Movies that hit double digits since 1944

1972
(Won) The Godfather 268 million

1971
(Won) The French Connection 41 million

1970
(Won) Patton 62.5 million

1969
(Won) Midnight Cowboy 44 million

1967
(Won) In the Heat of the Night 24 million

1966
(Won) A Man for All Seasons 28.3 million

1965
(Won) The Sound of Music 163 million

1964
(Won) My Fair Lady 72 million

1961
(Won) West Side Story 43 million

1960
(Won) The Apartment 24.6 million

1957
(Won) The Bridge on the River Kwai 33 million

1956
(Won) Around the World in Eighty Days 42 million

1953
(Won) From Here to Eternity 30 million

1952
(Won) The Greatest Show on Earth 36 million

1946
(Won) The Best Years of Our Lives 23 million

1945
(Won) The Lost Weekend 11 million

1944
(Won) Going My Way 16 million

What nation has produced more wonderfully inspiring art in the form of film? Does society and government have a part to play in that? What elements allow an artist to create their best work? If any of you can answer these questions without mixing in personal beliefs or agendas, then maybe we could have a true conversation and not a self-flattering spew-fest on how much better one is from the so-called dimwit American culture.

by the way, here’s a history lesson for those who obviously need it.
Did hollywood change or did we change? hmmmm

Year Movie Gross

1939
(won) Gone With the Wind $198,676,459

1973
(nominated) The Exorcist $232,671,011

1975
(nominated) Jaws $260,000,000

1977
(nominated) Star Wars $460,998,007

1981
(nominated) Raiders of the Lost Ark $242,374,454

1982
(nominated) Tootsie $177,200,000
(nominated) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial $435,110,554

1988
(won) Rain Man $172,825,435

1990
(won) Dances with Wolves $184,208,848
(nominated) Ghost $217,631,306

1993
(nominated) The Fugitive $183,875,760

1994
(won) Forrest Gump $329,694,499

1995
(nominated) Apollo 13 $173,837,933

1997
(won) Titanic $600,788,188 (highest of all time)

1998
(nominated) Saving Private Ryan $216,540,909

1999
(nominated) The Sixth Sense $293,506,292

2000
(won) Gladiator $187,705,427

2001
(won) A Beautiful Mind $170,742,341
(nominated) The Lord of the Rings:
(The Fellowship of the
Ring) $314,776,170

2002
(won) Chicago $170,687,518
(nominated) The Lord of the Rings:
(The Two Towers) $341,786,758

2003
(won) The Lord of the Rings:
(The Return of the King) $377,027,325

Ridic.

Clearly box office doesn’t mean a movie is good. Many felt Spiderman III was a let down despite pretty good boxoffice, and the list could be drawn out in lengthy style.

Not so clearly to some, the Oscar is extremely tainted. In the last ten years I have disagreed with almost every best picture winner, but I certainly didn’t think the award should have gone to the “boxoffice giant” of the year.

As for the Oscars, there are two really blatant examples that most people point to as evidence of problems. First, and quite common, individuals point to “Citizen Kane” and the politics that surround it. Think we are free from such politicization? Then why to production houses lay out a lot of money to actually campaign? The second example I point to occurred in 1994 (1995 awards). That year “Forrest Gump” won best picture honors. With due respect, “Forrest Gump” is a fine film. Just fine as far as I measure. Whereas few people acknowledge that “Forrest Gump” is a better film than the Shawshank Redemption, which will stand as one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion. Further, I feel that the following three films that year were also better films than “Forrest Gump”. “Hoop Dreams”, “The Last Seduction”, and “Pulp Fiction”. One may certainly disagree with all three of these, but consider that critics commonly hailed “Hoop Dreams” as the best film that year! But, then again, they are “elitist”, right?

I think these point out the pitfalls of choosing a “best film”. Basically, it will always be flawed. I suggest thte better test is time, which has born out for “Citizen Kane”, and should bear out for similarly high quality films.

-Steve

It’s not that the Oscars have started to ignore those big films, it’s that the audiences have started to ignore them. The Oscars have always nominated films like Atonement and Michael Clayton and Capote, but back in the ’70s, for example, the audiences were watching those kinds of films as well, so the nominees invariably also did big numbers at the box office.

Kramer Vs. Kramer was the biggest film of the year in 1979, and audiences flocked to see it in the theatre. However, nowadays a film like that would be lumped into the “Oscar nominee that didn’t capture the audience’s imagination” category.

If we just take a quick recap, last year’s highest grossing Best Picture nominee was Juno, which really was an exception when it comes to low-budget independent films. But basically, all of the films were independent. The Departed won in 2006, but the rest of the nominees grossed an estimated TOTAL of $163 million (yes, not even half of what The Dark Knight has made this year). Even the year before that, two independent films were battling it out for the big award: Crash and Brokeback Mountain.

All you keep hearing is how viewership for The Academy Awards is down. Down down down. Why aren’t people watching? Is it really because the films nominated for Best Picture are ones that no one has watched? That makes sense, but it’s hardly The Academy’s fault. I don’t believe High School Musical and Transformers deserve the Best Picture Oscar. But quality is down for the big blockbusters… that is until this year.

The Dark Knight is what everyone has been waiting for. The movie that smashed box office records AND was great. This is what The Academy has also been waiting for since Lord of the Rings. This is the chance for viewership to shoot upward for this year’s Oscars. This is why I really think The Dark Knight will be at least nominated for Best Picture this year.

But there was a time when big box office hits were consistently fighting for the Best Picture Oscar. That time has passed. Even if The Dark Knight is nominated this year, it’ll still be surrounded by significantly smaller films. But hopefully TDK is a sign to studios that a film can make a lot of money AND be really good at the same time.