Top Ten: Most Deserving Oscar Wins of the Decade (thus far)
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 3:56PM It's a special "top ten day" to kick off fall film season. Lists all day long. Enjoy!
As we move into awards seasons it's a good time to think positively and hope for the best. Though AMPAS is too high profile to ever get an entirely fair shake (people will always take them to task because one man's treasure is another's junk and because it's easier to remember the gross dereliction of their duties more than their classy moments) they don't screw up all the time. Some Oscar wins are highly deserved no matter how you look at it. Though it seems weird to call this young decade "the Teens" already given that we've just left the pre-teens, that's what it'll surely be called when it wraps in December 2019
MOST DESERVING OSCAR WINS OF 'THE TEENS' (thus far)
2010-2013
Honorable Mention
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (2012 Supporting Actress)
"I Dreamed a Dream" and its fearful preamble "At the End of the Day" had seismic emotional impact. Performances this raw are always risky (and usually divisive!) but I'll never forget her confrontational mix of anger, sorrow, memory and beauty; a woman staring into the abyss, still stunned she's at the brink of it.
MOST DESERVING OSCAR WINS OF 'THE TEENS' (thus far)
2010-2013
10ish Christian Bale, The Fighter (2010 Supporting Actor)
Christopher Plummer, Beginners (2011 Supporting Actor)
I couldn't decide which of these fine actors I wanted on the list and on an earlier draft I accidentally left both off as a result. Oops. Both are arguably leads, so it felt a bit strange to include them but they are two very fine instances of overdue actors finally winning the top gong. While they probably won at least in part as "whole career" honors, that much derided Oscar tactic that often gives actors Oscars for one of their lesser performances, doesn't always backfire; both were, happily, incredibly deserving.
09 Lupita N'Yongo, 12 Years a Slave (2013 Supporting Actress)
A close call, perhaps, with "It Girl" JLaw nipping at her barefeet. Or maybe not close at all given how much of its operatic sorrow the sometimes cerebral Best Picture owes to her proud wails and immeasurable pain. "I'd rather it be you"
8 more greats after the jump from Gravity to A Separation
08 Gravity (Visual Effects, 2013)
It was, of course, never going to lose this prize. Nor should it have ever. Whatever you think of the film, it's a major A+ technical achievement. All those years spent developing it, floating and spinning and abandoned right there on the screen as proof.
07 Anna Karenina (Costume Design, 2012)
There's no slinky instantly iconic green dress or gargantuan wig hats ala previous Keira-related nominees and winners (Atonement, The Duchess) but if you want to compete for the Costume Design Oscar, Keira Knightley will muse you right swift in that direction. Good god she is this movie is beautiful. 
06 Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln (Best Actor, 2012)
Had this performance even been half as good as it was, this master thespian would still have won the statue; aint nothing Oscar loves more easily or as often as a biopic of an Important Man. But the sheer majesty of his portrayal of Lincoln, both as a man and as map of the icon he would become, justifies the American history win and even made us a part of Oscar history too, seeing the only Best Lead Actor winner in the history of the Oscars give a third acceptance speech.
05 The Social Network (Screenplay, 2010)
I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I adequately answer your condescending question?
04 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture, 2013)
Discussed so often so recently we'll just say that we're still so relieved it triumphed in the end against the late surging Gravity. Challenging cinema like this rarely wins the top prize. Bonus Prize: Now people can no longer say that Hollywood won't give its top honor to a film about African-Americans.
03 Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine (Best Actress 2013)
I withheld enthusiasm as much as I could in my first review of Blue Jasmine fearing that Cate had duped me as I've often felt she has tricked others into genuflection with that formidable technique which can blind you, like razzle-dazzle, to a lack of cohesive characterization or inspired choices. Further viewings removed all doubt to display the very very obvious: Cate Blanchett is Magnificent and The World is Round, people.
