How do the 2020 nominees compare to the last 20 years of Oscar history?

Winner: “American Beauty”

Nominees: “The Cider House Rules," “The Green Mile," “The Insider” and “The Sixth Sense” 

1999 is widely considered one of the greatest movie years of all time, but you wouldn’t know it from the five nominees for Best Picture. Michael Mann’s whistleblower drama “The Insider” and M. Night Shyamalan’s suspense classic “The Sixth Sense” are the only titles that feel representative of that year’s excellence, while “American Beauty," “The Cider House Rules” and “The Green Mile” are nowhere near the level of “Three Kings," “Fight Club," “Being John Malkovich," “Eyes Wide Shut” or “The Talented Mr. Ripley." They’re also weaker than every 2020 nominee save for “Jojo Rabbit." “The Insider” is a great film, but Scorsese’s mob masterpiece gets the edge.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “Gladiator”

Nominees: “Chocolat," “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic”

Ridley Scott’s sword-and-sandals epic entered the 2001 ceremony as the prohibitive favorite, but Steven Soderbergh’s Best Director win for “Traffic” briefly put its expected Best Picture win in doubt. Ang Lee’s mesmerizing wuxia tale and Soderbergh’s two films were worthy nominees, while the execrable “Chocolat” barged its way into the race due to Harvey Weinstein’s aggressive campaigning. Lee’s film would be right at home in 2019’s mostly stellar class; “Traffic” and “Gladiator” are superior to “Joker" and on the same level as James Mangold’s supercharged dad movie, “Ford vs. Ferrari." But 2019’s top tier is stronger.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “A Beautiful Mind”

Nominees: “Gosford Park," “In the Bedroom," “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Moulin Rouge!” 

Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” is a slightly above-average biopic that hit the Academy’s triumph-over-adversity sweet spot. It was also something of a makeup award for the filmmaker’s 1995 classic, “Apollo 13," which got beat out by Mel Gibson’s chest-thumping “Braveheart." Altman’s “Gosford Park” is hamstrung by a lousy Julian Fellowes screenplay, and “Moulin Rouge!” has aged horribly,. The other two selections are worthy nominees and would’ve been better Best Picture choices than Howard’s film. They’re also far better than “Jojo Rabbit” and “Joker." But while the opening installment of Peter Jackson’s masterful Middle Earth saga is in a class with “The Irishman," “Parasite," “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood” and “Marriage Story," it’s much stronger when placed in the company of its sequels.

Winner: The Irishman

Winner: “Chicago”

Nominees: “Gangs of New York," “The Hours," “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and “The Pianist” 

The success of “Moulin Rouge!” heralded the return of the big-screen musical, and Oscar voters went gaga for Rob Marshall’s wildly entertaining adaptation of the Bob Fosse-Fred Ebb movie. The middle segment of Peter Jackson’s Tolkien trilogy or Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist” would’ve been better choices, but it’s hard to argue with a star-studded, crowd-pleasing song-and-dance flick. Stephen Daldry’s relentlessly grim “The Hours” was shameless Oscar bait, while Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited “Gangs of New York” couldn’t quite live up to several years of breathless hype. Of the five nominees, all but “The Hours” are clearly superior to “Jojo Rabbit” and “Joker," but they don’t belong in a conversation with 2019’s upper echelon.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”

Nominees: “Lost in Translation," “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," “Mystic River” and “Seabiscuit”

The Academy did as expected in crowning the final entry of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth trilogy with its top prize, but Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” would’ve been a superb choice as well. Sofia Coppola’s Tokyo two-hander is as enchanting as ever, and Gary Ross’ Depression-era horse racing drama hits all the right sentimental notes. Clint Eastwood’s overwrought adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel was showered with plaudits in ’03, but it has aged horribly. A case could be made for the entire “Lord of the Rings” saga over Scorsese’s “The Irishman," but it’s not going to be made here.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “Million Dollar Baby”

Nominees: “The Aviator," “Finding Neverland," “Ray” and “Sideways”

Martin Scorsese’s early 2000s awards chase took a dispiriting turn when the Academy opted for Clint Eastwood’s downbeat “Million Dollar Baby” over the strangely underrated “The Aviator." Taylor Hackford’s “Ray” is a mostly rousing biopic, while Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” is a surprisingly tender film from a filmmaker best known at the time for cynical classics like “Citizen Ruth” and “Election." On the other hand, every print of “Finding Neverland” should be burned. It’s a pretty uninspired group of nominees, which makes this an easy call.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “Crash”

Nominees: “Brokeback Mountain," “Capote," “Good Night, and Good Luck” and “Munich”

