1972
The Best Picture Nominees:
“The Godfather” (winner), “Cabaret,” “Deliverance,” “The Emigrants,” “Sounder.”
What Else Could They Have Nominated?
“The Poseidon Adventure,” “What’s Up, Doc?” “Jeremiah Johnson,” “The Candidate,” “The King of Marvin Gardens”
Why Is It One Of The Best? Even if it wasn’t a masterpiece, “The Godfather” being one of the biggest hits of all time meant it was a no-brainer of a winner, but what’s impressive is how adventurous the rest of the five were. While other years in the seventies were tarnished with the selection of disaster movies like “Airport” and “The Towering Inferno,” the Academy of the early 1970s went with Bob Fosse‘s impeccable musical about the rise of Nazism, John Boorman‘s gripping thriller of masculinity under threat, a Swedish-language Western with Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullman, and while it’s certainly the weakest of the bunch, a compassionate, honest tale of a black family in the South during the Depression that shows up “The Help” as the Lifetime movie-of-the-week it really is. Plus, Luis Bunuel and Louis Malle both got Screenplay nominations. The 1970s, man. Better days.
1975
The Best Picture Nominees:
“One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (winner), “Barry Lyndon,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Jaws,” “Nashville”
What Else Could They have Nominated?
“Shampoo,” “The Sunshine Boys,” “Amarcord,” “The Man Who Would Be King,” “Three Days Of The Condor,” “Night Moves,”
Why Is It One of The Best? Look over those nominees again. For our money, that’s the single greatest line-up in Best Picture history. There’s not a bad film in the bunch, with career best work from Robert Altman and Milos Forman, Spielberg’s taut-as-hell blockbuster, Lumet’s near-perfect, progressive drama, and to our mind, one of Stanley Kubrick’s best films. It’s the peak of the thrilling 1970s era of smart films being celebrated, and there were joys to be found across the ceremony, from Fellini’s Best Director nomination for “Amarcord” to Kurosawa’s “Dersu Uzala” winning Best Foreign Language Film.
2007
The Best Picture Nominees:
“No Country For Old Men” (winner), “Atonement,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “There Will Be Blood”
What Else Could They Have Nominated?
“Into The Wild,” “Sweeney Todd,” “The Diving Bell And The Butterfly,” “The Savages,” “American Gangster,” “Ratatouille,” “The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford,” “Zodiac”
Why Is It One Of The Best? Generally deemed as one of the greatest modern years for American cinema, it could have been easy for the Academy to go with safer fare. But, in a real return to the 1970s, they came through, giving the dark duo of ‘No Country’ and “There Will Be Blood” the top number of nominations, with each film winning major awards. And, while we suspect some will disagree, there’s not a film in that five that we don’t like: the first act of “Atonement” is phenomenal, “Juno” is as good a film of its type as has been made in recent years, and “Michael Clayton” gets better and better with each rewatch. Are there a few films that we’d rather have seen up there — “Zodiac,” ‘Jesse James,’ “The Diving Bell And The Butterfly”? Sure. But we’ll happily meet the Academy half-way on this one.
Other Great Years:
1945: “The Lost Weekend,” “Anchors Aweigh,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Spellbound.” Let down by: “Bells Of St. Mary’s”
1953: “From Here To Eternity,” “Julius Caesar,” “Roman Holiday,” “Shane” Let down by: “The Robe.”
1957: “Bridge Over The River Kwai,” “Witness For The Prosecution,” “12 Angry Men,” “Sayonara,” “Peyton Place”
1962: “Lawrence Of Arabia,” “The Music Man,” “The Longest Day,” “To Kill A Mockingbird” Let down by: “Mutiny On The Bounty”
1974: “The Godfather Part II,” “Chinatown,” “The Conversation,” “Lenny,” Let down by: “The Towering Inferno”
1976: “All The President’s Men,” “Bound For Glory,” “Network,” “Taxi Driver,” Let down by: “Rocky”
1978: “The Deer Hunter,” “Coming Home,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “Midnight Express,” “An Unmarried Woman”
1982: “E.T,” “Missing,” “Tootsie,” “The Verdict,” “Gandhi”
Thoughts? Agree, disagree? Weigh in below.