02 Amour (Foreign Film, 2012)
01 A Separation (Foreign Film, 2011)
After years of disappointing nominees and winners and high profile snubs the Academy reconfigured their procedure in this category and the results have been better than most of us had dreamed they could be both in terms of nominations and the eventual winners. Michael Haneke's funereal couples march and Asghar Farhadi's masterfully braided study of irreconcialible differences, not just between husband and wife, returned the category that once honored the likes of Kurosawa and Bergman and Fellini, to its rightful glory with back-to-back masterpieces.
Let's have your lists, people!
Reader Comments (54)
ok, here's my top 10
1. Toy Story 3, Best animated film
2. Gravity, best cinematography
3. Christopher Plummer, Beginners
4. Amour, Best foreign film
5. A separation, Best foreign film
6. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
7. Her, Best original screenplay
8. Skyfall, Best original song
9. Alfonso Cuarón, Best director
10. Ang Lee, Best director
Nice list and I almost agree 100%. I would replace Hathaway....... (I like her, but that performance was missing a crucial element. There was no awareness of her own complicity in her fate. It was all "poor me, poor me." Watch (listen) to Salonga do the song some time and it's night and day ahead of Ann's.) ......with Skyfall. One of the greatest songs written for film. I believe you said yourself that the song is so much better in context of the images it accompanies than by itself and that so rarely happens and surely raises it above most other film songs.
ATONEMENT DIDN'T WIN COSTUME DESIGN! Lost to Elizabeth: The Golden Age... So sad because UGH that green dress...
1. The Social Network, Best Adapted Screenplay
2. Daniel Day Lewis, Best Actor
3. Gravity, Best Visual Effects
4. Skyfall, Best Original Song
5. Her, Best Original Screenplay
6. Frozen, Best Original Song
7. Cate Blanchett, Best Actress
8. Anne Hathaway, Best Supporting Actress
9. Christopher Plummer, Best Supporting Actor
10. The Social Network, Best Original Score
Sorry to nitpick, Nathaniel, but wasn't Plummer nominated a couple of years before winning? It was for a forgettable movie but still... :)
Ryan & Carlos - fixed. ugh. that's what i get for trying to do too much in one day
I don't think I can rank these, but here are my top ten:
Skyfall, Best Original Song
Hugo, Best Art Direction
Gravity, Best Visual Effects
Jean Dujardin, Best Actor
The Great Beauty, Best Foreign Language Film
Life of Pi, Best Director
The Social Network, Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Best Film Editing
Life of Pi, Best Original Score
The Social Network, Best Original Score
Not in order:
1) Best Original Song - Skyfall
2) Best Supporting Actress - Lupita Nyong'o
3: Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway
4) Best Costume Design - The Great Gatsby
5) Best Original Screenplay - Her
6) Best Costume Design - Anna Karenina
7) Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron
Those are the only ones where I was like "Totally deserved!". I loved Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine but i only liked her win because I really didn't think any of the other nominees deserved it.
(even if i do tear up at both of Sandra's big scenes in Gravity)
I'm still miffed that none of the songs from Gatsby or Nicole Kidman in Paperboy got no noms and i think Anna Karenina was severely underrated.
Skyfall used to be my go-to song to belt out in the privacy of my car on long drives. That was *precisely* the Bond song that I was looking for from Adele.
I don't know if there are enough standouts in these few years to merit a top 10 - but as to a top 5, I'd be fine with that including Day-Lewis, Plummer, Gravity's effects, A Separation, plus the screenplay award for Her. And hey, why not Skyfall's song prize for the honorable mention.
