Oscar or Academy awards has always been political and the awards have been given for the political or trend issues at the time, not necessarily on the artistic or scientific merits of filmmaking. For example in the recent years, films such as “driving Miss Daisy” in 1989, was awarded as the best picture, for portraying a black man, in a more positive role, than previously, though he is still a driver to a white lady. At that year, Oscar ignored great movies such as “Born on the fourth of July”, “Dead poets society” and “my left foot at that cost! The following year, in 1990, “Dances with wolves” was awarded as the best picture, for portraying Indians, not as savages for the first time in all American westerns, but more humane. This political trend, cost the loss of great movies at that year such as “Goodfellas” and “The Godfather Part III”, though Kevin Costner’s film truly deserved the recognition. In the following years, films such as “Unforgiven”, “Forest Gump”, “Crash”, “No country for old men”, “the hurt locker”, “Argo”, “12 years slave” and most recently in 2015 “Spotlight” were awarded for one or another political reason or trend of the time, such as homosexuality, racism, church abuses, etc., or in a better word, these films were awarded for the content, not the artistic, directorial or acting aspects of the films! Because of this reason, or others, Oscar is well known for un-recognition of great films that have been haled elsewhere and are on the top movies lists of all time, such as “The informer” in 1935, “The awful truth” of 1937, “The wizard of Oz” and “Stagecoach” in 1939, “The grapes of wrath”and “The great dictator” of 1940, “Citizen Kane” and “Maltese Falcon” in 1941, “The magnificent Ambersons” of 1942, “The treasure of sierra Madre” in 1948, “Sunset Blvd.” in 1950, “A streetcar named Desire” in 1951, “High noon” and “The quiet man” of 1952, “Julius Caesar”, “Roman holiday”, “Shane” in 1953, “Giant” and “The king and I” of 1956, “12 angry men” of 1957, “Cat on a hot tin roof” in 1958, “America America” in 1963, “Dr.Strangelove” in 1964, “Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf?” of 1966, “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The graduate” in 1967, “Romeo and Juliet” and “The lion in winter” of 1968, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid” in 1969, “A clockwork orange”, Fiddler on the roof” of 1971, “Chinatown” in 1974, “Barry Lindon” and “Dog day afternoon” of 1975, “All the president’s men”, “Network” and “Taxi driver” in 1976, “Julia” and “Star wars” in 1977, “Apocalypse now” in 1979, “Raging Bull” and “Tess” in 1980, “Reds” in 1981, “E.T.” and “Tootsie” in 1982, “The killing fields” of 1984, “Born on the fourth of July”, Dead poets society” and “My left foot” in 1989, “Goodfellas” in 1990, “Pulp fiction” of 1994, “Fargo” and “Shine” in 1996, “Good will hunting” of 1997, “Elizabeth” , “Life is beautiful” and “Saving private Ryan” in 1998, “Chocloat”, “Traffic” of 2000, “Gangs of New York” and “The hours” in 2002, “Mystic river” of 2003, “Ray” and “The aviator” of 2004, “Capote” and “Good night and good luck” in 2005, “Babel”, “Letters form Iwo Jima” and “The Queen” of 2006, “There will be blood” in 2007, “Milk”, “The curious case of Benjamin Button” and “The reader” of 2008, “avatar”, “The blind side”, and “”Inglorious bastards” in 2009, “127 hours”, “Black swan” of 2010, “Midnight in Paris” and “War horse” of 2011, “Life of Pi” and “Django unchained” in 2012, “Gravity”, “The wolf of wall street” of 2013, “Ameican sniper”, “Boyhood”, “The theory of everything” and “Whplash” in 2014, “The revenant” and “The Martian” of 2015. Academy awards at the time, close competition, could easily share the award or recognition of the best picture to more than a film, as in many other venues, even sports or above all Olympics, as there could be times that would be difficult for everyone even with the most accurate measures to identify “the best”! Here is the list of the best pictures over years by Oscar.
