Revisiting Best Picture Winners

How many times has the Academy actually gotten it right?

With the 97th Oscars set for this upcoming Sunday, I thought it could be a cool activity/article to look back at the previous 25 ceremonies since the turn of the century. I understand the need to have a ceremony to honor movies from the previous years, but the only way to truly know how worthy a film was, or wasn’t, is time. So let’s take a look at the previous 25 Best Picture winners and see if they would still win, if the ceremony for their year was held today. I will try to be as unbiased as possible as well, so even if I wouldn’t have voted it to win Best Picture then or now, it is more about the general consensus around that given film/year.

2000 Oscars- Gladiator/2000 Oscars redo- Gladiator

Other notable films released in 2000 were: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brokovich, and Traffic. I think that personal feelings aside, Gladiator is still the consensus best movie from this year and the one that is still watched/referenced the most. So I do believe that Gladiator would still be holding up that gold statuette today.

2001 Oscars- A Beautiful Mind/2001 Oscars redo- Mulholland Drive

Other notable films released in 2001: Fellowship of the Ring, Memento, The Royal Tenenbaums, Mulholland Drive, and Training Day. This is actually a pretty good year in retrospect, although many of these films weren’t even nominated for Best Picture. I think the first Lord of the Rings is probably the most iconic film today, but with two movies still to come, I would still doubt they’d give it to a first film in a trilogy (see Dune). So I think it would probably go to Mulholland Drive, Lynch never got an Oscar, and even though he wasn’t the Oscars cup of tea always, I think they just assumed they’d get another chance later (which never came).

2002 Oscars- Chicago/2002 Oscars redo- Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Other notable films from 2002- The Two Towers, Gangs of New York, The Pianist, Punch-Drunk Love, and Catch Me If You Can. Pretty weak year, and once again as just seen with Dune 2, they really like to wait until the end to award a film series it’s possibly Best Picture win. But it is just such a meh year, that even in a redo and knowing that Return of the King is coming, I think they would award Two Towers the Best Picture prize.

2003 Oscars- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/2003 Oscars redo- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Notable films released in 2003: Lost in Translation, Mystic River, Oldboy, and Memories of Murder. Much better year, and I think that the foreign language films could give Lord of the Rings a run for its money, I know I would vote for either of them. But capping of such a well received trilogy on a high note, with what many people consider the best of that trilogy. I think they would still give it to it, even though the previous year the same people had won the Oscar. I know that is what the Dune team is hoping happens with them at least.

2004 Oscars- Million Dollar Baby/ 2004 Oscars redo- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Other films released in 2004: The Aviator, Sideways, Collateral, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Incredibles, and Before Sunset. Million Dollar Baby was the film that came out of nowhere to win the prize at the end of the year, but I think in this redo it might go to a film that wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture. Held today, I think Eternal Sunshine takes it for the everlasting praise of that story and its utter uniqueness.

2005 Oscars- Crash/ 2005 Oscars redo- Brokeback Mountain

other 2005 films- Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Batman Begins. Rough year for Best Picture contenders as at the time everyone was up in arms over Brokeback losing. I don’t think that film has aged super well, but given the lack of options, I’m not sure what else could actually be viewed as a winner all these years later.

2006 Oscars- The Departed/ 2006 Oscars redo- The Departed

other 2006 films released: Children of Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Little Miss Sunshine. Like talked about earlier with Lynch and Mulholland Drive, this was an Oscar to reward Martin Scorsese since they had not previously done so. And we aren’t going back to all previous 96 Oscars to redo them, so this is still their chance to give him his rightful first Oscar.

2007 Oscars- No Country for Old Men/ 2007 Oscars redo- No Country for Old Men

Other films in contention from 2007: There Will be Blood, Zodiac, and Atonement. This is probably the closest two horse race that will be on this list between No Country and There Will be Blood. It was back then, and it still would be today, I think they have both aged well, and since I don’t think anyone had a problem with it back then, I think the same would hold true for today, and No Country takes it again.

2008 Oscars- Slumdog Millionaire/ 2008 Oscars redo- The Dark Knight

Other 2008 films released: The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, and Wall-E. Slumdog was definitely a cultural moment when it came out and won, but The Dark Knight changed the history of the Oscars. After it got snubbed they expanded the Best Picture field from 5, up to 10 movies. And The Dark Knight has only increased in popularity since it’s release. The Academy has a lot of biases, including the superhero genre, but I think they look past that in this revote.