1. 12 Years a Slave, Best Picture
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
3. Christian Bale
4. Cate Blanchett
5. Toy Story 3, Best Animated Feature
6. Inception, Best Visual Effects
7 . Amour, Best Foreign Language Film
8. 12 Years a Slave, Best Adapted Screenplay
9. Lupita Nyong'o
10. "Skyfall"
Honorable Mention: Her, Best Original Screenplay
Top 10 Most Deserving Oscar Wins of the 2010's:
10. Lincoln, Best Production Design, 2012 -- immersive, cluttered vision of an 1800's D.C. so rarely seen, or even imagined; a well-deserved prize for a film that should have won more (*cough best picture cough*)
9. Rango, Best Animated Feature, 2011 -- a wacky movie that could have majorly backfired, it turned out to be a hilarious and heartfelt indictment of water depletion and corrupt government officials (or, if you'd rather, a great pseudo-spaghetti western about a lizard); also a couple of Johnny Depp and Bill Nighy's best performances
8. Amour, Best Foreign Language Film, 2012 -- I was so overwhelmed by the film when I saw it, taken up by its slow-burning exchanges and silences; not a surprising win, but an incredibly exciting one that spurred a greater interest in Haneke's work for me
7. Dallas Buyers Club, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, 2013 -- still amazed at what the team on this film was able to create on the shoestring budget they were given; a feat of creativity and expert research that showed both the awful effects of disease and Rayon's distinct look
6. Gravity, Best Cinematography, 2013 -- watching the film industry slowly alter their definitions of various craft categories (maybe motion-capture performances receiving acting noms will be next?!) is kind of thrilling, and seeing Emmanuel Lubezki finally win the big prize for his immediate and slinkily choreographed work was perhaps even better
5. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln, Best Actor, 2012 -- Nathaniel kind of said it above, but this performance simply blew my mind; where some biopic performances (particularly in period pieces) can feel stuffy and stilted, Day-Lewis embodied Lincoln AND infused the stoic build with real emotional beats
4. Her, Best Original Screenplay, 2013 -- we knew it wouldn't take the top prize, and the incredible performances were regretfully denied noms (we were all rooting for you, Scar Jo!), but Spike Jonze thankfully triumphed; melancholy, funny, and ultimately uplifting, his original screenplay paints a bleak picture of a technologically-suffocated future I would hate to live in but highly enjoyed experiencing
3. 12 Years A Slave, Best Picture, 2013 -- this stirring and kind-of-risky choice for the Academy would have found a place on my list no matter what, but honestly one of the reasons it is so high is because the rest of the 2000-teen best picture winners have been easy, crowd-pleasing choices trumping more interesting work; though I would have been happy with a Gravity victory, 12 Years' triumph here was a rousing end to the night, and anything urging Steve McQueen to make more films is a big plus!
2. Ang Lee, Life of Pi, Best Director, 2012 -- Ang Lee is one of my favorite directors, and though some might argue he has always-a-bridesmaid syndrome (winning best director twice and losing out on best picture both times), I like to think that in both instances he has been rewarded the more important award of the evening; Argo was a patriotic crowd-pleaser that got a lot of love after Ben Affleck was, perhaps undeservingly, left out of the best director race, and we won't even backtrack to the debacle that was Crash v. Brokeback Mountain. The basic truth of the matter is that Lee is a constantly evolving director interested in pushing boundaries and seeking humanity in the most inhumane and inhospitable situations. Life of Pi continued that tradition and took it to a new technological level.
1. Natalie Portman, Black Swan, Best Actress, 2010 -- in an Oscar year with lots of interesting films but ultimately dull winners, Portman's epically whacked-out performance as Nina Sayers was a delicious morsel ripe for diva-worship; though her character's descent into madness is rapid, Portman clearly telegraphs every emotional surge in a highly physical and demanding performance. Three scenes stick with me whenever I think back on her performance: Nina calling her mother in the bathroom stall (joy, fear, disbelief, quickly brought down to earth), regaining her composure after the stabbing (her face as she reapplies makeup is to die for), and getting into her black swan character backstage (rolling her head, breathing deeply, her sultry walk, all of it incredible and real). It's as satisfying a lead turn as I can think of.
*Apparently I did not like 2010 and 2011 very much--not sure why, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose.
