Edward Copeland's Tangents

In any list of this nature, there are , inevitably, gonna be a bunch of things any given person will disagree with. That said, three things leapt out at me immediately.

1974: As good as The Conversation is, I'd have Godfather II a mile in front. (I've always felt Chinatown was overrated.)

1998: A strong year, but for mine The Thin Red Line is better than both Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love.

2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the most overrated films in the past decade, IMO. I'd have it a distant fifth, even in such a weak year, and even with Chocolat also nominated. It's thin pickings, but like the Academy, I'd have picked Gladiator -- of the five films nominated, anyway.

I appreciate the effort that's gone into compiling this list; it's a really interesting conversation piece.
 

I don't think the Queen was anything that extroadinary. It was well-executed but forgettable.

It's interesting to see you don't have any biases towards any one director. You put Gangs of New York at #1 but you have Departed as #3, and similarly for Clint you put Letters #1 and Master #5

I thought Master and Commander was one of the most authentic movies i've ever seen. Did you think it was bad or just the least qualified of the nominees.

Glad to see Finding Neverland, Seabiscuit, and Letters from Iwo Jima getting some love.

In 1999, you made interesting choices. I think that's the general sense of critical respect from that year.

The Hours was boring and a chick-flick, i agree with #5. I'm guessing you're a guy, I didn't read who had the byline, but you also put Moulan Rouge at #5. I interpret that to mean you sided with Chicago in the great Chicago vs Moulan Rouge debate.

Quiz Show was a good movie, so was Sense and Apollo 13.

Was Babe really that deserving of a best picture nomination, even, let alone 3rd on your list?

Was Secrets & Lies any good, never seen it.

Mind elaborating about your dislike for Titanic and your love of Sideways?

We can go on all day here, can't we.
 

Of course, these don't reflect my preferences for the years in question, just how I would rank the 5 (or in other years more) pictures they chose. Moulin Rouge I felt was a musical designed for people with the attention spans of gnats. If you are going to do a musical, finish a song. I thought The Queen was pretty amazing for its deft blend of satire and pathos. As for Marty, I think The Departed is a far better film than Gangs of New York, but the difference in ranking is attributable solely to what 5 were up each respective year. In 1999 for example, I only liked American Beauty and The Insider. The others I would have given mixed to unfavorable reviews. Master & Commander was OK, but bored me a lot of time. Titanic I think would have been much better as a silent movie. The insipid dialogue and situations that Cameron inflicted on his cast was laughable. My favorite moment was when Billy Zane chases Leo and Kate around the sinking ship with a gun. "Oh no -- I hope they don't get shot. Then they might drown!" I did like Sideways a lot, though of the Payne films, About Schmidt is my favorite.
 

Holy cow, Copeland! I thought for a second that your 2009 list was a RANKING - then I realised that it was just alphabetical, thank the heavens! (So what ARE your preferences for this year, then?)

In other news, you're clearly a brave man to declare Crash your favourite in its year, and I respect your integrity (of course, you would say the same of me declaring Babel my favourite of the 5 - wouldn't you...?)

and this very interesting list has reminded me that you not only lack the patience for Chariots of Fire but you (or whoever actually wrote the piece in question) apparently lacked the ability to see that the film contained any other costumes than business suits and running shorts...

and you seriously place The Turning Point over Julia? Over ANYTHING??
 

These are all my rankings. As I said in the beginning, I only rank years in which I've seen all the nominees. I have not seen all the 2009 nominees. As for The Turning Point and Julia, they present the problem many years do: trying to differentiate between levels of shit. Annie Hall was clearly the best of that field and Star Wars was remarkable fun. Goodbye Girl had its moments, but was hardly a great film and the remaining two were bores so it was almost a case of playing eeny meeny miny mo in picking rankings. Julia suffered the most because I had rewatched it most recently and still disliked it. If I had taken a second look at The Turning Point around the same time, who knows, the ratings could have been reversed? As for Crash, I thought it was the best of another weak field and that the amount of animosity hurled at the film struck me at the time as somewhat odd. In my own personal awards, none of those five would have been there.