Every year The Academy of Motion Picture Sciences honors the best films of the year by hosting The Academy Awards (officially known as The Oscars). The most prestigious award to be given is Best Picture. Some of the greatest films of all-time have won the prestigious award, but there are some of the greatest films have only bee nominated. With that being said I'm going to bring you My Top 10 Favorite Films Not to Win Best Picture. For the list I will only choose one film per year that didn't win as well as the film that won the award over the film I chose. So without further ado...
10. A Clockwork Orange Winner in 1971- The French Connection
This film is freaky and comes from my favorite director of all-time Stanley Kubrick. Alex (played by Malcolm McDowell). who is a charismatic, sociopathic delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), rape and what is termed "ultra-violence". He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie and Dim), whom he call his droogs (from the Russian word for friends or buddy). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture and attempted rehabilitation via controversial psychological conditioning . Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat , a fractured adolescent slang composed of Slavic (especially Russian), English and Cockney rhyming slang. This film is a masterpiece and has one of the most brutal rape scenes in film history. A Clockwork Orange was nominated for 4 including Academy Awards including Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, it also has a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Winter's Bone Winner in 2010- The King's Speech
This film is amazing and the debut of young, talented and beautiful actress Jennifer Lawrence. Facing the loss of her home and siblings if she fails, a gutsy teenager Ree (played by Jennifer Lawrence) sets out on a dangerous quest to learn the fate of her missing father. Winter's Bone was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor while winning 0 and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark Winner in 1981- Chariots of Fire
I'm a huge fan of Stephen Spielberg and this is one of my top 3 favorite films of his. Renowned archaeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford), is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the ten commandments. Unfortunately agents of Hitler are also after the Ark. Indy, and his ex-flame Marion (played by Karen Allen), escape from various scrapes in a quest that takes them from Nepal to Cairo. Raiders of the Lost Ark was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Sound, Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects while winning 4 (Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects) and it has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Dr. Strangelove Winner in 1964- My Fair Lady
One of the greatest films ever made comes to us from one of the greatest directors in history Stanley Kubrick. It follows several story arcs such as a United States Air Force General who has ordered a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, the President of The United States, his advisers and his Joint Chiefs of staffs and a Royal Air Force officer as they try to recall the air strike, and it also follows one of the air crews as they deliver the bomb. The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director and it has a rating of 100% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. In The Name of The Father Winner in 1993- Schindler's List
This film shows just how corrupt a justice system can be. It is based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people named Gerry Conlon (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), Paul Hill (played by John Lynch), Paddy Armstrong (played by Mark Sheppard) and Carole Richardson (played by Beatie Edney) are falsely convicted of the IRA's Guildford Pub bombings which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian. In The Name of the Father was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Writing and it has a rating of 84% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. There Will Be Blood Winner in 2007- No Country for Old Men
This film will keep you on the edge of your set the entire time. It tells the story of a gold miner-turned-oilman named Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There Will Be Blood was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing, while winning 2 (Best Actor and Best Cinematography) and it has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope Winner in 1977- Annie Hall
As a kid this is one of the first films I ever seen and for the longest time it was my favorite film of all-time. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away the film tells the story of a group of freedom fighter known as the Rebel alliance as they plot to destroy the powerful Death Star space station, a devastating weapon created by the evil Galactic Empire. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmboy Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) when inadvertently acquires droids carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star. After the empire begins a cruel and destructive search for the droids, Skywalker decides to accompany Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness) on a daring mission to rescue the owner of the droids, rebel leader Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher), and save the galaxy. This film is absolutely amazing and quite possibly the greatest Sci-Fi film of all-time. Star Wars was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Original Screenplay, while winning 6 (Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score and Best Sound) and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Saving Private Ryan Winner in 1998- Shakespeare in Love
This film was probably the most obvious film on the list to everyone and it comes to us fro the greatest director of all-time Stephen Spielberg. The Story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback the joins Capt. John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6th, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (played by Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt.James Ryan (played by Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and the chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (played by Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (played by Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (played by Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (played by Giovanni Ribsi) cynical Reiben (played by Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian -American Caparzo (played by Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (played by Berry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. This film is amazing and its 24 minute battle scene at the beginning of the film is one of the most gruesome and memorable scene in film history. Saving Private Ryan was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Make-Up, Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Screenplay while winning 5 (Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing) and also has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Pulp Fiction Winner in 1994- Forrest Gump
This film comes from one of the greatest directors in the modern era Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction connects the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles mobsters, fringe players, small-time criminals, and a mysterious briefcase. Considerable screen time is devoted to conversations and monologues that reveal the characters senses of humor and perspectives on life. I love this film and Tarantino is one of my favorite directors of all-time and I love his non-linear storytelling by presenting the story in non-chronological order. Pulp Fiction was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing while winning only 1 (Best Original Screenplay) and it has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
Mystic River
This film has an amazing cast an amazing script and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Set in an Irish neighborhood in Boston, Jimmy, Sean, and Dave are three childhood friends who are reunited after a brutal murder takes place. Reformed convict Jimmy Markum (played by Sean Penn) and his devoted wife Annabeth (played by Laura Linney) find out that their teenage daughter Katie (played by Emmy Rossum) has been beaten and killed. Jimmy's old friend Sean Devine (played by Kevin Bacon) is the homicide detective assigned to the case, along with partner Whitey Powers (played by Laurence Fishburne). Jimmy also gets his relatives, the Savage brothers (played by Adam Nelson and Robert Wahlberg), to conduct an investigation of their own. Jimmy and Sean both start to suspect their old pal, Dave Boyle (played by Tim Robbins), who lives a quiet life with his wife Celeste (played by Marcia Gay Harden) but harbors some disturbing secrets. Mystic River was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay while winning two (Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor) and it has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite films that didn't win Best Picture and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
