So the 2018 Oscar nominations are out. It's been a good year for movies, and there are some worthy nominees.Were these the actual Oscars and not the CYA Oscars, the FIVE nominees for Best Picture would be: Darkest Hour, The Post, Three Billboards, Lady Bird, and either Dunkirk or Phantom Thread. Get Out, The Shape of Water,Best Pictures, really?
So that got me to thinking, what were the Best Pictures of the last fifteen years, and how many of those were TRULY Best Pictures? The list is:
2017- Moonlight
2016- Spotlight
2015- Birdman
2014- 12 Years a Slave
2013- Argo
2012- The Artist
2011- The King's Speech
2010- The Hurt Locker
2009- Slumdog Millionaire
2008- No Country For Old Men
2007- The Departed
2006- Crash
2005- Million Dollar Baby
2004- Lord of the Rings
2003- Chicago
So I ask you, how many of those are TRULY Best Pictures? For my money, I have it at five, maybe six. Spotlight, 12 Years, Argo, King's Speech, Milion Dollar Baby, and maybe Hurt Locker. Incidentally, I'm not sure that ANY of those would crack the top 10 of all-time Best Picture winners, maybe 12 Years but that would be it. I'm not knocking the rest, they are very good movies. But the reality is this is the Golden Age of TELEVISION, not movies, and thus the best stuff being done in Hollywood right now is series tv (or Netflix). Thus, the truly great movies are getting harder to come by. If I were to put the best series of the last fifteen years up against this list, it would blow this list away. Dark Mirror, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Mad Men, Breaking Bad... now THAT is Best Picture quality.
More wisdom next week.