I go with No Country, but The Hurt Locker is pretty damn close.

Lord of the Rings: ROTK easily.

Gladiator
The Departed
No Country for Old Men

Chicago was the worst.

NCFOM/ROTK then other stuff. Haven't seen The Hurt Locker yet.

Man...Slumdog is one of my favorite movies of all time but I see I'm the only one here who voted for it. if I have horrible taste, so be it lol.

Gladiator

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Chicago

Million Dollar Baby
A Beautiful Mind
Slumdog Millionaire
No Country for Old Men
The Departed

Crash

Normally I don't see enough Oscar films, but I've actually seen all of these except for The Hurt Locker.

This.

Return of the King, then The Departed

No Country for Old Men

lol no country was a huge bore, no one I know cares for the movie.

Gladiator, Departed and ROTK are proper best picture wins.

Films people will remember and were epic in nature and grandeur.

Be smug all you want, but its the truth.

No country for old men. Its not even close.

Your error, one of MANY at least, is your obsession with "epic in nature and grandeur." Small, dialogue-and-character-driven films can be just as beloved as the CGI-heavy epics.

Manny, do you have any friends?

No Country For Old Men. Very easily.

The Departed, followed by RotK.

Also, about small character driven film, the Departed is a perfect example of a 100% character driven film which is as "grand and epic" as a historical picture.

Of course they are great, heart warming stuff like Shawshank is just as liked people something epic like the Godfather by people.

Stuff like Memento is small and everything, but I think its amazing as any huge film. Sure looking at my top 100, its full of big huge films (from the 40's till now).

Also, the reason why I think Gladiator, The Departed and ROTK will be remembered for a long time unlike No Country or THL is because they are better complete films overall. No Country had a good story and acting, THL is just super tense. Those three films have a grand vision and a great story and also great acting (the latter is what Avatar misses). Like I am not saying THL or small films than win a oscar automatically suck. However there is no why they will reach the level of love from audiences as those films.

Be smug all you want, but it is truly what most people think. If you think otherwise, I will be the ones that question if you have friends.

Your error is that you thing CGI= BAD.

Story driven films are great but they do not automatically make it better than a epic CGI film.

I was only asking because you said "no one I know cares for [No Country for Old Men]". I was just wondering who these mystery haters are.

oh, okay sorry about the angry outburst (took it off)

Well its that me and my friends both sat down to watch it and There will be Blood and I think with universal praise from the oscars and critics we were expecting the best stuff we have ever seen. My sister and many female friends like There will be Blood btw. Of course they think its great but nothing all time great.

We found both films boring.

Expectations play a factor, like I though Atonement would be awful, but in the end I found it a B+ film. Maybe If it won the Oscar and I watched I would have gave it a C+???

Like me and friends like your good small Oscar films, but in the end were obsessed over mob films, war movies and westerns like many guys are.

The Departed trounces, nothing compares,

1.The Departed A




2. Chicago A


3. No Country for Old Men A-
4. Slumdog Millionaire A-
5. The Hurt Locker A-
6. Million Dollar Baby A-
7. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King B+
8. Gladiator - B+
9. A Beautiful Mind -
10. Crash -

My criticker ratings:

Slumdog Millionaire 100 (top film of the year)
No Country for Old Men 95 (top film of the year)
The Departed 95 (top film of the year)
Gladiator 95 (top film of the year)
Crash 93 (#1 Match Point & The Proposition)
LOTR:ROTK 92 (#1 City of God)
A Beautiful Mind 85 (#1 The Royal Tenenbaums)
Million Dollar Baby 75 (#1 Hotel Rwanda)
The Hurt Locker 75 (#1 Inglourious Basterds)
Chicago 45 (#1 In America & Spirited Away)

I re-watched Departed recently and have to say it didnt hold up well for me.

No Country came out in the strongest year of the decade (2007) for film and still was deserving.

Departed, No Country, and ROTK are definitely my three favorites, but they're so different that it's hard to determine which I like most. Gave the vote to Departed since it has the fewest.

Would you ever do a video for the best films of the decade billybob?

Previous epic movies that won Best Picture which everyone will always remember:

The Greatest Show on Earth
The Last Emperor
Tom Jones

Previous non-epic films that did, which no one will ever remember:

Casablanca
The Silence of the Lambs
Rain Man


Seriously, that's just too big of a blanket statement not to have exceptions. Some epic films are terrible and some non-epic ones are great.

What is right is that films that win the Oscar should be films that people will still be watching 50 years later, not something like "Crash" or "Slumdog Millionaire".

That would certainly be a daunting task, but perhaps after the business of senior year and the movie i'm making all pass, i'll do something of the sort.