Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #60-64

Scene from Hugo (2011)

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.

64. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – David O. Russell

For one shining moment, Russell brought back the romantic comedy as an awards player, and with it one of Harvey Weinstein’s most successful Oscar campaigns of the decade. Maybe it was how the study of mental illness was supposed to deconstruct the genre with a sharp sensibility. Or it could be that this was at the height of Jennifer Lawrence becoming an international phenomenon. Whatever it is, Russell’s atonement for his anger issues remains a middling, safe film that doesn’t quite achieve its goals and instead settles for being a charming and empty love story that does its source material a great disservice.

63. Philomena (2013) – Dir. Stephen Frears

This is easily the most heartbreaking Oscar-nominated film this decade to focus around answering tough questions about your past. In this case, Philomena's search to find her birth parents comes with plenty of comedic levity from co-star Steve Coogan but ends with a conflicting study of how the Catholic church treats orphans, doing everything to present a warmer, less controversial view of life at the expense of honesty. It’s not a total decrement of the church, though it’s hard not to feel somewhat mad, or at least sad, that Philomena’s journey goes the way it does. It’s a satisfying movie that features one of Judi Dench’s best this decade and proves the complexity of human emotion in a touching drama.

62. Ford v. Ferrari (2019) – Dir. James Mangold

After decades of motorsports not making the cut in the Best Picture category, this true story managed to speed ahead. Whether it’s because of star power in Matt Damon and Christian Bale, or that the editing and sound design are unsurpassed when it comes to car racing, it’s a love letter to why we work in the garage in the first place. This is a place where people bond, finding ways to make car talk into deeper revelations of the self, reflecting how this piece of machinery can end up defining their lives. It’s a charming film that may run a bit long but never stops being fun when it counts.

61. Hugo (2011) – Dir. Martin Scorsese

Considering the road that Scorsese would take in the next eight years, it’s charming to think that he started the decade off with his only film rated below PG-13. This love letter to Georges Melies and all things turn-of-the-century cinema created a unique family movie that introduces young audiences to the power of silent films that they otherwise wouldn’t see, and presented it in one of Scorsese’s most technically proficient works to date, managing to elevate 3D technology into an art form while using Sacha Baron Cohen as a great comedic folly. While it may be a bit manipulative with intent, serving more as a history lesson than a gripping journey at times, it’s got everything that makes him the master. Even a watered-down version comes with a few delights.

60. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) – Dir. Martin McDonagh

Some may find an issue with Sam Rockwell’s sympathetic racist character, but what the story achieves is presenting America’s personal division from an outside perspective. With an unruly performance by Frances McDormand that finds her bitter and seeking revenge, the film balances its controversial elements with a tight script and small character moments that find society in a state of crumbling. As it attempts to rebuild itself, it comes with a deeper understanding that some grievances are worse than others. It’s a film with a dark sense of humor and a divisive world view. For those who can appreciate it as a messy film, it’s enjoyable warts and all look at how life is, turning the three billboards structure forever into a meme in the process.