Top 5 Best Picture Winners

By Austin Johnson

The 92nd Oscars are set for February 9th and I can’t wait. I don’t agree with the Academy on a lot of things, but what’s new. I love films and they honor them once a year, so I’m going to be into them by default. The past few years, I have really taken it upon myself to try and watch every Best Picture nominee. They used to do five Best Picture nominations, but the number has changed multiple times. This year, there’s nine and I’ve seen them all as I’m writing this, except for Little Women. I adore Greta Gerwig, but I’m waiting for my mom to have some free time to see it. I’m sure it’s wonderful. Whenever the Oscars are just around the corner, I try and watch some films that have done well in the past as well. I’ve had a list of all the Best Picture winners on my phone for years now and I cross them off as I see them. There are a total of 91 films that have won the grand prize and I have seen well over half of them. Most of them have been solid, a few have been shitty, and then some are definitely stand outs to me. This list won’t be about changing anything from the past or talking about the mistakes that the Academy has made. Instead, this list will contain my 5 favorite films that won the Best Picture award.

5.) The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

“I've no plans to call on you, Clarice.
The world is more interesting with you in it.”

The Silence of the Lambs absolutely dominated at the 64th Academy Awards, garnering five wins out of seven nominations. Those five wins are special though. Of course, The Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture but it also completed The Big Five. Best Picture, Jonathan Demme for Best Director, Ted Tally for Best Screenplay, Anthony Hopkins for Best Actor, and Jodie Foster for Best Actress. Only two films had ever done that before in the history of the Oscars and it hasn’t happened since. The Silence of the Lambs is also the only pure horror film that has ever won Best Picture. I still can’t believe Get Out didn’t win, but it’s hard for horror to break into the Oscars. This film broke barriers by winning and it has aged like fine wine. Our 8th episode on the Filmgazm Podcast breaks down the film but we will be talking about this masterpiece forever.

4.) No Country for Old Men (2007)

“I always figured when I got older, God would sorta come into my
life somehow. And he didn't. I don't blame him. If I was him
I would have the same opinion of me that he does.”

The 80th Academy Awards contained one of my favorite races of all time. No Country for Old Men received the most nominations along with There Will Be Blood at eight a piece. Two perfect films duking it out and No Country came out on top with four wins, including Best Picture, the Coen Brothers for Best Director, the Coen Brothers for Best Screenplay, and Javier Bardem for Best Supporting Actor. A Coen Brothers film battling a Paul Thomas Anderson film is about as sweet as it gets in my world, so this particular Oscars will always stand out as time goes on because either film would’ve made this list.

3.) The French Connection (1971)

“That car is dirty, Cloudy. We're going to sit here all night if we have to.”

The 44th Academy Awards had 3 films receive 8 nominations. The Last Picture Show, Fiddler on the Roof, and The French Connection. The night ended with The French Connection as the big winner, taking five awards including Best Picture, William Friedkin for Best Director, Gene Hackman for Best Actor, Ernest Tidyman for Best Screenplay, and Gerald B. Greenberg for Best Film Editing. The 70’s are riddled with films that I adore and The French Connection is one of the very first ones that comes to mind.

2.) Moonlight (2016)

“Hey, these grandma rules, man. You know the deal.
Your ass eat, your ass speak.”

We saw a nice fuck up at the 89th Academy Awards when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong envelope to announce the Best Picture winner. The envelope was the one for Emma Stone's Best Actress win for La La Land, but really Moonlight won. La La Land got an astounding six wins out of fourteen nominations, but it was the low budget A24 film that took Best Picture. Moonlight got three wins out of eight nominations, which is probably the most progressive thing that the Academy has ever done. Best Picture, Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Best Screenplay, and Mahershala Ali for Best Supporting Actor. Connor and I released an episode where we talk about our ten favorite films of the 2010’s. It was extremely difficult to pick just ten films, but Moonlight made it to number two on mine. I think it’s one of the best decisions the Academy has ever made.

1.) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

“I'm not just talking about my wife, I'm talking about my LIFE, I can't seem to get that through to you. I'm not just talking about one person, I'm talking about everybody. I'm talking about form. I'm talking about content. I'm talking about interrelationships. I'm talking about God, the devil, Hell, Heaven. Do you understand... FINALLY?”

I mentioned earlier that I adore some 70’s films and this is another one that comes to mind right away when I think about that incredible decade. I also mentioned that three films in the entire history of the Oscars have completed The Big Five. Well, here’s another one of them. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ran the 48th Academy Awards with the most nominations at nine, and then that Big Five. Best Picture, Miloš Forman for Best Director, Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman for Best Screenplay, Jack Nicholson for Best Actor, and Louise Fletcher for Best Actress. Ken Kesey wrote one of my favorite books, and then it was made into this brilliant film that I will never shut up about. It’s in that rare air of invincibility where no one can deny its greatness. This has been a list of my personal favorite films to win Best Picture. I’m going to keep watching the past winners and if I see something that could steal that spot from The Silence of the Lambs, then I’ll update it but that’s a very tall order.