Today’s topic: oversights — two for me, and one for the casual moviegoing (or, this year, moviestaying) public at large.
First up: I forgot to post on Friday! My humblest apologies for failing to deliver your implicitly-promised, thrice-a-week good-good (or, maybe to your eyes, bad-bad; even if that’s how you feel, I must thank you for still reading!). My defense for this grievous overstep: I was too busy playing the stonks.
Luckily, I can rectify the situation by filling another overlook from…last year?! You may recall that, after Green Book stole Roma‘s Oscar (hehe) in 2019, I power-ranked every 21st century Best Picture winner. And yet, when Parasite nabbed the trophy almost 365 days ago, I must’ve been too blackout with joy to remember to update my list!
Which brings us back to moviegoers’ aforementioned oversight: yes, there WILL be an Academy Awards ceremony for 2020(ish) movies on April 25 (as with all things Covid-related: for now?). The virus, as is its specialty, delayed the normal timeline (story of our lives recently, am I right?), but YES, there have indeed been movies quasi-released for contention!
So to mark the start of this most (un)holy of seasons, and to plug my other two holes, below are my Parasite-inclusive power-rankings of all the 21st century Best Pictures.
You may notice some rejiggering from my previous list; well, that’s what happens when you revisit certain movies. Also, if your preferential taste isn’t slightly changing all the time, then you’re doing it wrong.
Oh, and following the nominations announcement on March 15, I might return to this list to share where each of the contenders would fall if they’re crowned.
- No Country for Old Men
- Moonlight
- Chicago
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Innocence)
- Gladiator
- The Departed
- Parasite
- Million Dollar Baby
- A Beautiful Mind
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Slumdog Millionaire
- The Shape of Water
- Spotlight
- The Artist
- 12 Years a Slave
- The Hurt Locker
- Argo
- Crash
- The King’s Speech
- Green Book
