The Top 25 'Best Picture' Winners of All Time (COUNTDOWN THREAD).

[CoolioD1]

15-11. All on my list. Very nice. Unforgiven is the best of them, really, it's a total masterpiece that wipes it's ass with anything else Clint has ever directed.

[DAR]

I like the way the Departed poster has the actors' faces in the text, but then accepts that some people wouldn't be able to make it out so repeats the title in a normal font.

I just remembered the audible gasps in theater when the elevator door opened

[The Stingray]

#9:

 

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - 69 points

 

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American thriller film that blends elements of the crime and horror genres. Directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, and Scott Glenn, the film is based on Thomas Harris' 1988 novel of the same name, his second to feature Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer, known only as "Buffalo Bill".

 

It was only the third film, the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).

 

 

Oscar Nominations/Wins: 7/5

 

Best Picture - Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt, Ronald M. Bozman 

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Anthony Hopkins 

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Jodie Foster 

Best Director - Jonathan Demme 

Best Adapted Screenplay - Ted Tally 

 

Best Sound - Tom Fleischman, Christopher Newman 

Best Film Editing - Craig McKay 

 

Best Actor Anthony Hopkins in a scene from Best Picture winner "The Silence of the Lambs".

[CoolioD1]

I think I like the fact that a movie like Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture more than I like Silence of the Lambs. Still cool to see it up there on the list though.

[The Stingray]

#8:

 

Forrest Gump (1994) - 77 points

 

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise and Sally Field. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a naïve and slow-witted yet athletically prodigious native of Alabama who witnesses, and in some cases influences, some of the defining events of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States; more specifically, the period between Forrest's birth in 1944 and 1982.

 

 

Oscar Nominations/Wins: 13/6

 

Best Picture - Wendy Finerman, Steve Starkey, Steve Tisch 

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Tom Hanks (Tom Hanks became the first actor since Spencer Tracy and fourth performer to win consecutive awards.)

Best Director - Robert Zemeckis 

Best Adapted Screenplay - Eric Roth 

Best Film Editing - Arthur Schmidt 

Best Visual Effects - Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Allen Hall 

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Gary Sinise 

Best Cinematography - Don Burgess 

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Rick Carter, Nancy Haigh 

Best Sound - Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands, William B. Kaplan 

Best Sound Effects Editing - Gloria S. Borders, Randy Thom 

Best Makeup - Daniel C. Striepeke, Hallie D'Amore, Judith A. Cory 

Best Original Score - Alan Silvestri 

 

Best Actor Tom Hanks ("Forrest Gump").

[lab276]

I'm liking the top 10 a lot so far.

[CoolioD1]

3 90s movies in a row though. C'mon now...

[lab276]

3 90s movies in a row though. C'mon now...

It was a good decade.

[The Stingray]

#7:

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - 78 points

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, and starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Will Sampson. The story is about Nicholson's R.P. McMurphy, a brash rebel, who upon admittance to a mental institution, rallies the patients to take on the oppressive head nurse.

 

 

Oscar Nominations/Wins: 9/5

 

Best Picture - Saul Zaentz, Michael Douglas ('One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' became the first film in 41 years to sweep the major categories.) 

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Jack Nicholson 

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Louise Fletcher 

Best Director - Milos Forman 

Best Adapted Screenplay - Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman 

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Brad Dourif 

Best Cinematography - Haskell Wexler, Bill Butler 

Best Film Editing - Richard Chew, Lynzee Klingman, Sheldon Kahn 

Best Original Score - Jack Nitzsche 

 

Best Picture winners Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz flank Best Director Alfonso Cuarón?, Best Actress Louise Fletcher and Best Actor Jack Nicholson ("One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest").

Edited January 19, 2014 by The Abominable Stingray

[Dementeleus]

^^ Cuaron?! I think not.

[CoolioD1]

Alfonso Cuaron directed Cuckoo's Nest? Gosh, the things ya learn here.

[The Stingray]

Spoiler didn't work on that one.

[The Stingray]

#6:

 

Telemachos of Arabia (1962) - 94 points

 

Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British epic adventure drama film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It is directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role, and depicts Lawrence's experiences in Arabia during World War I, in particular his attacks on Aqaba and Damascus and his involvement in the Arab National Council. Its themes include Lawrence's emotional struggles with the personal violence inherent in war, his own identity, and his divided allegiance between his native Britain and its army and his newfound comrades within the Arabian desert tribes.

 

 

Oscar Nominations/Wins: 10/7

 

Best Picture - Sam Spiegel 

Best Director - David Lean 

Best Cinematography, Color - Freddie Young 

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - John Box, John Stoll, Dario Simoni 

Best Sound - John Cox 

Best Film Editing - Anne V. Coates 

Best Score - Substantially Original - Maurice Jarre 

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Peter O'Toole 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Omar Sharif 

Best Adapted Screenplay - Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson 

 

Presenter Joan Crawford and Best Director David Lean ("Lawrence of Arabia").

 

[Dementeleus]

It didn't make the top five?

[The Stingray]

It was close.

 

Anyways, I'm hungry. I'll be back in 20-30 min.

[DAR]

I think I might watch Cuckoo's Nest tonight

[baumer]

Titanic should have been higher.

Silence of the Lambs should have lost to JFK

Lawrence of Arabia is a horrible film.

 

Kidding, I haven't seen it.

[Dementeleus]

One of these years, baumer, you're gonna find yourself in LA and I will drag you to a screening.

[The Stingray]

#5:

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - 98 points

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the third and concluding installment in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, following The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002). Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.

 

The film is tied for largest number of awards won with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).

 

 

Oscar Nominations/Wins: 11/11

 

Best Picture - Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh 

Best Director - Peter Jackson 

Best Adapted Screenplay - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson 

Best Film Editing - Jamie Selkirk 

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Grant Major (art director), Dan Hennah (set decorator), Alan Lee (set decorator) 

Best Costume Design - Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor 

Best Makeup - Richard Taylor, Peter King 

Best Original Score - Howard Shore 

Best Original Song - Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, Annie Lennox (For the song "Into the West".)

Best Sound Mixing - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek 

Best Visual Effects - Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, Alex Funke 

 

Viggo Mortensen in a scene from Best Picture "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King".

 

 

[Dementeleus]