I just wanted to say how happy I was to see Jacqueline Durran's win on the list. Also, I think Sarah Greenwood was robbed of the Production Design Oscar, and Bafta, for Anna Karenina.
PS. Sorry Joe!
I would almost post this exact same list. My only "quibble" is with Plummer's supporting actor win. Though I like Plummer and thought the performance was good, I was left emotionally devastated by Nick Nolte in Warrior that year (maybe I have unresolved alchie-dad issues) and thought he should have swept the season instead of Plummer.
Yay for this Top Ten Day list dedicated day :)
Here are mine:
10. Paperman, Best Animated Short 2012
9. The Social Network, Best Adapted Screenplay 2010
8. Skyfall, Best Original Song 2012
7. Her, Best Original Screenplay 2013
6. Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Actor 2012
5. Ang Lee, Best Director 2012
4. Christian Bale, Best Supporting Actor 2010
3. A Separation, Best Foreign Film 2011
2. The Social Network, Best Editing 2010
1. Cate Blanchett, Best Actress 2013
My Top Ten Most Deserving Oscar Wins:
1. Gravity, Best Visual Effects (2013)
2. The Social Network, Best Adapted Screenplay (2010)
3. Gravity, Best Cinematography (2013)
4. Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity, Best Director (2013)
5. Her, Best Original Screenplay (2013)
6. Paperman, Best Animated – Short Film (2012) (Though I must admit I would have been thrilled with a tie between this and Adam and Dog, which are far and away my #1 and #2 favorites in this category in the four years I’ve watched all the nominees)
7. A Separation, Best Foreign Language Film (2011)
8. Saving Face, Best Documentary- Short Subject (2011)
9. The Great Beauty, Best Foreign Language Film (2013)
10. Natalie Portman, Black Swan, Best Actress (2010)
And as a corollary:
Top Ten Nominees That Deserved to Win But Did Not:
1. The Tree of Life, Best Cinematography (2011)
2. Her, Best Production Design (2013)
3. David Fincher, The Social Network, Best Director (2010)
4. Just Before Losing Everything, Best Live Action – Short Film (2013)
5. Anna Karenina, Best Production Design (2012)
6. Joaquin Phoenix, The Master, Best Actor (2012)
7. Her, Best Original Score (2013)
8. Bridesmaids, Best Original Screenplay (2011)
9. The Tree of Life, Best Art Direction (2011)
10. Raju, Best Live Action – Short Film (2011)
Just to against the logic...
Top Ten of Worst Wins
10. The King's Speech, Best Original Screenplay 2010
9. The Artist, Best Costume Design 2011
8. Argo, Best Adapted Screenplay 2012
7. Django Unchained, Best Original Screenplay 2012
6. The King's Speech, Best Picture 2010
5. Toy Story 3, Best Original Song 2010
4. The Descendants, Best Adapted Screenplay 2011
3. Brave, Best Animated Feature 2012
2. Tom Hooper, Best Director 2010
1. Alice in Wonderland, Best Art Direction 2010
I'd give Melissa Leo an honorable mention for The Fighter.
La grande bellezza fascinates me so for me that means three years in a row of total bliss.
Last year, I fought Blanchett a lot because unanimity scares me to death, but I'm ready to surrender.
I can't believe Anne didn't make your top ten. Are you OK, dear?
Anne Hathaway was embarrassingly bad in what I consider one of the worst supporting actress wins ever.
10. Best Actor - Jean Dujardin - The Artist
A win that seems oft maligned in certain circles, due to it being tied to what's perceived as a dubious Best Picture winner in a weak year, but he's great in it.
9. Best Cinematography - Wally Pfister for Inception
I know Christopher Nolan effusing can often get out of hand, but Wally Pfister's work on Inception is hard to deny, IMHO.
8. Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
I think she's terrific and really nails the tone perfectly, selling her big scene with equal parts earnestness and craft.
7. Best Adapted Screenplay - Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network
Easily my favorite screenplay win of the decade so far.
