Here's my list.

This was difficult because:

1. Some years there were many good films (1939) and some years there were none (1963).

2. I didn't list animated films, even though I may think that "Toy Story" for instance was the best of the year. I tried to be realistic about what actually had the possibility of winning.

3. I didn't limit myself to what was nominated.

4. I admit that I have not seen every film on this list. In some cases, I went by reviews and commentaries made by film critics and fans. In some cases, I felt that I didn't need to -- I haven't seen "How Green is my Valley" but I'm pretty confident that "Citizen Kane" (which I have seen many times) is better.


Finally, note that this is NOT a personal favorites list, otherwise you'd find some Marx Brothers and Monty Python films on there. I tried to say "What was really worth the Oscar for this year?"

	What Won	What Should Have Won
1928	Wings	The Circus
1929	Broadway Melody	Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1930	All Quiet on the Western Front	All Quiet on the Western Front
1931	Cimarron	City Lights
1932	Grand Hotel	Scarface
1933	Calvacade	King Kong
1934	It Happened One Night	It Happened One Night
1935	Mutiny on the Bounty	Mutiny on the Bounty
1936	The Great Ziegfeld	Modern Times
1937	The Life of Emile Zola	Lost Horizon
1938	You Can't Take it With You	The Adventures of Robin Hood
1939	Gone With the Wind	The Wizard of Oz
1940	Rebecca	The Grapes of Wrath
1941	How Green Was My Valley	Citizen Kane
1942	Mrs. Miniver	Sullivan's Travels
1943	Casablanca	Casablanca
1944	Going My Way	Double Indemnity
1945	The Lost Weekend	Spellbound
1946	The Best Years of Our Lives	It's a Wonderful Life
1947	Gentleman's Agreement	Monsieur Verdoux
1948	Hamlet	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1949	All the King's Men	All the King's Men
1950	All About Eve	Sunset Boulevard
1951	An American in Paris	An American in Paris
1952	The Greatest Show on Earth	Singin' in the Rain
1953	From Here to Eternity	From Here to Eternity
1954	On the Waterfront	Rear Window
1955	Marty	Mister Roberts
1956	Around the World in 80 Days	The Searchers
1957	The Bridge on the River Kwai	Witness for the Prosecution
1958	Gigi	Touch of Evil
1959	Ben-Hur	Some Like it Hot
1960	The Apartment	Psycho
1961	West Side Story	Judgment at Nuremberg
1962	Lawrence of Arabia	Lawrence of Arabia
1963	Tom Jones	Tom Jones
1964	My Fair Lady	Dr. Strangelove
1965	The Sound of Music	The Sound of Music
1966	A Man for All Seasons	A Man for All Seasons
1967	In The Heat of the Night	Bonnie and Clyde
1968	Oliver	2001: A Space Odyssey
1969	Midnight Cowboy	Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
1970	Patton	M*A*S*H
1971	The French Connection	A Clockwork Orange
1972	The Godfather	The Godfather
1973	The Sting	American Graffiti
1974	The Godfather Part 2	The Godfather Part 2
1975	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976	Rocky	Taxi Driver
1977	Annie Hall	Annie Hall
1978	The Deer Hunter	The Deer Hunter
1979	Kramer verses Kramer	Apocalypse Now
1980	Ordinary People	The Empire Strikes Back
1981	Chariots of Fire	Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982	Gandhi	ET
1983	Terms of Endearment	The Right Stuff
1984	Amadeus	Amadeus
1985	Out of Africa	Brazil
1986	Platoon	Platoon
1987	The Last Emperor	Empire of the Sun
1988	Rain Man	Rain Man
1989	Driving Miss Daisy	Do The Right Thing
1990	Dances with Wolves	Goodfellas
1991	The Silence of the Lambs	The Silence of the Lambs
1992	Unforgiven	Malcolm X
1993	Schindler's List	Schindler's List
1994	Forrest Gump	Pulp Fiction
1995	Braveheart	The American President
1996	The English Patient	Fargo
1997	Titanic	Amistad
1998	Shakespeare in Love	Saving Private Ryan
1999	American Beauty	American Beauty
2000	Gladiator	Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
2001	A Beautiful Mind	The Fellowship of the Ring
2002	Chicago	The Two Towers
2003	The Return of the King	The Rreturn of the King
2004	Million Dollar Baby	Kill Bill 2
2005	Crash	Munich
2006	The Departed	The Departed
2007	No Country for Old Men	No Country For Old Men
2008	Slumdog Millionaire	The Dark Knight

This table brought to you by Excel2BB Converter. Created by Krem for World of KJ

Interesting list. Of course I agree on some, disagree on others.

