Top 5 Best Picture Winners

Every Best Picture winner since the 1920s was eligible. It was much harder than we expected.

Jeff's picks

1
Forrest Gump (1994)
The story, the music, and probably Tom Hanks' best. An endearing underdog you just go along with.
2
Braveheart (1995)
Watched it so many times as a kid he had the first ten minutes memorized. Why don't they make war epics like this anymore?
3
Titanic (1997)
A moment in history that has always stuck with him. The love story may not hold up, but the subject does.
4
CODA (2021)
Some recency bias, and maybe not the deepest plot, but it was the best film Jeff saw that year and he was glad it won.
5
Rocky (1976)
The down-and-out bum who gets his shot. Hard not to love the story of Stallone knocking on doors to get it made.

Matt's picks

1
Casablanca (1942)
A taut story with a lot of layers, and Bogart's stoic, uncompromising lead. Number one for this week, at least.
2
Unforgiven (1992)
A slow burn with an amazing payoff. The anti-Western, with a great script and great dialogue.
3
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Long, and sometimes a chore, but beautifully shot by David Lean with sweeping scenes and epic battles. Be patient with it.
4
Gladiator (2000)
Almost left it off. Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe at their best, and Maximus doing everything out of honor still holds up 25 years later.
5
Chariots of Fire (1981)
A great story about refusing to compromise your principles, even with an Olympic gold on the line.

Neither of us had seen the other's list before recording, and there's zero overlap. Jeff noticed afterward that four of his five are underdog stories. We both agreed that including the nominees would make this impossible, so we may have to revisit it by decade.