(Films in the brackets are the mentionable films which were not awarded, but were regarded in other lists as great films. The films with * are deserved great films, even if not awarded, but nominated and neglected by the academy that has done so many times in the past. F: are the best foreign films awarded by the academy, & some great films non-awarded but nominated)
*1927-28: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927-28: Wings
1928-29: The Broadway Melody
*1929-30: All Quiet on the Western Front
1930-31: Cimarron
1931-32: Grand Hotel
1932-33: Cavalcade (A Farewell to Arms)
1934: It Happened One Night
1935: Mutiny on the Bounty (*The Informer)
1936: The Great Ziegfeld (Romeo and Juliet)
1937: The Life of Emile Zola (A Star Is Born, The Awful Truth)
1938: You Can’t Take it With You (Jezebel, *La grande illusion, Pygmalion)
*1939: *Gone with the Wind (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, *Stagecoach, *The Wizard of Oz, *Wuthering Heights)
1940: Rebecca (*The Grapes of Wrath, *The Great Dictator)
1941:How Green Was My Valley (*Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon)
1942: Mrs. Miniver (The Magnificent Ambersons, Yankee Doodle Dandy)
*1943: *Casablanca (Whom the Bell Tolls)
1944: Going My Way (*Double Indemnity, Gaslight)
1945: The Lost Weekend (*Spellbound)
1946: The Best Years of Our Lives (*It’s a Wonderful Life)
1947: Gentleman’s Agreement (F: *Shoe shine)
1948: Hamlet (*The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, F: Monsiueur Vincent)
1949: All the King’s Men (F: *The Bicycle Thief)
1950: All About Eve (Sunset Blvd., F: The Walls of Malapaga)
1951: An American in Paris (A Place in the Sun, *A Streetcar Named Desire, F: *Rashomon)
1952: The Greatest Show on Earth (*High Noon, The Quiet Man, F: Forbidden games)
1953: *From Here to Eternity (Julius Caesar, Roman Holiday, *Shane, The Robe)
*1954: On the Waterfront(F:Gate of hell)
1955: Marty (F:Samurai, The legend of Musashi)
1956: Around the World in Eighty Days (*Giant, The King and I, F: *La Strada)
1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai (*12 Angry Men, F: *Nights of Cabiria)
1958: Gigi (*Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, F: My uncle)
1959: Ben-Hur (Anatomy of a Murder, F: Black orpheus)
*1960: The Apartment (F: The virgin spring)
*1961: *West Side Story (Judgment at Nuremberg, F: Through a glass darkly)
*1962: *Lawrence of Arabia (To Kill a Mockingbird, F: Sundays and Cybele)
1963: Tom Jones (*America America, Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, Lilies of the Field, F: *81/2)
1964: My Fair Lady (Becket, *Dr. Strangelove, F: *Yesterday, today, tomorrow)
*1965: *The Sound of Music (Doctor Zhivago, F: The shop on Main street)
1966: *A Man for All Seasons (The Sand Pebbles, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, F: *A man and a woman, * The battle of Algiers)
1967: In the Heat of the Night (*Bonnie and Clyde, *Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, *The Graduate, F: Closely watched trains)
1968: Oliver! (*Romeo and Juliet, *The Lion in Winter, F: *War and peace)
1969: *Midnight Cowboy ( *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, F: *Z)
*1970: Patton (F: Investigation of a citizen above suspicion, * Tristana)
*1971: *The French Connection (A Clockwork Orange, *Fiddler on the Roof, F: *The garden of the Finzi Continis, * Dodes’ka-Den)
*1972: The Godfather (F: * The discreet charm of the Bourgeoisie)
*1973: The Sting (F: *Day for night)
*1974: *The Godfather, Part II ( *Chinatown, F: * Amarcord)