2009 Oscars- The Hurt Locker/ 2009 Oscars redo- Up

Other notable 2009 films: Up, Avatar, District 9, and Inglorious Bastards. I think The Hurt Locker is another movie that has not been as fondly remembered as the years have passed. Same goes for Avatar, despite the box office juggernaut it was and remains to this day. I want to believe that they would want to reward Pixar at some point in their history and this is peak Pixar, so I think Up, just ever so barely floats above District 9 in a redo.

2010 Oscars- The Kings Speech/ 2010 Oscars redo- The Social Network

Notable 2010 films: The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Black Swan and Inception. Hot take, but I really like The Kings Speech. But at the time it was hated on for beating The Social Network, and still would be if the ceremony was today. I do believe The Social Network has appeared atop the most best films of this century list, probably should have taken the award home at the original ceremony as well. So yeah it takes the redo for sure.

2011 Oscars- The Artist/ 2011 Oscars redo- Moneyball

other 2011 films: Moneyball, Melancholia, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Never seen The Artist, don’t know anyone who has, so unsure how it won originally, definitely doesn’t in a redo. Tough year because not a lot of “Oscar” movies, but I guess they would give it to Moneyball. Tempting to go Harry Potter for that Lord of the Rings final installment type winner, but even though I much prefer the Wizards to the Hobbits, but I think Lord of the Rings has more of a prestige feel. So in the redo I guess Moneyball found the ideal lineup to take home the win.

2012 Oscar- Argo/ 2012 Oscars redo- Zero Dark Thirty

other 2012 films of note: Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom. As Ben Affleck’s number one fan, it pains me that in this redo scenario, I will have to take away that Best Picture statuette from him. I think Argo is a very, good and overall solid movie, and I think most agree. But in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure it holds quite the cultural significance of some other possible winners. A few years back we took away Kathryn Bigelow’s win for The Hurt Locker, but a few years later I think we give her, her rightfully deserved win for Zero Dark Thirty as it just would edge out Django for the win.

2013 Oscars- 12 Years a Slave/ 2013 Oscars redo- 12 Years a Slave

other contenders for Best Picture: The Wolf of Wall Street, Her, Gravity, Prisoners, Fruitvale Station, Before Midnight. This is a tough one, because I think that every movie I just listed is a movie that would sooner be rewatched as opposed to 12 Years a Slave. And as time passes you would think re-watchability would play a huge part the further we get away from a movie and it’s chances to win should there ever be a re-vote. Bill Simmons built an entire podcast around the very idea, but sometimes a movie can still be impactful even if each viewer is only likely to watch it once. I think in a re-vote 12 Years a Slave would still pull it out over some pretty stiff competition.

2014 Oscars- Birdman/ 2014 Oscars redo- Boyhood

other possibilities: American Sniper, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash, Selma, Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl. Birdman in the moment was a weird best picture winner, more of a directing feat, even 10 years later. So I think the redo comes down to two auteurs with Linklater and Boyhood vs Wes Anderson and The Grand Budapest Hotel. I think just the idea of Boyhood, how it was made, and how well respected Linklater is (still no Oscar) would make the voting members have this atop their ballots should a re-vote be done today.

2015 Oscars- Spotlight/ 2015 Oscars redo- The Big Short

top tier contenders from 2015: The Big Short, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Sicario. Sort of like the redo from 2012 with Argo, I think that Spotlight is a very well made and respected movie. But I don’t think it is a movie that people still think of in a certain way, as opposed to something like The Big Short or Mad Max: Fury Road. I think that is a movie that was probably the runner up in 2015, and has (unfortunately) aged well, maybe even hitting harder today than it did in 2015. Mad Max: Fury Road is also an intriguing option, but unlike some of the Lord of the Rings movies, which had weaker competition, I think it falls just short and if placing was revealed, would be the silver medalist at this Oscar redo.

2016 Oscars- La La Land (for 5 minutes) and then Moonlight/ 2016 redo- Moonlight

other movies in contention: Hidden Figures, Manchester by the Sea, Arrival, Hell or High Water, The Handmaiden. The redo comes down to the two movies that were both on the stage at one point for the 2016 films accepting a Best Picture status. But I think history repeats itself here and Moonlight takes down La La Land should there ever be a revote and Warren Beatty reads the correct envelope.

