Something About Every Best Picture Winner: Part 1
i'm watching all of them!
I love the Oscars, I love learning about the Oscars, I love being able to name every Best Picture winner, I love finding the ones I haven’t seen on DVD AND I love watching them! My goal is to see all of them by the 100th Academy Awards ceremony in 2028.
It’s so fun to work my way through a meaningful challenge. But I get itchy when I’m just consuming and not also creating. It ate at me, that desire to chip away at a cool Oscars project from the start. But it’s not too late!
Often the best art projects are the simplest ones. And often, the best art projects reveal themselves along the way. It’s not about coming up with the perfect idea from the start, but fumbling through those initial stages towards clarity about what to get in the rhythm of making.
the premise of this project
Watch every Best Picture winner.
Write something about each one.
Just something. That’s all.
Not a one-sentence review that fully encapsulates the film. That’s too much pressure. Just something - anything - original and honest about each movie. I’ve gone back and done that, with a quarter of the films, with more to come. There are some films I watched so long ago I can’t really remember them, but I’ll be rewatching them with honey anyway. So, part 2 might take a while. But for now, here it is…
Something About Every Best Picture Winner: Part 1
in chronological order, with gaps for ones I haven’t watched yet or recently
Wings (1927-1928) - wow! The first Best Picture winner is riveting and action-packed. Clara Bow is delightful, and the actors did their own plane-flying stunts. i was really surprised by how captivating this was.
Rebecca (1940) - sensational. As a Punchdrunk fan, I felt right at home. The details are so well-placed to create the perfect atmosphere to a thrilling story
Hamlet (1948) - while some critics take issue with this abbreviated Hamlet, I enjoy how swoon-y and castle-y it is
All About Eve (1950) - one of my favourite villains ever, deliciously queer-coded, oh the melodrama!
On the Waterfront (1954) - the film that helped me realise how much I value a protagonist with values, although Eliza Kazan’s heavy-handed implication behind those values has not aged well. pigeons.
Gigi (1958) - charming with gorgeous interiors. did not understand the storyline at first; songs range from problematic to forgettable.
The Sound of Music (1965) - required viewing for the present moment in history. Love the scene where the Captain tells off his centrist Nazi-leaning friend
A Man For All Seasons (1966) - great boats, great hats, great sense of ethics, I am quite fond of this one.
The French Connection (1971) - mostly just men walking around, but I liked the train scene
The Godfather (1972) - without ceremony (weddings, funerals, baptisms), what would criminals do other than crime? I had a great snack game for this one: whisky + croutons with balsamic vinegar
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)- I wasn’t expecting it to be so School of Rock. But where is the scene where Nurse Ratched gets to have a beer and dance to Stevie Nicks?
Chariots of Fire (1981) - wait, i wrote a whole essay about this and just realised i’ve never published it! maybe i’ll do that soon. The most iconic musical moment in film OF ALL TIME is those boys running on the beach. I love the gentle simplicity of this movie; probably my hottest Oscars Best Picture take is that this is in my top 5
Braveheart (1995) - not enough people talk about how this movie is clearly inspired by Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Titanic (1997) - this movie is good! I only saw it recently and had low expectations because people make fun of it so much. I think that’s mostly misogyny. people say the screenplay is lacking because when the ship is (spoiler) sinking Leo says “This is BAD”? honestly I think that is exactly what I would say in that situation
Million Dollar Baby (2004) - It’s not just the ending that’s problematic, but also her chipper determination to win over this curmudgeonly man who deserves none of it (required supplemental reading from New Mobility magazine)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - do not believe the marketing! this is not a feel-good movie! yes, Dev Patel embodies a charming sincerity for the power of true love, but this film is devastating! there is a funny scotland scene too
The Hurt Locker (2009) - strangely abstracts this war from its context, stands for nothing. feels like a formulaic video game where the bomb disposal gets a little bit trickier each time and that predictability is perhaps the most likeable thing about it
Birdman (2014) - I was higher on this movie at the time, but on a rewatch, I prefer my ‘art about art’ far less cynical, although I did like him being haunted by the bird self
The Shape of Water (2017) - in the age of AI, I think about this movie a lot because of that poor artist guy meticulously illustrating advertisements by hand
Parasite (2019) - “She’s nice because she’s rich”; I think about that a lot. 대한민국 💖
CODA (2021) - you know what I love that this sweet movie is in the Best Picture collection; what an anomaly. my favourite Oscars ceremony moment ever is Troy Kotsur winning Best Supporting Actor, with Yuh-Jung Youn presenting his award 🥹
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) - MASTERPIECE! Ahhh too much to say!… when Ke Huy Quan became my favourite actor. everything is better with googly eyes
Oppenheimer (2023) - the scene where he imagines the room rumbling and exploding and starts to realise what he’d done
Anora (2024) - This Best Picture winners list NEEDS Anora. Every time I watch an older film from the list, I champion Anora’s inclusion more, for centring a woman’s story in all its complexities. When I saw it in cinemas, I was low on it because I saw Thirst Trap first and that is SO good. (i wrote a little more about Anora here)
One Battle After Another (2025) - Time doesn’t exist and yet it controls us anyway. Heeheeheehee the Christmas Adventurers
part 2 coming in a year or so
❤️ Xandra
the witch 🪄
My Current Offerings:
Not long until the first ever PSYCHIC CIRCLE, co-hosted with the amazing Aysha Rose. It’s like a psychic reading, but together in a small group. It’s on Sunday, 19 April. I hope you can come! 👽
Be the hobbit you wish to see in the world. Join our Lord of the Rings read-through over on Middle Earth Magic. We are beginning to read The Fellowship of the Ring in May. 🧙🏻♂️
And now… I present to you…
Planner Tip of the Week 🖌️💗🌛
Reflecting on the past is just as important as planning for the future! You don’t have to do it in sentences however. Your reflection can simply be a colour.
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