6. Best Film Editing - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for The Social Network
There were a lot of easier, showier options this year, between 127 Hours and Inception. Not to say that either of those options would have been wholly undeserving, but I'm glad the Academy awarded the amazing, yet subtle work here.
5. Best Supporting Actress - Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave
It's still fairly fresh, but I suspect this will go down as one of the best winners this category ever produced.
4. Best Foreign Language Film - Amour
It probably had no competition, but I'm still thrilled that it happened.
3. Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Each of Day-Lewis's three Oscar-winning performances are incredible and nothing at all like each other. He has also topped himself with each subsequent winning performance by a wide margin, which speaks very highly of his turn in Lincoln.
2. Best Original Score - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network</>
An anomalous choice for this category. So subtle, yet instantly iconic.
1. Best Picture - 12 Years a Slave
The first "black" film to win Best Picture could have easily been something more sanitized, more palatable, more comfortable for white audiences that puts a greater distance between its audience and the subject. I'm so glad that 12 Years a Slave broke through and was able to cop the prize in what was surely a tight race. And the film was so beautiful and indelible. It makes me hopeful that the Academy (and the industry) are taking strides and will maybe one day honor a non-historic, non-biopic film about black characters. But this win pleased me muchly and yes, I cried when Will Smith announced it. I'm not made of stone.
Honorable Mention: Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. I really like this performance (I don't love it), but it's easily the best this category's done since Charlize Theron in 2003 (not a popular opinion on this site, I know :)
1. Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine - Actress (maybe because I am not a fan of hers normally?)
2. The Great Beauty - Foreign Language Film
3. God of Love - Short Film, Live Action
4. Skyfall - Song
5. A Separation - Foreign Language Film
6. Gravity - Film Editing
7. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Film Editing
8. Lady in Number 6 - Documentary, Short Subject
9. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore - Animated Short
10. Natalie Portman - Black Swan - Actress (living proof that even the worst actresses can find roles that are perfect for them!)
My favorites so far!
10. “Skyfall” – Original Song
9. Dallas Buyers Club – Makeup and Hairstyling
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Editing
7. Anne Hathaway – Les Mis – Supporting Actress
6. 12 Years a Slave - Picture
5. Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
4. Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network – Adapted Screenplay
3. 20 Feet From Stardom – Documentary Feature
2. Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine - Actress
1. Lupita N’yongo – 12 Years a Slave – Supporting Actress
What this process really reinforced for me is that I'm not often happy with the winners - the nominations are truly the best part of the process.
No mention anywhere of the better than anybody I've seen mentioned everywhere Marion Cottilard in La Vie En Rose??!!!?!?! One of cinemas most staggering accomplishments in the Best Actress, or any category. Any year, for that matter! Shocked!
1. Amour - Foreign Language
2. Natalie Portman - Black Swan
3. 12 Years a Slave - Picture
4. A Separation - Foreign Language
5. The Social Network - Original Score
6. Cate and Lupita and Matthew
7. Gravity - Cinematography
8. Christopher Plummer - Beginners
9. Alfonso Cuaron - Director
10. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Livonia, La Vie En Rose came out in 2007. I think we're talking specifically 2010 on. The aught tens so far. Surely, Cotillard would have been on a couple of people's lists...if not necessarily mine.
Yes, this list is only this decade (4 years so far 10-13)
Love this post! My list (I don't have super strong opinions on the technical categories/documentaries so I've left those out):
10. Let It Go, Best Original Song 2014
9. Midnight in Paris, Best Original Screenplay 2012
8. Jean Dujardin, Best Actor 2012
7. The Social Network, Best Adapted Screenplay 2011
6. Toy Story 3, Best Animated Feature 2011
5. Anne Hathaway, Best Supporting Actress 2013
4. Lupita Nyong'o, Best Supporting Actress 2014
3. The Artist, Best Picture 2012
2. Cate Blanchett, Best Actress 2014
1. 12 Years a Slave, Best Picture 2014 -- I never felt so strongly about a movie winning anything at the Oscars. I cried when it won, and sometimes I still find it hard to believe that the best film - and for me one of the best ever made - actually won Best Picture.
