What If The Oscars Had Ten Best Picture Nominees In Years Past?

For fun, I decided to take my hand at imagining what the Best Picture race at the Oscars would have looked if there had been ten nominees in years past. Yes, these are the things I think of as "fun" in my head. I decided to do from 1998-2008 since I really didn't follow the Oscar race as intensely in years before, but not to say I don't ever see myself not taking a look at years prior to.

I've listed the five films that were nominated for that year with the five possible nominees following after.

1998

** denotes the winner.

Elizabeth
**Shakespeare in Love**
Life Is Beautiful
Saving Private Ryan
The Thin Red Line

Gods And Monsters
The Truman Show
Out of Sight
Primary Colors
A Simple Plan

The Truman Show was the only one that was seen as a major snub, as Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey also failed to get a acting nomination.


1999

**American Beauty**
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Sixth Sense

Being John Malkovich
The Matrix
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Topsy-Turvy
Toy Story 2

I opted to go with Toy Story 2 over other strong contenders like Election and Magnolia since it had near universal acclaim and the Best Animated Feature category had not been created yet, increasing the likelihood of such a movie to get a Best Pic nod. Just a ridiculously stacked year overall.


2000

Chocolat
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Erin Brockovich
**Gladiator**
Traffic

Almost Famous
Billy Elliott
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
You Can Count On Me
Wonder Boys

An Editing nod for Wonder Boys makes it seem like the logical choice over Pollock.


2001

**A Beautiful Mind**
Gosford Park
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge!

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
Memento
Mulhollland Drive

Shrek seems like an obvious choice, but I still don't see the Academy giving a Best Picture nod to an outright animated comedy without hardly any emotional pull.


2002

**Chicago**
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist

About Schmidt
Adaptation
Bowling For Columbine
Far From Heaven
Talk To Her

I think there was enough buzz around Bowling For Columbine for it to sneak in here. It certainly felt like more of a Best Pic contender than Catch Me If You Can or Frida.


2003

**The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King**
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

City of God
Cold Mountain
Finding Nemo
Kill Bill Vol. 1
In America

Personally, it hurt my soul that Kill Bill never received any nominations, but in spite of that it would have probably edged out The Last Samurai due to the mixed reaction that movie received.


2004

The Aviator
Finding Neverland
**Million Dollar Baby**
Ray
Sideways

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Hotel Rwanda
The Incredibles
The Passion Of The Christ
Vera Drake

Vera Drake may not have gotten a ton of Best Picture buzz around the time, but it did get a Best Director nomination for this year.


2005

Brokeback Mountain
**Crash**
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Munich

A History of Violence
The Constant Gardener
Match Point
Walk The Line
Pride & Prejudice

Cinderella Man fell out of the race before autumn, due to a summer release and failing to live up to expectations. Not too many commercial films to choose from, so box office probably would have mattered little in the voting process this year.


2006

Babel
**The Departed**
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Borat
Children Of Men
Dreamgirls
Pan's Labyrinth
United 93

I went with Borat and Children of Men over Little Children since Borat was well-loved by nearly everyone in the industry and Children of Men's tracking shots give it the edge from a technical standpoint and features more than just strong acting.


2007

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
**No Country for Old Men**
There Will Be Blood

The Bourne Ultimatum
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
I'm Not There
Into The Wild
Ratatouille

The Bourne Ultimatum would have been the first action film to get serious buzz for Best Picture in sometime since it was critically acclaimed and very successful. Add to that, it also won all three of its categories that it was nominated for. Sweeney Todd could have also been a contender, but Oscar-nominated musicals tend to make more money than what it did.


2008

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
**Slumdog Millionaire**

The Dark Knight
Doubt
In Bruges
Wall-E
The Wrestler

This was the year that sparked that the expansion to ten nominees. The omissions of The Dark Knight and Wall-E made the Academy seem out of touch with the national conscious, but now it's too late and The Blind Side can now call itself a Best Picture nominee.