If I chose the Oscars....(2000-2009)

[DougReese]

**** = who I would have given the golden statue to.

2000
BEST PICTURE
Almost Famous ****
The Cell
George Washington
Requiem for a Dream
The Virgin Suicides

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky | Requiem for a Dream
Cameron Crowe | Almost Famous ****
Stephen Daldry | Billy Elliot
David Gordon Green | George Washington
Tarsem Singh | The Cell

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale | American Psycho
Jamie Bell | Billy Elliot ****
John Cusack | High Fidelity
Jared Leto | Requiem for a Dream
Geoffrey Rush | Quills

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Bjork | Dancer in the Dark ****
Ellen Burstyn | Requiem for a Dream
Kirsten Dunst | The Virgin Suicides
Laura Linney | You Can Count on Me
Michelle Rodriguez | Girlfight

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Willem Dafoe | Shadow of the Vampire
Vincent D'Onofrio | The Cell
Gary Lewis | Billy Elliot
Joaquin Phoenix | Gladiator
Donald Sutherland | Panic ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Connelly | Requiem for a Dream
Kate Hudson | Almost Famous ****
Lupe Ontiveros | Chuck & Buck
Parker Posey | Best in Show
Chloe Sevigny | American Psycho

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Almost Famous ****
Billy Elliot
The Cell
George Washington
Panic

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Psycho ****
High Fidelity
Requiem for a Dream
Traffic
The Virgin Suicides

2001
BEST PICTURE
A.I.: Artifical Intelligence
Fat Girl
In the Mood for Love
Mulholland Drive ****
Wit

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson | The Royal Tenenbaums
Catherine Breillat | Fat Girl
Wong Kar-wai | In the Mood for Love
David Lynch | Mulholland Drive ****
Steven Spielberg | A.I.: Artifical Intelligence

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Paul Dano | L.I.E.
Gene Hackman | The Royal Tenenbaums
Ethan Hawke | Training Day
Tony Leung | In the Mood for Love
Tom Wilkinson | In the Bedroom ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Maggie Cheung | In the Mood for Love
Nicole Kidman | The Others
Sissy Spacek | In the Bedroom
Emma Thompson | Wit
Naomi Watts | Mulholland Drive ****

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Steve Buscemi | Ghost World
Brian Cox | L.I.E.
Jude Law | A.I.: Artifical Intelligence
Michael Pitt | Bully
Luke Wilson | The Royal Tenenbaums ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Connelly | A Beautiful Mind ****
Cameron Diaz | Vanilla Sky
Laura Elena Harring | Mulholland Drive
Gwyneth Paltrow | The Royal Tenenbaums
Marisa Tomei | In the Bedroom

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fat Girl
In the Mood for Love
Mulholland Drive ****
The Royal Tenenbaums
Take Care of My Cat

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
In the Bedroom
Nico and Dani ****
Vanilla Sky
Wit

2002
BEST PICTURE
Adaptation.
Gangs of New York
Punch-Drunk Love ****
Spirited Away
Talk to Her

BEST DIRECTOR
Pedro Almodovar | Talk to Her ****
Paul Thomas Anderson | Punch-Drunk Love
Brian DePalma | Femme Fatale
Spike Jonze | Adaptation.
Spike Lee | 25th Hour

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Daniel Day-Lewis | Gangs of New York
Eminem | 8 Mile
Ryan Gosling | The Believer
Jack Nicholson | About Schmidt
Adam Sandler | Punch-Drunk Love ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Maggie Gyllenhaal | Secretary
Isabelle Huppert | The Piano Teacher
Diane Lane | Unfaithful ****
Julianne Moore | Far from Heaven
Samantha Morton | Morvern Callar

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Chris Cooper | Adaptation. ****
Brendan Gleeson | Gangs of New York
Ed Harris | The Hours
Paul Newman | Road to Perdition
Ian Somerhalder | The Rules of Attraction

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Toni Collette | The Hours
Rosario Dawson | 25th Hour ****
Meryl Streep | Adaptation.
Emily Watson | Punch-Drunk Love
Theresa Wayman | The Rules of Attraction

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Femme Fatale
Punch-Drunk Love ****
Spirited Away
Talk to Her
Trouble Every Day

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
25th Hour
Adaptation. ****
Morvern Callar
The Rules of Attraction
Secretary

2003
BEST PICTURE
Angels in America
Gerry ****
May
The Return
The Triplets of Belleville

BEST DIRECTOR
Sofia Coppola | Lost in Translation
Mike Nichols | Angels in America
Gaspar Noe | Irreversible
Gus Van Sant | Gerry ****
Andrei Zvyagintsev | The Return

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Paddy Considine | In America
Peter Dinklage | The Station Agent
Paul Giamatti | American Splendor
Konstantin Lavronenko | The Return
Bill Murray | Lost in Translation ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Oksana Akinshina | Lilja 4-ever
Angela Bettis | May ****
Scarlett Johansson | Lost in Translation
Charlize Theron | Monster
Naomi Watts | 21 Grams

