5. Green Book (2019)
One glance at Green Book’s aesthetic, cast, subject matter and rollout will tell you it was bound to be nominated for Best Picture. While the nomination makes sense, its shocking win sparked a storm of cultural debate. The film was called out for pandering to older members of the academy who’d easily fall for its favorable stance toward race relations, instead of just recognizing authentic POC stories (like Spike Lee’s Blackkklansman). Considering the Academy’s recent history of electing the non-traditional choice, the win of Green Book further erupted the relevance of the Oscars to the general population. By far the least deserving and most disheartening win of recent history.
4. Nomadland (2021)
Nomadland was the expected winner of 2020. Having received plenty of critical praise for Frances Mcdormand’s performance and Chloé Zhao’s direction it isn’t to say that this film wasn’t worthy. Despite the fact that I twitch a little at the thought of sitting down to watch this again (read my thoughts here), Nomadland still holds strong in asserting itself as a cultural keepsake of 2020. Unfortunately all of that has been pushed aside in favor of lamenting about this years Oscars. In another year we could be rejoicing in the accomplishment of Chloé Zhao- one of the only women to be recognized by the academy- but instead we’re still talking about how low ratings were. For that, Nomadland will stay near the bottom of this list.
3. The Shape of Water (2018)
A long time ago my high school friend had asked me to see a movie with her. I agreed but entirely forgot until three weeks later when she texted that she was on her way to pick me up. I hastily got ready and repeatedly asked her what movie we were about to see. Even as the opening sequence began, I asked her for the title again. But I knew as soon as this film ended that I would not forget its name. The Shape of Water is best left at simple, enchanted, and beautiful. While it could be described with an air of “oscar-baitness”, it’s does everything so right that I can’t even be mad. Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, and Get Out all made appealing runs as low-budget underdogs and have certainly added more to pop-culture discourse than The Shape of Water. But even with that, Shape of Water was still a fair winner (if anything a little boring).
2. Moonlight (2017)
Moonlight marks the beginning of the underdog uprising. In a year dominated by the cloying behemoth that was La La Land, the outlier of all the nominees managed to take home the top prize in what is now a painful (but memorable) last few minutes of the 89th Academy Awards. Moonlight, which was produced for just $4 million, became a talking point for years to come in conversation involving sexuality within the black experience. This queen and POC oriented film earned its crown and will forever be remembered.
1. Parasite (2020)
Parasite bulldozed it ways through awards season, despite resistance for being a foreign-film, and managed to keep its momentum all the way to the top. Parasite could have easily been eclipsed by the Oscar baits that were 1917 and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood but it didn’t. Parasite is daring, evocative and gritty under the guise that is Bong Joon-Ho’s masterful perfection. A win this powerful is a once in a decade event, and hopefully is will inspire studios to lean away from the traditional Oscar route.
