Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #70-74

Scene from Joker (2019)

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.

74. Lion (2016) – Dir. Garth Davis

Among the more unfortunate achievements that this film has is being the final successful Oscar campaign that Harvey Weinstein actually ran. There’s nothing wrong with the film, but it does hit all of the familiar hallmarks in terms of feel-good stories based on overcoming great struggle. Thankfully it got Dev Patel an overdue Best Actor nomination, and his performance as a man in search of his family is one that ends with a satisfying level of sap. It’s a film about how technology can unite us in the modern age when one question eats at us and we seek closure. It may be a bit conventional at points, but those wanting a solid feel-good movie, there’s few as harmless and predictable as this.

73. Hell or High Water (2016) – Dir. David Mackenzie

It’s the type of movie that The Oscars don’t recognize as much anymore: a neo-western that finds bank robbers on the run from police. By contemporizing the genre and exploring the emotional depth of characters, it makes for an entertaining and tense journey into the moral code that divides good and evil and features underrated performances by Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges. By the time that the third act standoff shows up, it has more than established itself as a unique Midwest journey, taking advantage of the excellent scenery and reminding audiences why westerns shouldn’t go out of fashion, just reimagined through a modern perspective.

72. Joker (2019) – Dir. Todd Phillips

It may or may not be the most dangerous Best Picture movie of the decade. It’s hard to really know, as many pundits were concerned that it would encourage people to commit violence. While that’s not true, it’s easy to see why as it’s a cynical view of society, reflecting a man being beaten down by the system and growing even more disturbed as he comes to embrace his evil side. Remove the Batman affiliation and this film would’ve grossed a 20th as much. With that moniker, it became a reinvention of the comic book movie that’s a tad too conventional and lacking deeper profundity. No matter what you think, it sparked a conversation that never went away, and those New York stares will never be the same again. Is it great or really irresponsible? Probably both, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the few nominees we’ll be talking about for years to come.

71. The Martian (2015) – Dir. Ridley Scott

Your love for this Matt Damon vehicle will be determined by how much you’re willing to buy astronauts doing bad comedy. The film gives the actor one of his most engaging roles in years, managing to make intimate moments on Mars into an endearing rescue mission full of unfathomable obstacles. This is one of those feel-good movies that works largely because it shows society working together to achieve the impossible. By the end, we feel good to have gone on this journey, even if it’s at times lacks a bigger momentum. Whether or not the science works, the film sells it with an excellent spectacle that shows Scott making one of his most accessible films since Gladiator.

70. Whiplash (2014) – Dir. Damien Chazelle

Back before Chazelle’s love of jazz became a trope, there was this breakthrough film out of Sundance that found an Oscar-winning performance in J.K. Simmons as a tough-as-nails band teacher who wasn’t afraid to unleash his inner frat boy. Phrases like “Not my tempo” have entered the vernacular, creating an intensity out of jazz music that will make everyone in the audience sweat. By the end, all that’s needed to appreciate the craft that this film has is stares as Simmons and drummer Miles Teller prove to each other their value. It’s a powerful piece of editing, and all without dialogue (at least spoken). It was the start of a bigger, more interesting career for Chazelle and a reminder of why Simmons has been one of our greatest character actors for more than 20 years now.