Every year, the biggest and brightest of Hollywood meet together at one star-studded event to celebrate their greatest achievements. We are, of course, talking about the Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars.
They are of course a great metric to decide which movies are the best and the worst. Now as the 93rd Academy Awards are fast approaching (scheduled date 26 April 2021) there are probably some movies on this list you haven’t seen yet and maybe some you wouldn’t mind watching again before the big show!
Here you go!
- The Godfather trilogy: If you haven’t watched the best trilogy of all time yet then you have been living under a rock! The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo’s best-selling 1969 novel of the same name. At the 45th Academy Awards, the film won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlin Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Puzo and Coppola). Not to forget, the film also helped establish Rober DeNiro as one of the greatest actors in Hollywood in his role of the younger Vito Corleone for which is he also won the Academy Award for best actor. Since its release, The Godfather has been widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, especially in the gangster genre!
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: The third installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies, The Return of the King is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films/ epic fantasy dramas ever made. The film received numerous accolades at the 76th Academy Awards winning all eleven awards for which it was nominated: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Original Song for “Into the West”, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects, breaking the record for the most Academy Awards won by a single film and holding the record for the highest clean sweep at the Oscars. The film features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler amongst others.
- Goodfellas: Goodfellas was also touted as one of the greatest films ever made with significant cultural and historical influence. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, with Joe Pesci winning for Best Supporting Actor. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler, it’s a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book Wiseguy by Pileggi. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and Paul Sorvino, the film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980.
- Gladiator: The 2000 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott swept the 73rd Academy Award ceremony with multiple awards! The film won five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Russell Crowe, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, and Connie Nielsen amongst others Crowe portrays Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus becomes a gladiator and rises through the ranks to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor.
- The Departed: Another one of the genius Martin Scorsese’s works, The Departed was a critical and commercial success, and won several awards, including four Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, becoming Scorsese’s only win for Best Director. Starring maverick star cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and Jack Nicholson, an undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
- No Country For Old Men: The critically acclaimed neo-western thriller again swept the 80th Academy Award ceremony with four awards including Best Picture. More critics included No Country for Old Men on their 2007 top ten lists than any other film, and many regard it as the Coen brothers’ best film (makers of Fargo). Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, it follows a Texas welder and Vietnam War veteran in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas. A hunter’s life takes a drastic turn when he discovers two million dollars while strolling through the aftermath of a drug deal. He is then pursued by a psychopathic killer who wants the money.