Anna: Yes, 12 Years a Slave is a great film, and it winning was a surprise. (Gravity rallied late, but I would have expected American Hustle to take it.) Like a slightly weaker version of the joyous and unlikely prospect of Evil Dead 2 winning in 1987, Heat taking it in 1995 or Donnie Darko succeeding in 2001.
10.Best Adapted Screenplay, 12 Years A Slave
9. Best Film Editing, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
8. Best Costume Design, Anna Karenina
7. Best Actress, Blue Jasmine (Cate Blanchett)
6. Best Adapted Screenplay, The Social Network
5. Best Original Score, The Social Network
4. Best Supporting Actress, Les Miserables (Anne Hathaway)
3. Best Supporting Actress, 12 Years A Slave (Lupita Nyong'o
2. Best Actress, Black Swan (Natalie Portman)
1. Best Original Screenplay, Her
It would be hard for me to come up with 10, but I agree with the hosannas for Cate, Anne, Natalie, The Great Beauty, and The Social Network.
But I also recall being really happy for the Best Sound Editing win for Zero Dark Thirty (yeah, it was a tie, but an Oscar is an Oscar), because at least they gave this movie - one of my favorites of the decade so far - something. (Oh, and the sound work on the film was pretty powerful.)
Pretty good list, especially like that A Separation, so good, and a Social Network (truly a brilliant screenplay) are on there.
As others have said, Skyfall for best song is the main notable emission.
I also would never in 100 years include Amour (ugh) or DDL for Lincoln (he was so much better in TWBB & Gangs of New York it's not even funny).
It's so great to find A Separation still so warmly received and present in people's minds years later. It's just one of those films that seems to speak to people regardless of where they come from.
10 Jared Leto (2013)
9 Jennifer Lawrence (2012)
8 Alfonso Cuaron (2013)
7 Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty tie for sound editing (2012)
6 12 Years A Slave (2013)
5 Spike Jonze (2013)
4 Emanuel Lubezski (2013)
3 Cate Blanchett (2013)
2 Amour (2012)
1 Lupita N'yongo (2013)
1. Alfonso Cuaron, Director, Gravity
2. Daniel Day-Lewis, Actor, Lincoln
3. Jacqueline Durran, Costumes, Anna Karenina
4. Emmanuel Lubezki, Cinematography, Gravity
5. Christopher Plummer, Supporting Actor, Beginners
6. Christian Bale, Supporting Actor, The Fighter
7. Natalie Portman, Actress, Black Swan
8. Catherine Martin, Costumes, The Great Gatsby
9. Christoph Waltz, Supporting Actor, Django Unchained
10. Quentin Tarantino, Original Screenplay, Django Unchained
Great pick for #1.
Not a lot to choose from.
Honorable mention: Best Original Song: “Skyfall”, Skyfall
and in no particular order:
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Original Score: The Social Network
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina
Best Film: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Her
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Nat. Thank you for including Jacqueline Durran. Her work in Anna Karenina was so immense and beautiful. And as a make up win for Atonement! Elizabeth: Turn of the Dark.....for shame. Great pick.
For me this list really comes down to what ten things needed to happen in the course of the evening and did for the night to be a success for me. Obviously not all of our favorites always win (Social Network for Best Pic or Tree of Life for Cinematography), and there are certainly wins that are so inevitable you can't get excited about them or genuinely hope they may go differently (Colin Firth in 2010 or The Artist in 2011) but there are those few Must-win situations that just give you a little oomph to continue thinking that maybe Oscar can get it right.
