NicksFlickPicks.com: Reviews and Rankings of Best Actress Oscar Winners

Best Pictures from the Outside In
As Goatdog and Nathaniel and I continue our collective march through the Best Picture Oscar winners, I'll be updating this ranked list (at left) of my qualitative preferences among Oscar's 80 anointed, from best to worst. I'll also add to the honor roll (at right) of Best Picture nominees that are at least as good as my favorite winners. We have currently reviewed the early Oscars through 1947 and the recent Oscars since 1988. Scroll down for comprehensive lists of all the nominees I have seen and those I haven't. ★ Also, make sure to visit Nathaniel's handy and witty Compendium of all our conversations.
Ranking the Winners of the Best Picture Oscar Oct '10: I have seen 81 of 82 winners, or 99%. Listed in ranked order within each section For the Ages 30 All Quiet on the Western Front, dir. Lewis Milestone 43 Casablanca, dir. Michael Curtiz 46 The Best Years of Our Lives, dir. William Wyler 34 It Happened One Night, dir. Frank Capra 93 Schindler's List, dir. Steven Spielberg 39 Gone with the Wind, dir. Victor Fleming (et al.) Fantastic 09 The Hurt Locker, dir. Kathryn Bigelow 40 Rebecca, dir. Alfred Hitchcock 04 Million Dollar Baby, dir. Clint Eastwood 97 Titanic, dir. James Cameron 28 Wings, dir. William Wellman 91 The Silence of the Lambs, dir. Jonathan Demme 98 Shakespeare in Love, dir. John Madden 06 The Departed, dir. Martin Scorsese Fetching 96 The English Patient, dir. Anthony Minghella 41 How Green Was My Valley, dir. John Ford 35 Mutiny on the Bounty, dir. Frank Lloyd 92 Unforgiven, dir. Clint Eastwood 32 Grand Hotel, dir. Edmund Goulding 03 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, dir. Peter Jackson 99 American Beauty, dir. Sam Mendes 07 No Country for Old Men, dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen Fair 02 Chicago, dir. Rob Marshall 90 Dances With Wolves, dir. Kevin Costner 05 Crash, dir. Paul Haggis 42 Mrs. Miniver, dir. William Wyler 38 You Can't Take It with You, dir. Frank Capra Feh 45 The Lost Weekend, dir. Billy Wilder 01 A Beautiful Mind, dir. Ron Howard 00 Gladiator, dir. Ridley Scott 36 The Great Ziegfeld, dir. Robert Z. Leonard 37 The Life of Émile Zola, dir. William Dieterle Flotsam 29 The Broadway Melody, dir. Harry Beaumont 47 Gentleman's Agreement, dir. Elia Kazan 31 Cimarron, dir. Wesley Ruggles 89 Driving Miss Daisy, dir. Bruce Beresford 44 Going My Way, dir. Leo McCarey 88 Rain Man, dir. Barry Levinson 95 Braveheart, dir. Mel Gibson 94 Forrest Gump, dir. Robert Zemeckis 08 Slumdog Millionaire, dir. Danny Boyle 33 Cavalcade, dir. Frank Lloyd	Great Losers: Nominees Who Rate a "Fantastic" or Higher I have seen 404 of 475 nominees, or 85%. Listed in chronological order within each section For the Ages 28 7th Heaven, dir. Frank Borzage 33 42nd Street, dir. Lloyd Bacon 36 Dodsworth, dir. William Wyler 38 Grand Illusion, dir. Jean Renoir 39 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, dir. Frank Capra 39 Stagecoach, dir. John Ford 40 The Letter, dir. William Wyler 40 The Philadelphia Story, dir. George Cukor 41 Citizen Kane, dir. Orson Welles 42 The Magnificent Ambersons, dir. Orson Welles 93 The Piano, dir. Jane Campion 96 Fargo, dir. Joel Coen 97 L.A. Confidential, dir. Curtis Hanson 98 The Thin Red Line, dir. Terrence Malick Fantastic 30 The Big House, dir. George Hill 32 Shanghai Express, dir. Josef von Sternberg 32 The Champ, dir. King Vidor 33 I Am a Fugitive from a Chaing Gang, dir. Mervyn LeRoy 33 Little Women, dir. George Cukor 34 Imitation of Life, dir. John M. Stahl 34 The Thin Man, dir. W.S. Van Dyke 35 Alice Adams, dir. George Stevens 35 Top Hat, dir. Mark Sandrich 36 Libeled Lady, dir. Jack Conway 37 Stage Door, dir. Gregory La Cava 38 The Adventures of Robin Hood, dirs. Michael Curtiz & William Keighley 39 Dark Victory, dir. Edmund Goulding 39 Ninotchka, dir. Ernst Lubitsch 39 The Wizard of Oz, dir. Victor Fleming 40 All This, and Heaven Too, dir. Anatole Litvak 40 The Grapes of Wrath, dir. John Ford 41 The Maltese Falcon, dir. John Huston 42 Random Harvest, dir. Mervyn LeRoy 42 Yankee Doodle Dandy, dir. Michael Curtiz 43 The More the Merrier, dir. Geroge Stevens 44 Double Indemnity, dir. Billy Wilder 46 Henry V, dir. Laurence Olivier 46 It's a Wonderful Life, dir. Frank Capra 90 Ghost, dir. Jerry Zucker 90 Goodfellas, dir. Martin Scorsese 91 Beauty and the Beast, dirs. Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise 91 JFK, dir. Oliver Stone 92 The Crying Game, dir. Neil Jordan 92 Howards End, dir. James Ivory 94 Pulp Fiction, dir. Quentin Tarantino 95 Babe, dir. Chris Noonan 96 Secrets & Lies, dir. Mike Leigh 00 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, dir. Ang Lee 00 Erin Brockovich, dir. Steven Soderbergh 01 Gosford Park, dir. Robert Altman 01 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, dir. Peter Jackson 01 Moulin Rouge!, dir. Baz Luhrmann 02 The Pianist, dir. Roman Polanski 03 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, dir. Peter Weir 05 Capote, dir. Bennett Miller

