Rank 'Em - The Best Picture Winners of the 2000s

Decade by decade, I'm ranking the winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture.  From greatest to least great, here's the 2000s. 

No Country For Old Men (2007) - 2007 was a great year for the Oscars, with a Best Picture slate full of unconventional, interesting nominees, including "Juno" and "Michael Clayton."  I'm honestly a little surprised that "No Country" beat out "There Will Be Blood," but the race was a close one, and I would have been happy either way.  "No Country" is still one of the Coen brothers' best thrillers, and easily one of the best films of the last twenty years.

The Hurt Locker (2009) - The first year of the modern era to feature an expanded slate of nominees, and there were plenty of good options.  "The Hurt Locker" may not have been the flashiest or the most innovative winner, but it is a very solid thriller and war film that launched Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie to stardom, and got Kathryn Bigelow her directing Oscar.  I'm not surprised that the film was controversial, but the win was anything but.

Chicago (2002) - One thing you'll notice about Best Picture winners is that they're mostly serious, heavy dramas.  "Chicago" is one of the only exceptions of this era, a flashy, full-throated musical with an all-star cast, based on the legendary Bob Fosse show.  And my affection for its verve and its exuberant performances outweigh any quibbles I might have with the filmmaking or the singing and dancing prowess of its decidedly non-Broadway cast.

Million Dollar Baby (2004) - This is one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films, mostly due to Hilary Swank's aching performance and the tragic, uncompromising ending.  I suspect it's the last great film that Eastwood has made to date, though some aspects of the plot haven't aged well.  It was certainly the peak of screenwriter Paul Haggis's career, who would unfortunately go on to direct the worst Best Picture winner on this list, the very next year.    

The Departed (2006) - I think my trouble with "The Departed" boils down to the fact that I watched "Infernal Affairs" first and still like it better.  Scorsese famously got his Oscar for the film, and I can't deny the combined powers of the cast - including Mark Wahlberg's best work onscreen by a mile - but I just can't manage much real enthusiasm for the movie.  Then again, I also can't justify giving the statuette to any of the other nominees from that year.  

Gladiator (2000) - It's a lot of fun to watch, but I tend to agree with Roger Ebert's assessment that Scott's sword and sandals epic delivers more hype and angst than action and adventure.  People remember the iconic scenes, and tend to forget the other 150 minutes of Roman politicking and Russell Crowe's brooding.  I would have picked "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to win, though either Soderbergh pic would've also been good choices.   

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - While I am tremendously fond of everyone involved in the movie, and love that it opened so many doors for the younger actors, I find the movie itself only so-so.  Danny Boyle's stylistic embellishments and frenetic editing are doing an awful lot of the work, and the best thing about the movie is almost certainly A.R. Rahman's vibrant score.  That said, "Slumdog" is still the best film that was nominated that  year.  

A Beautiful Mind (2001) - When people pointed out that Charlie Kaufman lifted a speech from "A Beautiful Mind" for the end of "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," it struck me as such a perfect encapsulation of this film's utter banality.  It's not bad, but it shouldn't have been in contention.  "The Fellowship of the Ring" is the most obvious nominee to replace it, but "Gosford Park" and "In the Bedroom" are also good picks.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - Look, I like the original "Lord of the Rings" trilogy as much as anyone, but "The Return of the King" is overlong, indulgent, and entirely too pleased with itself in the end.  I'm also still a little upset about the truncated epilogue, though I understand why it had to be that way.  Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" would have been my pick for winner, followed by "Master and Commander."

Crash (2005) - The problem was never that "Crash" beat "Brokeback Mountain" for Best Picture.  The problem was that "Crash" was even nominated for Best Picture in the first place.  It still mystifies me how the Hollywood establishment got behind this film, embracing its simplistic, tone-deaf portrayal of race relations in Los Angeles.  And if they didn't want to vote for "Brokeback Mountain," Spielberg's "Munich" was right there!

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