Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #35-39

Scene from Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

As 2019 reached its end, another decade of cinema had passed. It's amazing to think about how things have evolved since 2010 when the biggest controversies were about recognizing genre movies. Things look different now, especially as genre films like The Shape of Water and Parasite are winning Best Picture and the voting body looks incredibly different with each passing year. With this period in the books, it feels like a good time to celebrate their accomplishments by ranking all 88 titles nominated for Best Picture from worst to best with the goal of seeing which films are more likely to stand the test of time. Join me every Saturday and Sunday as I count them down, five at a time. It's going to be a fun summer looking back on what was, especially as we prepare for the decade ahead and an even more interesting diversity that we haven't even begun to think of.

Check This Out: Highlights from This Year's Oscars Governors Ball

This past weekend, The Academy held its annual Governors Ball where it handed out Honorary Oscars to four deserving individuals within the film community. This year's recipients included Agnes Varda, Donald Sutherland, Owen Roizman, Charles Burnett, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for the first special Oscar win in over 20 years. The ceremony was a lively event packed with speeches not only from the winners, but of various people sharing stories and tribute to these artists. To watch all of the videos, click below and see all of the memorable events that played out at the event, which for that night at least could be called "The dance of cinema."

Inarritu and Lubezki Win First Special Oscar Since 1995

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

While many are still trying to predict who is going to even be nominated at next year's ceremony, The Academy has already given out one award. No, it isn't a mistake on par with the infamous La La Land Best Picture win. It's for real. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki will be receiving a Special Oscar win at the upcoming Governors Ball for their work on the virtual reality project CARNE y ARENA. How much of a big deal is this award? Well, Inarritu and Lubezki are the first Special Oscar winners in 22 years. It's a pretty big deal for the team behind Birdman and The Revenant, and their latest venture into virtual reality has paid off nicely.

Tom Hardy to Get a Tattoo of Leonardo DiCaprio After "The Revenant" Bet

Tom Hardy

Last year was a massive moment for Tom Hardy's career. In the first half of the year, he starred in the critically acclaimed and box office hit Mad Max: Fury Road. Then in the Fall, he starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the wilderness epic The Revenant. The film also was met with great reviews and an impressive box office haul that landed Hardy a Best Supporting Actor nomination. This may sound like a good thing, but there is one catch. Because of that win, Hardy has to get an embarrassing tattoo of his costar. If nothing else, this may be one of the strangest side effects of being an Oscar nominated talent. If nothing else, it's very amusing.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "The Revenant" (2015)

Scene from The Revenant

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

After 10 Years, "Babel" is Still a Compassionate Universal Tale

Scene from Babel

It was 10 years ago that cinema experienced the shot heard round the world. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel had the hefty mission of combining four stories that spanned the globe while showing how they all connected. With the stories ranging from a shooting accident to a babysitter travelling to Mexico with American children, the film managed to creatively convey the passion and understanding that the world should be more accepting of. It was a film that showed the capabilities of Inarritu at their fullest, and he hasn't been able to capture the magic as effectively since. 

Check This Out: Behind the Scenes Making Of Videos for "The Revenant"

Scene from The Revenant

With The Academy Awards nominations out, many Oscar fans are catching up with every film in order to give their own guesses as to what will win. Leading the pack is director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant with 12 nominations. While also topping the box office, it's interesting to look at the film's massive scope and wonder how this film was made. Thanks to 20th Century Fox, there are now featurettes available online for you to see various behind the scenes aspects regarding production design, acting, and writing. While it doesn't entirely do justice to the film, it's enough to keep you tied over until the DVD release comes later this year.

No Gold for Leo: Or Why We Need a Best Stunt Performer Oscar Category

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

It seems like I have been extremely harsh on one film this past Oscar season: director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant. It started with its problematic production and continued with false allegations of bear rape and my own belief that it shouldn't even be Oscar nomianted. However, there is one reason that it bothers me more than anything else: it's Leonardo DiCaprio's worst role. For those who are quick to accuse me of underselling his sacrifices, I am not. The issue here is that we're mistaking stunts for acting. You see, there is a grand difference, and I intend to prove why DiCaprio's performance was not acting - but instead an outdoors version of Fear Factor (and you wouldn't give Joe Rogan's show an Oscar now, would you?), and that this whole facade to get him an Oscar is a great example of nonsensical favoritism.

Review: "The Revenant" is Masochism Disguised as Art

Leonardo DiCaprio

In 2006, Jackass Number Two was released and featured some of the most vulgar images of self-destruction imaginable. Leader of the pack Johnny Knoxville got mauled by bulls and yaks; had a side of a building fall on his head; rode a rocket that almost killed him; and was bitten by snakes in a ball pit. The performer sacrificed his body for the sake of entertainment and received mostly negative buzz from awards season (IMDb only lists a nomination from "The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards"). What does this have to do with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant? Subject-wise, not very much. However, our approach to digesting them as valued entertainment is itself problematic. The only difference between the two is that The Revenant has an actual story, lead by Leonardo DiCaprio's much-hyped performance that features health-risking stunts (you know, "for art")... and he is somehow supposed to earn an Oscar for it instead of going the route of Knoxville's comparatively humble, no awards approach where he ends up in the hospital countless times to a parade of laughter. The fact of the matter is that The Revenant is an ambitious film, but that's really all it is.