What I really agree with is that The Grapes of Wrath deserved to win over Rebecca even (and I do like Rebecca a lot).

I agree that The Rreturn of the King should have won over The Return of the King.

Yes. Rreturn was much less retarded.

I was hoping other people would post their own lists here...

Hmm...

(limiting myself to what was nominated)

2009: Inglourious Basterds
2008: Milk
2007: There Will Be Blood
2006: The Departed
2005: Munich
2004: The Aviator
2003: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
1999: The Insider
1998: The Thin Red Line
1997: L.A. Confidential
1996: Fargo
1995: Apollo 13
1994: Pulp Fiction
1993: Schindler's List
1992: Unforgiven
1991: The Silence of the Lambs
1990: Goodfellas

Limiting myself to the years in which I have seen at least four nominees

2008: Slumdog Millionaire *
2007: Atonement (though this, NCFOM and TWBB were all very close)
2006: The Departed *
2005: Munich
2004: Sideways
2003: Return of the King *
2002: The Pianist
2001: Moulin Rouge!
2000: Gladiator
1999: American Beauty *
1998: Saving Private Ryan
1997: L.A. Confidential
1996: Jerry Maguire
1995: Braveheart/Babe (can't decide) *
1994: Forrest Gump *
1990: Dances with Wolves (need to rewatch Goodfellas) *
1986: Platoon *

* = Actual BP winner

1990 - Goodfellas
1991 - SOTL (Impressive that Beauty Beast was nominated)
1992 - Unforgiven (Crying Game a close 2nd in my book)
1993 - Schindler's List
1994 - Pulp Fiction (Shawshank and Forrest Gump are worthy though)
1995 - Braveheart (wasn't really up against anything strong)
1996 - Secrets & Lies (though Fargo would work too)
1997 - Titanic (please, no contest)
1998 - Saving Private Ryan
1999 - American Beauty
2000 - CTHD
2001 - In the Bedroom
2002 - Chicago (I enjoyed the Hours as well)
2003 - ROTK
2004 - MDB (weak films against it but Sideways was good)
2005 - Brokeback Mountain
2006 - The Departed
2007 - NCFOM (though TWBB is worthy too)
2008 - Slumdog Millionaire
2009 - Avatar

limiting myself to what i have seen

2009: Avatar
2008: The Dark Knight
2007: There Will Be Blood
2006: The Departed
2005: Brokeback Mountain
2004: The Aviator
2003: Lost in Translation
2002: Chicago (better than TTT fo sho)
2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2000: Snatch
1999: Fight Club
1998: Shakespeare in Love
1997: Titanic
1996: Jerry Maguire
1995: Babe
1994: Pulp Fiction
1993: Jurassic Park
1992: Unforgiven
1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1990: Goodfellas
1989: Driving Mrs. Daisy

Year/What Nominee Should Have Won/What Should Have Won

2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
2007 - Atonement, awful nominees.. (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
2006 - Babel (Pan's Labyrinth)
2005 - Brokeback Mountain (Memoirs of a Geisha)
2004 - Finding Neverland (Mysterious Skin) - Very strong year.
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Tokyo Godfathers) - Another very strong year.
2002 - Chicago (Spirited Away)
2001 - Moulin Rouge! (Moulin Rouge!)
2000 - Gladiator (Battle Royale)
1999 - American Beauty (Boys Don't Cry)
1998 - n/a (Perfect Blue)
1997 - Goodwill Hunting (Princess Mononoke)
1996 - n/a (Romeo + Juliet)
1995 - Sense and Sensibility (Whisper of the Heart)
1994 - Pulp Fiction (Ed Wood)
1993 - Schindler's List (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
1992 - n/a (Aladdin)
1991 - Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
1990 - Ghost (Ghost)
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy (The Little Mermaid)

I haven't seen 3 or more BP nominess in years 92, 96, 98, or 09