Also-Rans from Years We've Covered

FETCHING: 49th Parallel (aka The Invaders) – Apollo 13 – The Awful Truth – Brokeback Mountain – Crossfire – Foreign Correspondent – The Front Page – The Fugitive – The Gay Divorcée – Here Comes Mr. Jordan – The Hours – The Informer – The Insider – Jerry Maguire – Juno – Letters from Iwo Jima – The Little Foxes – The Long Voyage Home – Lost in Translation – Love Affair – The Love Parade – Milk – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town – Munich – My Left Foot – The Pied Piper – Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire – Quiz Show – The Remains of the Day – Saving Private Ryan – Sense and Sensibility – Sideways – The Song of Bernadette – A Star Is Born (1937) – There Will Be Blood – Traffic – Wake Island – The Yearling

FAIR: The Accidental Tourist – Anchors Aweigh – The Bishop's Wife – Born on the Fourth of July – Broadway Melody of 1936 – Bugsy – Dangerous Liaisons – District 9 – A Farewell to Arms – Five Star Final – Four Weddings and a Funeral – The Full Monty – Gaslight – Good Will Hunting – In the Name of the Father – Kitty Foyle – Lady for a Day – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Michael Clayton – Mystic River – Il Postino – The Shawshank Redemption – She Done Him Wrong – Since You Went Away – Skippy – Up

FEH: Alibi – Atonement – Avatar – The Aviator – Awakenings – Babel – Bad Girl – The Barretts of Wimpole Street – Blossoms in the Dust – The Divorcée – East Lynne – An Education – A Few Good Men – Field of Dreams – Frost/Nixon – Gangs of New York – The Godfather Part III – The Good Earth – Good Night, and Good Luck. – Goodbye, Mr. Chips – The, Great Dictator – Hold Back the Dawn – In Old Chicago – In the Bedroom – Inglourious Basterds – Jezebel – Kings Row – Little Miss Sunshine – Mildred Pierce – Miracle on 34th Street – One Hour with You – One Night of Love – The Private Life of Henry VIII – Pygmalion – The Queen – The Racket – Ray – The Reader – Seabiscuit – Sergeant York – A Serious Man – The Sixth Sense – Smilin' Through – The Smiling Lieutenant – Spellbound – State Fair (1933) – The Talk of the Town – Three Smart Girls – Trader Horn – Up in the Air – Working Girl

FLOTSAM: Anthony Adverse – Arrowsmith – As Good As It Gets – The Bells of St. Mary's – The Blind Side – Boys Town – Chocolat – The Cider House Rules – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Dead Poets Society – Disraeli – Elizabeth – Finding Neverland – For Whom the Bell Tolls – The Green Mile – In Old Arizona – Life Is Beautiful – Madame Curie – Mississippi Burning – One Foot in Heaven – Our Town – The Pride of the Yankees – Romeo and Juliet (1936) – Scent of a Woman – Suspicion – The White Parade – Wilson – Wuthering Heights

