, one particular aspect of the movie) when everyone involved from the director to the writer to the actors did an outstanding job, but Frank Langella’s performance as Nixon does deserve special mention. While I have no desire to defend the former president or his actions, it should be kept in mind that he was human and subject to the all the frailties and complications that come with that label. It would be easy to simply vilify Nixon and aggrandize Frost, but the movie does a great job of portraying both as the complex, sometimes contradictory people they both were and a great deal of the credit must go to Frank Langella for his nuanced performance.
Michael Sheen deserves praise too for his portrayal of David Frost. Both he and Langella display a keen intelligence in their roles and watching the verbal chess match they engage in is riveting. The “gotcha” moment when Frost finally cuts through Nixon’s defenses and reaches the sad, bitter, self-loathing man underneath the presidential demeanor is at once triumphant and heartbreaking, and the war inside Frost between his genuine sympathy for the man and his disgust at his actions is utterly compelling and subtly played out through Sheen’s powerful yet minimal expressions.
But as I said, in a way it’s unfair to single out any one actor because every person involved does such an amazing job. Frost/Nixon stands as an example of how the right elements and right people can come together to make something truly incredible.
— Josh Begley
5. Gladiator
Gladiator – Russell Crowe had a career before Gladiator, but this movie still made him, and at the same time, he made this movie. Giant epic films tend to have some swing when the Oscars roll around, and they can usually find themselves within the five nominations (ten now, but we’ll stick with the five since that’s just restarting this coming telecast) for Best Picture if they hit all the right notes, and Gladiator never misses a beat.
The film is filled with stunning action sequences, great drama, as well as suspense, and flawless acting from the bit characters right up to Crowe himself. These actors and actresses become the characters they’re portraying, and it’s easy to forget these people are anyone but who they are in the film. The direction by Ridley Scott is spot-on, and was also recognized by the Academy with a nomination, as were many other aspects of this marvellous film. Over the past decade we’ve been hit with a lot more features that tell a grand tale of epic proportions, and have done quite well for themselves both in box-office and awards, yet Gladiator deserves its spot as one of the top ten Academy films of the entire decade.
— Brendan Campbell
4. Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain is one of those Best Picture hopefuls that will have greater longevity than of the film that beat it. That year (2006) Crash was he “safe” choice for Oscar voters, because films dealing with race are always socially relevant. Yet, Ang Lee’s film is in the record books as being the most honored movie in cinema history; not just that year, but of all time.
It was referred to as that “gay cowboy movie,” which is a nonsensical interpretation. Brokeback Mountain is the romance of the decade (maybe of ages); it just happens to involve two men who are cowboys. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger both received Academy Award nominations for their performances as Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar and rightly so. Philip Seymour Hoffman may have won for his portrayal as Truman Capote, but PSH had plenty of material of Capote to base his performance. Ledger’s vulnerability as Ennis is what great acting is all about. The scene where he is clutching a denim shirt once worn by Jack is one of the great dramatic shots of this decade. Even as I type I can envision Ledger as he silently weeps.
Brokeback Mountain may be a “message” film about homosexuality, but it is a love story foremost. With a talented cast, Ang Lee’s superior direction and Larry McMurtry’s (Lonesome Dove) prose, the film’s subject matter is universal and is able to transcend any sexual tendencies. This is a film that everyone should see.
–Travis Leamons
3. Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is an extravaganza of sights, sounds and, if you concentrate really hard to the point where your ears begin to bleed, even smells.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the 2001 musical is a classic throwback to the grand musicals of the golden era of Hollywood — as seen through the prism of today’s MTV generation.
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor both turn in amazing performances as Satine and Christian, two lovers torn apart by circumstance and destiny.
Using a soundtrack cobbled together from radio hits of the last several decades, the film’s music is a collage of memories and experiences — letting the audience project their own romanticism into the already, admittedly, syrupy plot.
While the film is no stranger to overt sentimentalism and overblown emotion, there is something refreshing about a movie that is not afraid to wear its heart on its ruffled and sequined sleeve.
The love story bottled up in Moulin Rouge! is a concentrated celebration of that same sensationalized kind of romance that only exists in greeting cards and pop songs.
The movie is a fantasy first and foremost — existing in that ethereal plane just is beyond humanity’s ability to grasp.
The movie is at once colorful, loud, obnoxious and overwhelming – it’s in these reasons why it’s also the perfect example of a love story for the current generation.
— Robert Saucedo
2. American Beauty
American Beauty – This movie is the rare exception of a film that came out in 1999, but won the award in 2000, thus making the cut for the “best of the decade” list. Could anyone argue that though? Sure, I’m sure there are some this film didn’t appeal to, as there are people who won’t like any of the films on this list, but for those who did enjoy it, they understand how it made the list ahead of some other great films.
It’s hard to start off a film telling the audience that the character they’re going to be watching for the next two hours is going to die, but such is the case in American Beauty as Kevin Spacey’s character Lester Burnham is doomed from the get-go, and it’s actually he himself who tells us this. The story follows him on a journey of finding himself, and realizing it’s never too late to take control of your life and not bow down to the powers that be.
Like most of these films, it’s the great performances from the entire cast that make them what they are, and while this rings true for American Beauty as well, it’s Spacey who truly steals the show, and touches the hearts of those watching throughout his personal quest. It’s a funny, moving, memorable film that will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.
— Brendan Campbell
1. The Departed
Martin Scorsese has made arguably the best film of the past four decades. The 1970s provided Taxi Driver, the 1980s gave us Raging Bull, the 1990s lent us Goodfellas and the first decade of the 2000s gave us The Departed. With perhaps his best cast, ever, Scorsese gave us an instant classic.
Following the tale of a mobster (Matt Damon) who becomes a cop and a cop who goes undercover as a mobster (Leonardo DiCaprio), the film is an epic tale of crime from the master of it. Scorsese once again made a masterpiece and it’s almost appropriate that a man who had been denied an Oscar on so many times finally won one by revisiting what made him a legend after so many misfires. After making prestige pictures and getting stiffed, he goes out and makes a genre film again and wins one. Life is funny, no?
Remade from the Hong Kong b-grade thriller Infernal Affairs, Scorsese takes the original film and has crafted something more epic and grandeur with it. This isn’t a quick action flick about a mobster and a cop undercover; this is about two men who find themselves teetering a fine line between good and evil. Scorsese is at his peak, masterfully working a fairly intricate storyline over nearly three hours with some excruciatingly tight plotting and a final act that’s intensely violent to a spectacular degree. I’ve seen the film over 20 times in a couple years and it hasn’t lust any of its luster.
— Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz
