Ranking Best Pictures during My Lifetime

Yesterday, nine movies from 2011 were nominated for the most prestigious award in cinema: the Academy Award for Best Picture. Aside from sports, nothing fascinates me more than these awards. As many of you know from my six-year quest, I have watched all 83 movies that have been honored in this capacity.

So given the timing of this blog, I thought it would be fun to rank them. But instead of ranking all 83 (something that would take WAY too long), I decided to just rank the Best Pictures that were made during my lifetime. That's 25 movies, spanning from 1986 through 2010. Here we go...

25. The English Patient (1996)

This was the easiest decision I made all day. It was one of the most boring movies I've ever watched. If it wasn't on my list, I would have turned stopped watching after 15 minutes. 

24. Chicago (2002)

To be honest, this movie never really stood a chance. I've watched several musicals in my day, and I only gave two of them a positive review. This was clearly not one of them.

23. Shakespeare in Love (1998)

I was in high school when I watched this movie, so perhaps I'm not giving it a fair grade. My tastes have changed a lot since then. But I remember thinking it was way too sappy at the time. 

22. The King's Speech (2010)

I thought The Social Network was, hands down, a superior movie. If it would have won, then 2010 would have been very high on this list. But this movie lacked the elements I find enjoyable.

21. The Last Emperor (1987)

It's a cool story from a historical context. I was very intrigued at times. But much of it dragged on. 

20. Crash (2005)

This is one of the few movies I watched before it won Best Picture. While watching, I NEVER thought it would win. It just wasn't that special. 

19. Rain Man (1988)

This is a movie that disappointed me because I had such high expectations. It wasn't terrible, but it's certainly not the groundbreaking film that several people made it out to be. 

18. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

The ending ruined it for me. Up until that point, it was a solid film. 

17. Platoon (1986)

There are a couple other movies later on this list that are centered around war. Nothing against Platoon, it's just that I think they're better. 

16. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

At one time, I liked this movie a bit more for whatever reason. Who knows? 

15. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Wow. Watching this movie took up an entire weekend in college because I wanted to watch the first two movies first. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was worth watching once. I thought the first movie was the best though. 

14. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

How great is Morgan Freeman? The three-word title sums up the entire movie, but Freeman made it so much more than just that. Then again, he always does.

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(We're reaching a point now where we're getting to movies that I really liked. Despite my criticism of some movies, more often than not the Academy chooses a pretty darn good film.) 

13. The Departed (2006)

My wife watched this movie with me and walked away saying, "Everybody just dies!" Well, I thought it was great. Its twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. Martin Scorsese at his finest. 

12. Braveheart (1995)

We continue our run of Ultimate Guy Movies. This is just a cool movie and is set in a unique era -- adding more reasons to like it. 

11. The Hurt Locker (2009)

There were several people who were disappointed that Avatar was not the winner in 2009, including me. But then I watched this low-budget, low-income movie, and I came away very pleased. It's not your prototypical war movie. You get inside the head of the characters. 

10. Dances with Wolves (1990)

Kevin Costner made some great baseball movies around this time. But most people remember him as the Union Army Lieutenant who befriended an Indian tribe. A very moving film that you just don't see too often. 

9. No Country for Old Men (2007)

This is a movie that I can't really explain why I liked it so much. I just did. In the few cases that I've come across it on TV, I can't turn it off. 

8. Titanic (1997)

I don't care who you are or what you say... you enjoyed watching Titanic. I'm not afraid to admit it. I watched it when I was 12 and liked it. Then I watched it again when I was 24, and liked it even more. 

7. Schindler's List (1993)

The American Film Institute has it as the 8th-best movie of ALL TIME, Best Picture or not. I can certainly understand why. The movie left me speechless. Powerful stuff. 

6. Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Bone-chilling. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever watched. It's one of only three movies to sweep the five big honors at the Academy Awards. "Have the lambs stopped screaming yet?"

5. Gladiator (2000)

Our world history teacher showed us this movie in high school. I fell in love it with it instantly. Russell Crowe was very believable as a true warrior. And there was something magical about the scenes in the Colosseum. 

4. Forrest Gump (1994)

What's not to love about Forrest Gump? It's funny. It's touching. It's simple. It's great. Tom Hanks played the part perfectly, and you can't help but love the title character. 

3. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

There are parts of this movie that are quite difficult to watch. But even taking that into account, it's one of my favorite movies. True underdog story. Incredible ending. 

2. Unforgiven (1992)

I'm generally not a fan of Westerns, but I made a big exception here. In my opinion, this was Clint Eastwood's last great role. And, of course, having Morgan Freeman at his side was icing on the cake. 

1. American Beauty (1999)

Keven Spacey delivers my favorite acting performance of all-time. It's crazy, bizarre, twisted, and yet delightfully enjoyable. When you can pull that off, what's not to love?