UNSEEN: Alexander's Ragtime Band – Captain Blood – Captains Courageous – The Citadel – Cleopatra (1934) – David Copperfield – Dead End – Flirtation Walk – Four Daughters – Great Expectations – Heaven Can Wait (1943) – Here Comes the Navy – The Hollywood Revue – The House of Rothschild – The Human Comedy – In Which We Serve – Lives of a Bengal Lancer – Lost Horizon – A Midsummer Night's Dream – Les Misérables – Naughty Marietta – Of Mice and Men – One Hundred Men and a Girl – The Ox-Bow Incident – The Patriot – The Razor's Edge – Ruggles of Red Gap – San Francisco – The Story of Louis Pasteur – A Tale of Two Cities – Test Pilot – Viva Villa! – Watch on the Rhine

The Rest of What I've Seen
12 Angry Men – Airport – Alfie – All About Eve – All That Jazz – All the King's Men (1949) – All the President's Men – Amadeus – An American in Paris – Anatomy of a Murder – Anne of the Thousand Days – Annie Hall – The Apartment – Apocalypse Now – Around the World in 80 Days – Atlantic City – Auntie Mame – Barry Lyndon – Becket – Ben‑Hur – The Best Years of Our Lives – The Big Chill – Bonnie and Clyde – Born Yesterday – The Bridge on the River Kwai – Broadcast News – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Cabaret – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Chariots of Fire – Children of a Lesser God – Chinatown – A Clockwork Orange – Coal Miner's Daughter – The Color Purple – Coming Home – The Conversation – The Country Girl – Cries and Whispers – Darling – Decision Before Dawn – The Deer Hunter – The Defiant Ones – Deliverance – Doctor Dolittle – Doctor Zhivago – Dog Day Afternoon – Double Indemnity – Dr. Strangelove – The Elephant Man – Elmer Gantry – The Emigrants – E.T. the Extra‑Terrestrial – The Exorcist – Fatal Attraction – Fiddler on the Roof – Five Easy Pieces – The French Connection – From Here to Eternity – The Fugitive – Funny Girl – Giant – Gigi – The Godfather – The Godfather, Part II – The Goodbye Girl – The Graduate – The Greatest Show on Earth – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner – Hamlet (1948) – Hannah and Her Sisters – Heaven Can Wait (1978) – The Heiress – Hello, Dolly! – Henry V – High Noon – Hope and Glory – The Hustler – In the Heat of the Night – In the Name of the Father – It's a Wonderful Life – Jaws – Johnny Belinda – Judgment at Nuremberg – Julia – The Killing Fields – The King and I – Kiss of the Spider Woman – Kramer vs. Kramer – The Last Emperor – The Last Picture Show – Lawrence of Arabia – Lenny – A Letter to Three Wives – Lilies of the Field – The Lion in Winter – Love Is a Many‑Splendored Thing – Love Story – A Man for All Seasons – Marty – Mary Poppins – Midnight Cowboy – Missing – The Mission – Moonstruck – Moulin Rouge (1952) – The Music Man – My Fair Lady – Nashville – Network – Nicholas and Alexandra – Norma Rae – The Nun's Story – Oliver! – On Golden Pond – On the Waterfront – One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest – Ordinary People – Out of Africa – A Passage to India – Patton – Peyton Place – The Piano – A Place in the Sun – Places in the Heart – Platoon – The Prince of Tides – Prizzi's Honor – Rachel, Rachel – Raging Bull – Raiders of the Lost Ark – The Red Shoes – Reds – The Remains of the Day – Rocky – Roman Holiday – Romeo and Juliet (1968) – Room at the Top – A Room with a View – The Rose Tattoo – Schindler's List – Separate Tables – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Shane – Ship of Fools – The Snake Pit – The Sound of Music – Sounder – Star Wars – The Sting – A Streetcar Named Desire – The Sundowners – Sunset Boulevard – Taxi Driver – The Ten Commandments – Tender Mercies – Terms of Endearment – To Kill a Mockingbird – Tom Jones – Tootsie – A Touch of Class – The Towering Inferno – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – The Turning Point – An Unmarried Woman – The Verdict – West Side Story – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Witness – Witness for the Prosecution – Z – Zorba the Greek

The Rest of What I Have Left to See
12 O'Clock High – The Alamo – America, America – American Graffiti – Battleground – Bound for Glory – Breaking Away – The Caine Mutiny – Cleopatra (1963) – The Diary of Anne Frank – The Dresser – Fanny – Father of the Bride – Friendly Persuasion – Gandhi – The Guns of Navarone – How the West Was Won – Ivanhoe – Julius Caesar – King Solomon's Mines – The Longest Day – M*A*S*H – Midnight Express – Mister Roberts – Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) – Picnic – The Quiet Man – Quo Vadis? – The Right Stuff – The Robe – The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming – The Sand Pebbles – Sayonara – A Soldier's Story – Sons and Lovers – Tess – A Thousand Clowns – Three Coins in the Fountain

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