Favorite Oscars Best Picture nominated films since 2009

Written By Marco Angelo Samonte

I have been following the Oscars Best Picture race since 2009, incidentally the first year they expanded the list to 10 films.

I have seen all of the nominated films and here are the ones that have stuck with me and can confidently recommend to anyone:

  1. Gladiator (2000)

  2. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

  3. Shrek (2001)

  4. The Pianist (2002)

  5. Spirited Away (2002)

  6. Lilo & Stitch (2002)

  7. Spider-Man (2002)

  8. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

  9. Finding Nemo (2003)

  10. Kill Bill Vol1-2 (2003-2004)

  11. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

  12. No Country for Old Men (2007)

  13. Ratatouille (2007)

  14. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

  15. The Dark Knight (should’ve been nominated) (2008)

  16. Wall-E (2008)

  17. Hurt Locker (2009)
    It felt so real it was almost like a documentary. What it lacked in story, it makes up with the immersion, suspense, the few moments of natural human connections, and witnessing these human beings under intense sense of danger.

  18. Avatar (2009)
    Pandora and all of its inhabitants, are all so gorgeously animated, it’s enough of a treat to just see this onscreen.
    And perhaps that really is all it offers, because sadly its story and message are downright generic.

  19. The Social Network (2010)

  20. Inception (2010)

  21. The Kids are All Right (2010)

  22. Black Swan (2010)

  23. Toy Story 3 (2010)

  24. The Artist (2011)

  25. Hugo (2011)

  26. The Help (2011)

  27. Life of Pi (2012)

  28. Les Miserables (2012)

  29. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

  30. Gravity (2013)

  31. Her (2013)

  32. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

  33. Frozen (2013)

  34. Birdman (2014)

  35. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

  36. Whiplash (2014)

  37. The Big Short (2015)

  38. Mad Max Fury Road (2015)

  39. The Martian (2015)

  40. Inside Out (2015)

  41. La La Land (2016)

  42. Arrival (2016)

  43. Hidden Figures (2016)

  44. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

  45. The Shape of Water (2017)

  46. Get Out (2017)

  47. Call Me by Your Name (2017)

  48. Coco (2017)

  49. The Favourite (2018)

  50. Black Panther (2018)

  51. Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse (2018)

  52. Shoplifters (2018)

  53. Parasite (2019)

  54. Jojo Rabbit (2019)

  55. 1917 (2019)

  56. Promising Young Woman (2020)

  57. CODA (2021)
    A much needed feel-good movie coming after a bleak two years of pandemic, it also gives a peek into the lives of deaf families through an interesting story: the lone non-deaf member of the family has dreams of becoming a singer, and struggles between the decision of leaving her family to pursue her dreams and staying for her responsibilities.

  58. Dune (2021)

  59. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

  60. Barbie (2023)

  61. Poor Things (2023)

  62. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

  63. Oppenheimer (2023)

  64. Io Capitano (2023)

  65. Dune 2 (2024)

  66. Inside Out 2 (2024)

From the International Films:

  1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Taiwan (2000)

  2. No Man’s Land, Bosnian (2001)

  3. Amelie, French (2001)

  4. Nowhere in Africa, German African (2002)

  5. The Twilight Samurai, Japan (2003)

  6. Der Untergang, German (2004)

  7. Paradise Now, Palestinian (2005)

  8. The Lives of Others, German (2006)

  9. Pan’s Labyrinth, Mexican (2006)

  10. The Counterfeiters, Austrian (2007)

  11. Departures, Japan (2008)

  12. The White Ribbon, German (2009): beginnings of World War 1 in Germany

  13. A Separation, Iranian (2011): divorce and its impact on the children

  14. Amour, French (2012): an old couple, a terminal illness, and the gravest thing we can do for love

  15. The Grand Beauty, Italian (2013): life in the Mediterrenean

  16. Ida, Polish (2014):

  17. Son of Saul, Hungarian (2015): a look inside the Ausschwitz Camp

  18. Toni Erdmann, German (2016): how we have become so distant from our parents (winner was The Salesman)

  19. A Fantastic Woman, Spanish (2017): a transgender confronts society’s prejudices

  20. Shoplifters, Japanese (2018): how the poor of Japan are getting by (winner was Roma)

  21. Parasite, Korean (2019): how the rich and poor coexist and benefit from each other

  22. Quo Vadis, Aida?, Bosnian (2020): the fall of Yugoslavia and the 90s wars (winner was Another Round)

  23. The Worst Person in the World, Norwegian (2021): rom-com, turning 30, question of having a baby, moving in, breaking up (winner was Drive My Car)

  24. All Quiet on the Western Front, German (2022): the beginnings of World War 2 until its ends and effect on soldiers

  25. The Zone of Interest, German (2023): how the people who have committed genocides can be just like us

  26. Io Capitano, African (2023): the illegal migration of Africans to Europe, survival in the desert

  27. Society of the Snow, Spanish (2023): at what point do we start to resort to cannibalism, survival in the alps

Marco Angelo Samonte
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