Why I'm Sick of "The Revenant," Even If It's Not Out Yet

Leonardo DiCaprio and the non-rapist bear in The Revenant

Listen, I am looking forward to December's onslaught of movies as much as the next person. I acknowledge that we've seen a lot of great stuff so far. With December 25 being yet another day with an embarrassing amount to offer, it seems like director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant is taking up a lot of attention. It does make sense, as initial reports started drizzling in last week with many giving mixed-to-negative reviews of the director's follow-up to Best Picture winner Birdman. To be honest, I did want to see The Revenant. I've gone on record before of thinking that Leonardo DiCaprio is one of those last great movie stars. However, I have to confess, I am SICK of hearing about this damn movie. The recent allegations about a bear raping scene just pushed it over the edge for me.

Why I Don't Have Faith in "The Revenant" Winning Big at the Oscars

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Today marks the first wave of reviews for director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant. The reviews are about what you'd expect for a film whose trailer has been constantly praised for its intensity. It's an epic that critics either found surreal or soulless, which is in keeping with what they thought of Inarritu's other dramas. However, the conversation has whittled down to the familiar old rant: "Leonardo DiCaprio WILL win an Oscar." Of course, there's a popular meme going around where The Academy purposely never rewards him of his talent. As much as I want to believe that this will be an amazing performance, I'm not without skepticism that it's all for naught. While I haven't seen the film, I do honestly believe that maybe we're setting our sights a little too high.

Nothing But the Best: "Birdman" (2014)

Left to right: Edward Norton and Michael Keaton in Birdman

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

Birthday Take: Emma Stone in "Birdman" (2014)

Emma Stone in Birdman

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

A Look at the Disastrous Behind the Scenes of "The Revenant"

One of last year's most renowned movies was director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman. It was a film that was technically impressive, choosing to mix editing together to create the vision of a singular take. It was a story that created a stream of consciousness flow to it and ended up winning him Best Director and Best Picture. With his ambitious next effort The Revenant, he plans to do more audacious things in the filmed medium that he promises will wow the audiences. While it has a Christmas Day release planned, it is proving to have its share of problems. The biggest one? It isn't anywhere close to finishing its shooting.

The First Trailer for "The Revenant" Has Inarritu Fighting Another Oscar Season

Leonardo DiCaprio

It was only a few months ago that director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu walked away with the Best Picture for his latest film Birdman. With its jabs at superhero culture and the actor's ego, it was a film that left audiences divided as they either found it enjoyable or pretentious. It isn't taking the stylized director long to get back into the Oscar season. Today marks the release of the first trailer for his film The Revenant, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. From what I gather in this trailer, it isn't anything like Birdman, for better or worse, and that may be why it is one of the most exciting Oscar season trailers to come out so far.

The Highlights of the 87th Academy Awards Ceremony

The moment has come and gone. The 87th Annual Academy Awards happened at the Dolby Theater and handed out 24 awards throughout the night, including Best Picture winner Birdman. What were some of the highlights of the evening? The following is a list of the various moments that stand out above the rest and prove just why Neil Patrick Harris, and the show in general, was in top form and knew how to make the overlong program move fast enough to keep attentive while also lacking in self-involvement. It may have not been the best ceremony ever, but at least it was a lot better than most years.

A Theory on Why Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Will Win Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

With the Oscars closing in, it's time to finalize the votes for who is likely going to win the top prizes. While I have already discussed the three pronged Best Picture race (Selma, Birdman, Boyhood), but now it is time to get into the other big categories. Over the next few days, I will be sharing quick pieces on who is likely to win in each of the major categories as well as any discussion of a potential upset. Coming up is a piece on why Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) is pretty much going to walk away with the Best Director trophy on Oscar night.

The Magic Behind "Birdman" and its Use of Time

Left to right: Edward Norton and Emma Stone

For a moment, let's put aside the subtext of director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman. Let's put aside how it is a reflection of movie culture and that it serves as a metaphorical and literal comeback film for star Michael Keaton. Let's even ignore the attack on franchise culture that runs through the film and focus on something that is far more impressive: the passage of time. It may seem like a pointless question until you understand the technical brilliance behind those single takes that were established to create a singular flow. What makes them exceptional and adds more weight to the film than the awkward script or melodramatic acting is how unassumingly it transitions within frame from moment to moment and often day to day.

The Story Behind "Birdman's" Original, Better Ending

Michael Keaton

With the Oscars less than 20 days away, everyone is catching up on seeing all of the nominees. Among the more prominent ones in discussion is director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman, which is neck and neck with Boyhood to win Best Picture. For those that have seen it, there's plenty of discussion surrounding the film's ending. However, writer Alexander Dinelaris had a different ending in mind and one that would have played more into the film's meta commentary of an artist in peril. 

A Theory on Why "Birdman" Could Win Best Picture

Much like a piece that I wrote in December regarding Selma's Best Picture chances, I have decided to create a series of essays chronicling what I feel is the trinity of potential winners. Of the two candidates that have proven themselves to be the most interesting of the eight nominees, there is something alluring about director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman: a film that chronicles frustrated actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) as he seeks to make a comeback in a theatrical production. With the gimmick of the film being that it was shot in one take, it's amazing to see the film peel away from its novelty and go to a deeper and more metaphysical core that has clearly struck a chord with the awards season. For this and many more reasons, it is likely to be the threat that the season needs.