2017 Oscars- The Shape of Water/ 2017 Oscars redo- Call Me By Your Name

movies in competition for best picture win: Dunkirk, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Get Out, Phantom Thread, Logan. Sometimes the Best Picture winner is revealed and it takes years to realize some other movie would age better than the winner. And sometimes Shape of Water wins and almost immediately it becomes obvious the wrong movie was awarded the statue. Lots of other strong contenders here, debut films from Great Gerwig and Jordan Peele, with Lady Bird and Get Out. Like with District 9 earlier, fair or unfairly I just don’t think the Academy would ever reward a debut film the biggest prize. Nolan’s Dunkirk is something I really love and would’ve voted for, but is just too divisive to win it. I think Call Me By Your Name would actually take it, as it’s just a better version in every regard of our earlier redo winner from 2005, Brokeback Mountain.

2018 Oscars- Green Book/ 2018 redo- A Star is Born

2018 movies that stood a chance: Roma, Black Panther, A Star is Born, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I think there was strong backlash against Green Book at the time of its win, and it honestly just would not stand a chance in a redo. This entire article, I felt like I have been super fair and unbiased. Picking some movies over other movies I like more, even if it was close. I’m not sure this would be that close, mainly due to the Academy’s bias against animation, but A Star is Born has to be the winner here, right? How Bradley Cooper didn’t get a directing nomination, and somehow even more strange, lost to Rami Malek for Best Actor is beyond me. But I think it takes the redo just because it is a classic Hollywood story that I think the Academy can honor and shower it with awards in this alternate history redo ceremony.

2019 Oscars- Parasite/ 2019 redo- Parasite

other 2019 movies up for consideration: Little Women, 1917, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Ford v Ferrari, Knives Out, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Avengers: Endgame. Up front I would like to say I think 2019 could be in contention for the greatest year in film history (maybe an article for a different day!). We are also entering the territory where there has not been maybe enough time passed to really know for sure what will age the best/worst. But Parasite is still a highly beloved movie, and I think the Academy would jump at the chance to give it Best Picture again, even in this stacked year of movies.

2020 Oscars- Nomadland/ 2020 redo- Minari

other Covid year films released: Judas and the Black Messiah, Promising Young Woman, Soul, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Minari, The Father, Da 5 Bloods. From possibly the best year in film history to the worst. Covid obviously played a huge part in the low quality of options, but there is no way Nomadland wins a redo, can’t believe it won the first time. I guess I will pick what I think is the possibly the best of the bunch and go Minari. The immigrant and American dream themes in the story would play very well should voters be headed to the booth to vote today, so I’m going to guess in this redo that it gives it the nudge it needed to win.

2021 Oscars- CODA/ 2021 redo- Dune

other possibilities: Dune, The Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza. Another weak year due to the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. And a ceremony that I’m sure they would love to redo as it is and will be more remembered for the slap heard round the world as opposed to any winners. CODA is a fine movie, but kind of also a bland choice to be a Best Picture winner. I think in this redo they give the statue to Dune even though they know, and having seen the part 2, we know an even better version is just a few years away. Still the best made movie from 2021 and worthy Best Picture winner.

2022 Oscars- Everything Everywhere All at Once/ 2022 redo- Everything Everywhere All at Once

challengers to take Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Aftersun. Everything Everywhere All at Once is the obvious choice for the redo here, as it is still the most bananas best picture winner ever and I think it was the “cool” movie to like. And looking around something like Aftersun could be the “hipster” pick to give the winner a run for its money, but no need to change history on this one.

2023 Oscars- Oppenheimer/ 2023 redo- Oppenheimer

top tier 2023 films: Barbie, Poor Things, The Holdovers, Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, All of Us Strangers, Air. Hard to pick a new winner just a year later, and Oppenheimer (to date) has not aged poorly at all. Very well made and Christopher Nolan is like the it guy in Hollywood, so no reason to thin any other movie stood a chance to edge him out for this, even in a redo.

2024 Oscars- ????/ Will’s prediction- Anora

top tier contenders: The Brutalist, Anora, and Conclave. I think that this is really a three horse race heading into this Sunday’s Oscars. The Brutalist is the technically made/old Hollywood style film the Oscars love. Conclave has the international support. And Anora has been cleaning up at every other award show. Gun to my head though and I’m going to say I think that Anora ends up being the Best Picture winner, just edging out Conclave.

I know this was a very long article, so if you are still reading to this point, a very big THANK YOU is needed. Appreciate the support and means the world that someone is reading this. Until next time!