The Academy embarrassed itself by falling for Paul Haggis’ fraudulent examination of race and class in Los Angeles. Ang Lee’s heartbreaking cowboy romance, George Clooney’s razor-sharp McCarthy Era drama and Steven Spielberg’s somber meditation on the wages of morally motivated revenge are all far more deserving of the top prize. Bennett Miller’s “Capote” is fine but often leaves you wishing you were watching Richard Brooks’ “In Cold Blood” instead. Three masterpieces from first-rate filmmakers make this a more than respectable Best Picture class, but the 2019 group has four masterpieces, so…

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “The Departed”

Nominees: “Babel," “Letters from Iwo Jima," “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Queen”

It’s amusing that Martin Scorsese finally scored his first Best Director and Picture Oscars with a shamelessly pulpy remake of Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s “Infernal Affairs”; it’s a good movie, but it’s really just a mainstream reworking of the themes he’s been obsessed with since “Mean Streets." Still, it towers above the other four nominees, three of which can lay a claim to being better than “Jojo Rabbit." “Little Miss Sunshine” and its strained quirkiness can beat it. Given that “The Irishman” is a career-defining summation of those aforementioned themes. This is an easy call.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “No Country for Old Men”

Nominees: “Atonement," “Juno," “Michael Clayton” and “There Will Be Blood”

Here’s our first tough call. Joel and Ethan Coen’s “No Country for Old Men” is a flawless adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s pitiless crime novel. It’s two of the world’s greatest filmmakers working at the absolute height of their powers. It’s also hugely entertaining and insanely rewatchable; movies simply don’t get much better than this. The same is true of the other four nominees. Stacked up against “The Irishman," “Parasite," “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood” and “Marriage Story," it is, appropriately enough, a coin flip. Coen brothers, this is your lucky quarter.

Winner: “No Country for Old Men”

Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire”

Nominees: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," “Frost/Nixon," “Milk” and “The Reader”

Danny Boyle’s Bollywood-inflected drama enchanted the Academy in 2008, easily triumphing over David Fincher’s melancholy drama about a man who ages backward. The other three nominees are classic Oscar bait. Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon," which basically uses the sports underdog formula, is probably the best of the bunch, while Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” and Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader” are reasonably compelling. Fincher’s film deserves far more respect than it gets, but it’s the only film of this group that nears the heights of 2019’s best movies.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “The Hurt Locker”

Nominees: “Avatar," “The Blind Side," “District 9," “An Education," “Inglourious Basterds," “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Saphire," “A Serious Man," “Up” and “Up in the Air”

The Academy expanded its Best Picture field to 10 this year in the hopes that critically acclaimed blockbusters like “The Dark Knight” might get nominated. Pete Docter’s “Up” became the second animated film to crack the top category, and Neill Blomkamp’s socially conscious sci-fi flick, “District 9," broke through too, but Christopher Nolan’s second caped crusader movie surprisingly failed to make the cut. The top tier of nominees in ’09 (“Inglourious Basterds," “The Hurt Locker” and “Up”) are stone-cold classics, and “Avatar” is at the bare minimum a staggering technical achievement from one of the greatest directors in the history of the medium. The drop-off in quality after “Avatar” is pretty steep.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “The King’s Speech”

Nominees: “127 Hours," “Black Swan," “The Fighter," “Inception," “The Kids Are All Right," “The Social Network," “Toy Story 3," “True Grit” and “Winter’s Bone”

The Academy’s early 2010s run of insipid Best Picture winners kicked off with Tom Hooper’s stammering king drama inexplicably edging out David Fincher’s acerbic portrait of the nerd as destroyer of society. Guess which film is 1,000x more relevant today? Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone," which launched Jennifer Lawrence’s career, is an even greater achievement than “The Social Network," and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” is plenty dazzling in its own right. But as has been made abundantly clear, the class of 2020 is hard to top.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “The Artist”

Nominees: “The Descendants," “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," “The Help," “Hugo," “Midnight in Paris," “Moneyball," “The Tree of Life” and “War Horse”

Confronted with a host of terrific options (“The Descendants," “Hugo," “Moneyball," “The Tree of Life” and “War Horse”), the Academy showed its collective backside and voted for Michel Hazanavicius’ wafer-thin ode to the silent film era. If you’re trying to win an Oscar, you can never go wrong with a hagiographic film about Hollywood. Of the aforementioned titles, “The Tree of Life” and “Hugo” would be serious contenders against the best of 2019 but not serious enough.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “Argo”

Nominees: “Amour," “Beasts of the Southern Wild," “Django Unchained," “Les Misérables," “Life of Pi," “Lincoln," “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty”

