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Saturday, May 17, 2014

Still Watching the Best Pictures

It's been a couple of years since I last posted my updated list of which Best Picture-nominated films I've seen. Time for an update.

While being nominated for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture award is a pretty good indicator that a film has some kind of merit, the award represents only a narrow field of opinion (the tastes of Academy members), and often superior films are overlooked each year at the Oscars. But I find the list useful because it's exposed me to a wide range of styles and genres and led me to other great works. In other words, when I finally watch all of these films, it will really only be the beginning of my exploration of the art form.

Since my last update, I've seen the following additional nominees:

Shanghai Express (1931-32)
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931-32)
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1932-33)
She Done Him Wrong (1932-33)
State Fair (1932-33)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Dodsworth (1936)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Mrs. Minniver (1942)
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Oliver! (1968)
Funny Girl (1968)
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Z (1969)
Cabaret (1972)
The Emigrants (1972)
Sounder (1972)
Cries and Whispers (1973)
A Touch of Class (1973)
Lenny (1974)
The Turning Point (1977)
Coming Home (1978)
Midnight Express (1978)
Breaking Away (1979)
Raging Bull (1980)
Atlantic City (1981)
The Big Chill (1983)
The Dresser (1983)
Places in the Heart (1984)
A Soldier's Story (1984)
A Room with a View (1986)
A Few Good Men (1992)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Elizabeth (1998)
Life is Beautiful (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Seabiscuit (2003)
Frost/Nixon (2008)
The Artist (2011)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
The Help (2011)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Moneyball (2011)
The Tree of Life (2011)
War Horse (2011)
Argo (2012)
Amour (2012)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Django Unchained (2012)
Les Misérables (2012)
Life of Pi (2012)
Lincoln (2012)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
American Hustle (2013)
Captain Phillips (2013)
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Gravity (2013)
Her (2013)
Nebraska (2013)
Philomena (2013)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Years in which I've seen every nominated film: 1962, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013

Years in which I've seen all but one nominated film: 1939, 1954, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006

Years in which I've seen none of the nominated films: 1958

Earl's favourites among this batch of nominees: Goodbye Mr. Chips, Mrs. Minniver, A Man for All Seasons, Z, Midnight Express, Raging Bull, Django Unchained, Gravity, Her
Earl's least favourites among this batch of nominees: Three Coins in the Fountain, Funny Girl, The Turning Point, Seabiscuit, The Help, War Horse, Amour, Zero Dark Thirty

From now until my next update I'll see if I can finish off a few of those "seen all but one" years and if I can put a dent in 1958. I have Gigi on Blu-Ray, so watching that will be a start. 

If I've counted correctly, I've now seen 319 out of the 512 films nominated for Best Picture, or a little over 62 percent of the nominees.

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