1. The Social Network for Best Adapted Screenplay (2010)
2 Christopher Plummer "Beginners" for Supporting Actor (2011)
3. Amour for Best Foreign Film (2012)
4. 12 Years a Slave for Best Picture (2013)
5. Toy Story 3 for Bes Animated Film (2010)
6. Anna Karenina for Best Costume Design (2012)
7. Anne Hathaway "Les Mis" Supporting Actress (2012)
8. Gravity for Best Cinematography (2013)
9. Cate Blanchett "Blue Jasmine" Best Actress (2013)
10. Alfonso Cuaron "Gravity" Best Director (2013)
interesting that so many people lean on 2012 and 2013 instead of 2010 and 2011 - same for me.
suzanne -- i thought about including that (sound editing ZDT)
everyone -- and I also thought about "Skyfall" as Best Song. But until we have original musicals again original songs are always kind of going to be a low-rent category... even when the songs are great as in that case
Awesome post. My top ten most deserving wins of the decade so far ---
(though, as a rule, I think nominations are much more important.)
Her – Original Screenplay
Cate Blanchette – Best Actress
Amour – Foreign Film
King’s Speech – Best Picture
Daniel Day Lewis – Best Actor
Christian Bale – Best Supporting Actor
Midnight in Paris – Original Screenplay
The Social Network – Adapted Screenplay
Alphonso Cuaron – Best Director
Anna Karenina – Costume Design
In no particular order.....except I will start with the one that will hurt Nate the most to get it out of the way.
Meryl Streep - Best Actress 2011 (THE IRON LADY). It's not a good film (it would've been awful without Streep) and, yes, I can understand how significant it would have been to give one to Viola instead of a third to Streep. And, yes, it's another biopic that Oscar is obsessed with. But I still maintain that it was the best performance of the bunch that year by a visible (if small) gap
Colin Firth - Best Actor 2010 (THE KING'S SPEECH). AS much as I hate how TKS stole most of the prizes that should've gone to one of the greatest films ever made (THE SOCIAL NETWORK), I have always conceded that Best Actor got it right that year. (They should have gone with Supporting Actor as well for this film.)
GRAVITY - Visual Effects, 2013
THE SOCIAL NETWORK - Adapted Screenplay and Original Score, 2010
HER - Original Screenplay, 2013
THE GREAT BEAUTY - Foreign Language Film, 2013
THE GREAT GATSBY - Costume Design, 2013
INCEPTION - Visual Effects, 2010
LINCOLN - Production Design, 2012
Honourable Mention (i.e. the 11th) - Editing 2010, THE SOCIAL NETWORK.
Travis -- I sometimes worry that people will get hung up Davis in The Help as a "signifier" as in this 'it would have meant so much' but for my money she gave the best performance that year and that's why I was rooting for her. It wasn't because it's annoying that Halle Berry is the only black leading actress to win (though it is since I don't think that highly of Halle as a thespian)
TBone -- as a rule I 1000% agree that nominations are more important.
or at least more satisfying.
Halle Berry is no different than Keira Knightley in the divisive, weak, and pretty department.
3rtful -- you probably need to watch more movies. Halle Berry has never given a performance half as interesting or risky as the ones Keira gives regularly these days (with the possible exception of Monsters Ball)
She sleepwalks through half of her roles (dont even get me started on her blah blah blah headlining of Extant. Jesus, woman, TRY to do something for the camera to look at other than being pretty.
Replace Anne Hathaway with Mo'Nique, and you have my full attention.
Wait a minute..."Precious" was 2009...never mind.
Troy H -- trust that she would have been near the top of the list. I think it's one of the 10 best supporting actress performances of all time.
I got into a near-argument with a guy a few months ago who said Bradley Cooper should've won over DDL. His take was that DDL fit all the physical needs of the role - tall, thin, authoritative, etc. - so it was just a good casting choice and he himself didn't do (and didn't have to do) anything special, whereas Cooper had a harder, riskier part that he nailed. To be fair, I also loved Cooper that year, and Phoenix as well, but it was the first time I heard ANYONE say anything less than an all-out rave for DDL and it definitely made me think twice. It almost makes me want to watch the movie again but I just don't have the time.