ARTICLE: The OFCS Presents: The Best of the Best Picture Oscar Winners

The OFCS (Online Film Critics Society) recently launched a poll for its members to rank the films that have won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, from 86 and 1, worst to best, in order to mark the coming Academy Awards ceremony. Having already written an article about how much of a waste of time the Academy Awards are and why they should just be ignored, it is with some feelings of hypocrisy that I now provide links to and commentary on the results of the poll.

Part 1: Films 86-66

To be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed The Greatest Show on Earth, one of the films I had to catch up with in order to be able to rate it for this poll. It is long and fairly dumb, but it is a good entertainment if you are in the right mood. And it certainly isn’t the worst winner when there are films like Argo, A Beautiful Mind, Gladiator, Forrest Gump (very glad to see this painful film so low), Terms of Endearment, My Fair Lady, Around The World in 80 Days, Cavalcade and The Broadway Melody in existence. As for the underrated – Braveheart, The Life of Emile Zola and Shakespeare in Love should definitely not be this low.

Part 2: Films 65-51

Ordinary People gets a lot of unfair criticism for beating Raging Bull but if you ignore the Oscars, as I thoroughly advise, it becomes a very good film. Why are films tainted by the awards they win?

Part 3: Films 50-36

Glad to see Rocky and The Artist this low, but A Man For All Seasons and Kramer vs. Kramer?

Part 4: Films 35-21

No real complaints here, though Grand Hotel getting this far is a surprise - as is The Hurt Locker, which should really be lower. And The Lost Weekend should be much higher.

Part 5: Films 20-1

Fairly happy here, since these films do seem to represent a consensus on the best of the Best Picture winners. I am glad to see The Apartment and The Bridge on the River Kwai so highly placed, though I wonder why All About Eve is so high on the list. And for my money The Godfather Part II is superior to the first. 

Part 6: 12 Years A Slave

Now that 12 Years A Slave has won, as it was always going to, you can see where it ranks amongst the other Best Picture winners....way too highly.


In all, some decent results and now we can get back to ignoring the Oscars properly.

REVIEW: The Last Station (2009)

  When the Oscars are looming, audiences must exercise caution when choosing a film to go and see. Oscar Dramas are a tricky class of film. Taking as an example 2008 Oscar race, for every Gran Torino and Frost/ Nixon there was a The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or The Reader. If you’re lucky, you could get something moving and riveting. If unlucky, however, you might end up with a dull movie with terrible Oscar Clips (the scenes in which venerable actors give loud and annoying bravura performances), which merely serve to startle you back into lucidity. The Last Station, oddly enough, falls between these two stools.

  The story closely resembles your typical Oscar Drama. Set over the last days of Leo Tolstoy’s (Christopher Plummer) life, it centres on Valentin (James McAvoy) a young disciple of Tolstoy’s writings, who becomes embroiled in a feud between Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren), Tolstoy’s devoted wife of 48 years and the oily Chertkov (Paul Giamatti). Chertkov seems to have convinced Tolstoy to write a new will, which Sofya fears might disinherit her. Valentin is swayed one way then another, whilst struggling with the celibacy aspect of Tolstoy’s doctrine.

  Whilst it does sound like the perfect framework for some high-pitched melodramatic acting and Oscar-friendly period settings, the film is surprisingly entertaining for the most part. What helps it get by is its sense of humour which allows for several funny scenes. The sense of humour does remain strong for the first half of the film, with even a sting on the tail of one particular Oscar Clip. During this period, the film even retains a light comedy score.

  The problem with The Last Station is that it loses its way during the second half. Here, the comedy is replaced by wallowing with everyone giving everyone else significant and serious looks. The comedy score gives way to the more typical Oscar Score, all over-bearing instruments and droning chords. Before you know it, The Last Station has become just another dull Oscar Drama. What is particularly frustrating about the film is that the first half shows you what it could have been had the film-makers tried harder while the second half shows you what its going to be because they can’t be bothered.

  The performances are the same. In the first half, the four leads are all fun and likable (even Giamatti whose excellent performance as someone you really don’t know whether to like or dislike is the best in the film). However, by the end, their company isn’t all that enjoyable. Even plot and character motivations, initially so clear, become muddied and confusing.

  Initially a good film with great potential, it’s a pity that the film opts for by-the-numbers melodrama midway through.