Ben Affleck’s “Argo” is a good movie. It’s also, in a way, about two old studio lot producers (John Goodman and Alan Arkin) using their last few ounces of industry juice to help free the American hostages in Iran; ergo, for the second year in a row, the Academy voted for a film that celebrates the awesomeness of Hollywood. It would’ve been better off honoring the greatness of “Django Unchained," “Lincoln” or “Zero Dark Thirty." Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” is spectacular at times, and “Beasts of the Southern Wild” appeared to be the introduction of an exciting new talent (Benh Zeitlin’s long-delayed sophomore effort, “Wendy," will finally see the light of a projector at this year’s Sundance Film Festival), but this isn’t a group of Best Picture nominees to get overly excited about.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “12 Years a Slave”

Nominees: “American Hustle," “Captain Phillips," “Dallas Buyers Club," “Gravity," “Her," “Nebraska," “Philomena” and “The Wolf of Wall Street" 

This was an impressive group of nominees, with the only really wrong choices being “American Hustle," “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Philomena." Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” was a brutally unsentimental depiction of slavery that had to pulverize viewers because it had been far too long since the subject had been treated with all due seriousness. Spike Jonze’s “Her," “Peter Greengrass’ “Captain Phillips”, Alfonso Curón’s “Gravity” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” were all transfixing cinematic experiences. But this year’s Scorsese was a little bit better than that year’s Scorsese, so advantage 2020. 

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance”)

Nominees: “American Sniper," “Boyhood," “The Grand Budapest Hotel”," “The Imitation Game," “Selma," “The Theory of Everything," “Whiplash” 

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s showy tale of an aging movie star (Michael Keaton) struggling to get out from under the shadow of the superhero he once played had additional resonance given the casting, but it’s such a hollow, emotionally remote movie. Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” and Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” are masterpieces, but both directors tend to be acquired tastes. These two films are every bit as breathtaking as “The Irishman," “Parasite," “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood” and “Marriage Story," but the rest of the nominees are underwhelming.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “Spotlight”

Nominees: “The Big Short," “Bridge of Spies," “Brooklyn," “Mad Max: Fury Road," “The Martian," “The Revenant” and “Room”

There was a sinking feeling that Alejandro González Iñárritu’s paean to surviving subzero temperatures, “The Revanant," was going to net the misery merchant his second straight Best Picture Oscar, but Tom McCarthy’s absorbing journalist drama, “Spotlight," won Academy voters over with its astute screenplay and first-rate ensemble cast. Obviously George Miller’s hard-driving pièce de résistance, “Mad Max: Fury Road," should’ve won every Oscar, including the ones for which it wasn’t nominated, but Stanley Kubrick never won a Best Director Oscar so what are you going to do? The Best Picture class of 2019 is overall superior to these eight movies, but there’s only one correct answer here. 

Winner: “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Winner: “Moonlight”

Nominees: “Arrival," “Fences," “Hacksaw Ridge," “Hell or High Water," “Hidden Figures," “La La Land," “Lion” and “Manchester by the Sea” 

Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” is a phenomenal film that does not deserve to be remembered for the infamous envelope snafu that led poor, befuddled Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway to announce Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” as that year’s Best Picture. The only movie that punches at its weight class is Kenneth Lonergan’s devastating “Manchester by the Sea," but it lacked the zip of “La La Land” and the audacity of “Moonlight." One thing these three films have in common: They’re not “The Irishman”.

Winner: “The Irishman”

Winner: “The Shape of Water”

Nominees: “Call Me by Your Name," “Darkest Hour," “Dunkirk," “Get Out," “Lady Bird," “Phantom Thread," “The Post," “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” 

The worst film out of these nine nominees is a perfectly decent biopic about Winston Churchill featuring a commanding performance from Gary Oldman. The winner is a lovely homage to “Creature from the Black Lagoon” by our most essential conjurer of monsters. “Call Me by Your Name," “Dunkirk," “Get Out” and “Lady Bird” are transformative works that announced the arrival of two world-class filmmaking talents (Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig) and found two masters (Luca Guadagnino and Christopher Nolan) hitting a new level of excellence. Joel and Ethan, may we borrow your lucky quarter?

Winner: “Phantom Thread”

Winner: “Green Book”

Nominees: “Black Panther," “BlacKkKlansman," “Bohemian Rhapsody," “The Favourite," “Roma," “A Star Is Born," “Vice”

Let’s accentuate the positive: Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” shook up the MCU with a radical Afrofuturism aesthetic in “Black Panther”; Spike Lee made a commercial movie with one of the most disturbing endings in film history with “BlacKkKlansman”; Yorgos Lanthimos brought his ultra-perverse point-of-view to a tale of rotting royalty in “The Favourite”; Alfonso Cuarón delivered an deep-tissue evocation of his childhood in “Roma”; and Bradley Cooper discovered new depths in one of Hollywood’s hoariest yarns with “A Star Is Born." Peter Farrelly’s “Driving Miss Daisy” redux won Best Picture. To hell with this year.

Winner: “The Irishman”