10. A Clockwork Orange Winner in 1971- The French Connection
This film is freaky and comes from my favorite director of all-time Stanley Kubrick. Alex (played by Malcolm McDowell). who is a charismatic, sociopathic delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), rape and what is termed "ultra-violence". He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie and Dim), whom he call his droogs (from the Russian word for friends or buddy). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture and attempted rehabilitation via controversial psychological conditioning . Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat , a fractured adolescent slang composed of Slavic (especially Russian), English and Cockney rhyming slang. This film is a masterpiece and has one of the most brutal rape scenes in film history. A Clockwork Orange was nominated for 4 including Academy Awards including Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, it also has a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Winter's Bone Winner in 2010- The King's Speech
This film is amazing and the debut of young, talented and beautiful actress Jennifer Lawrence. Facing the loss of her home and siblings if she fails, a gutsy teenager Ree (played by Jennifer Lawrence) sets out on a dangerous quest to learn the fate of her missing father. Winter's Bone was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor while winning 0 and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark Winner in 1981- Chariots of Fire
I'm a huge fan of Stephen Spielberg and this is one of my top 3 favorite films of his. Renowned archaeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford), is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the ten commandments. Unfortunately agents of Hitler are also after the Ark. Indy, and his ex-flame Marion (played by Karen Allen), escape from various scrapes in a quest that takes them from Nepal to Cairo. Raiders of the Lost Ark was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Sound, Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects while winning 4 (Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects) and it has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Dr. Strangelove Winner in 1964- My Fair Lady
One of the greatest films ever made comes to us from one of the greatest directors in history Stanley Kubrick. It follows several story arcs such as a United States Air Force General who has ordered a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, the President of The United States, his advisers and his Joint Chiefs of staffs and a Royal Air Force officer as they try to recall the air strike, and it also follows one of the air crews as they deliver the bomb. The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director and it has a rating of 100% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. In The Name of The Father Winner in 1993- Schindler's List
This film shows just how corrupt a justice system can be. It is based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people named Gerry Conlon (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), Paul Hill (played by John Lynch), Paddy Armstrong (played by Mark Sheppard) and Carole Richardson (played by Beatie Edney) are falsely convicted of the IRA's Guildford Pub bombings which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian. In The Name of the Father was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Writing and it has a rating of 84% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. There Will Be Blood Winner in 2007- No Country for Old Men
This film will keep you on the edge of your set the entire time. It tells the story of a gold miner-turned-oilman named Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There Will Be Blood was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing, while winning 2 (Best Actor and Best Cinematography) and it has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope Winner in 1977- Annie Hall
As a kid this is one of the first films I ever seen and for the longest time it was my favorite film of all-time. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away the film tells the story of a group of freedom fighter known as the Rebel alliance as they plot to destroy the powerful Death Star space station, a devastating weapon created by the evil Galactic Empire. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmboy Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) when inadvertently acquires droids carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star. After the empire begins a cruel and destructive search for the droids, Skywalker decides to accompany Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness) on a daring mission to rescue the owner of the droids, rebel leader Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher), and save the galaxy. This film is absolutely amazing and quite possibly the greatest Sci-Fi film of all-time. Star Wars was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Original Screenplay, while winning 6 (Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score and Best Sound) and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Saving Private Ryan Winner in 1998- Shakespeare in Love
This film was probably the most obvious film on the list to everyone and it comes to us fro the greatest director of all-time Stephen Spielberg. The Story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback the joins Capt. John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6th, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (played by Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt.James Ryan (played by Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and the chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (played by Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (played by Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (played by Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (played by Giovanni Ribsi) cynical Reiben (played by Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian -American Caparzo (played by Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (played by Berry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. This film is amazing and its 24 minute battle scene at the beginning of the film is one of the most gruesome and memorable scene in film history. Saving Private Ryan was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Make-Up, Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Screenplay while winning 5 (Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing) and also has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Pulp Fiction Winner in 1994- Forrest Gump
This film comes from one of the greatest directors in the modern era Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction connects the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles mobsters, fringe players, small-time criminals, and a mysterious briefcase. Considerable screen time is devoted to conversations and monologues that reveal the characters senses of humor and perspectives on life. I love this film and Tarantino is one of my favorite directors of all-time and I love his non-linear storytelling by presenting the story in non-chronological order. Pulp Fiction was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing while winning only 1 (Best Original Screenplay) and it has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
Mystic River
This film has an amazing cast an amazing script and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Set in an Irish neighborhood in Boston, Jimmy, Sean, and Dave are three childhood friends who are reunited after a brutal murder takes place. Reformed convict Jimmy Markum (played by Sean Penn) and his devoted wife Annabeth (played by Laura Linney) find out that their teenage daughter Katie (played by Emmy Rossum) has been beaten and killed. Jimmy's old friend Sean Devine (played by Kevin Bacon) is the homicide detective assigned to the case, along with partner Whitey Powers (played by Laurence Fishburne). Jimmy also gets his relatives, the Savage brothers (played by Adam Nelson and Robert Wahlberg), to conduct an investigation of their own. Jimmy and Sean both start to suspect their old pal, Dave Boyle (played by Tim Robbins), who lives a quiet life with his wife Celeste (played by Marcia Gay Harden) but harbors some disturbing secrets. Mystic River was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay while winning two (Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor) and it has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite films that didn't win Best Picture and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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