*1975: *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Barry Lyndon, *Dog Day Afternoon, F: *Dersu Uzala)
1976: *Rocky ( *All the President’s Men, *Network, *Taxi Driver, F: Black and white in color)
1977: *Annie Hall ( *Julia, *Star Wars, F: Madame Rosa)
*1978: The Deer Hunter (F: Get out your handkerchiefs)
1979: *Kramer vs. Kramer (*Apocalypse Now, F: *The tin drum)
1980: Ordinary People (Coal Miner’s Daughter, *Raging Bull, *Tess, F: Moscow does not believe in tears, * Kagemusha, *The last metro)
1981: Chariots of Fire (*Reds, F: Mephisto)
1982: *Gandhi ( *E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, *Tootsie, Volver a empezar:To begin again)
1983: *Terms of Endearment ( *Tender Mercies, F: *Fanny and Alexander)
1984: *Amadeus ( *The Killing Fields, F: Danagerous moves)
*1985: Out of Africa (F: The official story)
1986: *Platoon ( *Hannah and Her Sisters, F: The assault, * The decline of the American empire)
1987: The Last Emperor (F: Babette’s feast, * Au Revoir les Enfants)
*1988: Rain Man ( F:* Pelle the conqueror)
1989: Driving Miss Daisy (*Born on the Fourth of July, *Dead Poets Society, *My Left Foot, F: *Cinema Paradiso)
*1990: *Dances With Wolves ( *Goodfellas, *The Godfather, Part III,F: Journey of hope, * Cyrano de Bergerac)
*1991: The Silence of the Lambs (F: * Mediterraneo, *Raise the red lantern)
*1992: Unforgiven (F: * Indochine)
*1993: Schindler’s List (F: Belle époque, * Farewall my concubine, The secret of green papaya)
*1994: *Forrest Gump ( *Pulp Fiction, F: *Burnt by the sun, * Eat drink man woman, * Strawberry and cholcolate)
*1995: Braveheart (F: Antonia’s line)
1996: *The English Patient ( *Fargo, *Shine, F: Kolya)
*1997: *Titanic ( *Good Will Hunting, F: Character)
1998: Shakespeare in Love (*Elizabeth, *Life is Beautiful, *Saving Private Ryan, F: * Life is beautiful, * Central station, * Children of heaven)
1999: American Beauty (The Cider House Rules, *The Sixth Sense, F:All about my mother)
*2000: *Gladiator ( *Chocolat, Erin Brockovich, *Traffic, *Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, F: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
*2001: A Beautiful Mind (F: No man’s land)
2002: *Chicago ( *Gangs of New York, *The Hours, F: Nowhere in Africa)
2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (*Mystic River, F: The barbarian invasions)
*2004: *Million Dollar Baby ( *Ray, *The Aviator, F: The sea inside)
2005: *Crash ( *Capote, *Good Night and Good Luck, F: Tsotsi)
2006: *The Departed ( *Babel, *Letters from Iwo Jima, *The Queen, F:The lives of others)
2007: No Country for Old Men (*There Will Be Blood, F: The counterfeiters)
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (*Milk, *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, *The Reader, F: Departures)
2009: The Hurt Locker (*Avatar, *The Blind Side, *Inglourious Bastards, F: The secret in their eyes)
2010: The King’s Speech (*127 Hours, *Black Swan, F: In a better world)
2011: The Artist (*Midnight in Paris, *War Horse, F: A Separation)
2012: Argo (*Life of Pi, *Django Unchained, F: Amour)
2013: *12 Years a Slave ( *Gravity, *The Wolf of Wall Street, F: The great beauty)
2014: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (American Sniper, *Boyhood, *The Theory of Everything, *Whiplash, F: Ida)
2015: Spotlight (*The Revenant, The Martian, F: Son of Saul)
2016: Moonlight (La La Land, Arrival, *Hell or High water, *Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hidden Figures, Lion, Manchester by the Sea; F: The Salesman)