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alec Baldwin | The Cooler
Richard Jenkins | The Mudge Boy
Peter Sarsgaard | Shattered Glass
Jeremy Sisto | May
Jeffrey Wright | Angels in America ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Shohreh Aghdashloo | House of Sand and Fog
Monica Bellucci | Irreversible
Holly Hunter | Thirteen
Mary-Louise Parker | Angels in America ****
Meryl Streep | Angels in America

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
In America
Lost in Translation
May
The Return ****
The Triplets of Belleville

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Splendor
Angels in America ****
In the Cut
Mystic River
Shattered Glass

2004
BEST PICTURE
Birth
Collateral
Dogville ****
Mean Creek
Twentynine Palms

BEST DIRECTOR
Bruno Dumont | Twentynine Palms
Jacob Aaron Estes | Mean Creek
Jonathan Glazer | Birth
Michael Mann | Collateral
Lars von Trier | Dogville ****

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Kevin Bacon | The Woodsman
Jim Carrey | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jim Caviezal | The Passion of the Christ
Don Cheadle | Hotel Rwanda
David Wissak | Twentynine Palms ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Neve Campbell | When Will I Be Loved
Nicole Kidman | Birth and Dogville ****
Catalina Sandino Moreno | Maria Full of Grace
Uma Thurman | Kill Bill Vol. 2
Kate Winslet | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
David Carradine | Kill Bill Vol. 2
Ryan Kelley | Mean Creek ****
Scott Mechlowicz | Mean Creek
Trevor Morgan | Mean Creek
Clive Owen | Closer

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Laura Dern | We Don't Live Here Anymore
Anne Heche | Birth
Mandy Moore | Saved! ****
Natalie Portman | Closer
Carly Schroeder | Mean Creek

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birth
Dogville ****
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mean Creek
Twentynine Palms

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Closer
Mean Girls ****
Million Dollar Baby
The Passion of the Christ
We Don't Live Here Anymore

2005
BEST PICTURE
The Best of Youth
Junebug
Mysterious Skin
The New World ****
Wolf Creek

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen | Match Point
Gregg Araki | Mysterious Skin
Marco Tullio Giordana | The Best of Youth
Terrence Malick | The New World ****
Greg Mclean | Wolf Creek

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Mysterious Skin ****
Heath Ledger | Brokeback Mountain
Damien Lewis | Keane
Viggo Mortensen | A History of Violence
Michel Subor | The Intruder

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Embeth Davidtz | Junebug
Cecile de France | High Tension
Q'Orianka Kilcher | The New World
Keira Knightley | Pride and Prejudice
Reese Witherspoon | Walk the Line ****

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Michael Caine | The Weather Man
Jeff Daniels | The Squid and the Whale ****
John Jarrett | Wolf Creek
Benjamin McKenzie | Junebug
Scott Wilson | Junebug

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams | Junebug ****
Maria Bello | A History of Violence
Scarlett Johansson | Match Point
Ziyi Zhang | 2046
Sheri Moon Zombie | The Devil's Rejects

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Best of Youth
Junebug ****
Match Point
The New World
Wolf Creek

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Brokeback Mountain
The Devil's Rejects
A History of Violence
Mysterious Skin ****
Pride and Prejudice

2006
BEST PICTURE
The Departed
Half Nelson
L'enfant ****
A Prairie Home Companion
Time to Leave

BEST DIRECTOR
Robert Altman | A Prairie Home Companion
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | L'enfant ****
Ryan Fleck | Half Nelson
David Lynch | INLAND EMPIRE
Francois Ozon | Time to Leave

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Ryan Gosling | Half Nelson ****
Heath Ledger | Candy
Melvil Poupaud | Time to Leave
Jérémie Renier | L'enfant
Patrick Wilson | Hard Candy

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Abbie Cornish | Candy
Penelope Cruz | Volver
Laura Dern | INLAND EMPIRE
Kirsten Dunst | Marie Antoinette
Maggie Gyllenhaal | Sherrybaby ****

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ben Affleck | Hollywoodland
Steve Carell | Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley | Little Children ****
Nick Nolte | Clean
Mark Wahlberg | The Departed

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Adriana Barraza | Babel
Jennifer Connelly | Little Children
Brittany Murphy | The Dead Girl ****
Catherine O'Hara | For Your Consideration
Nora Zehetner | Brick

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Half Nelson
L'enfant ****
Marie Antoinette
Time to Leave
Volver

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Candy
The Departed
Little Children ****
A Prairie Home Companion
A Scanner Darkly

2007
BEST PICTURE
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ****
Glue
No Country for Old Men
Southland Tales
We Own the Night

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men
Andrew Dominik | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ****
James Gray | We Own the Night
Richard Kelly | Southland Tales
Alexis Dos Santos | Glue

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | Glue
Daniel Day-Lewis | There Will Be Blood ****
Ryan Gosling | Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch | Into the Wild
Gordon Pinsent | Away from Her

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Julie Christie | Away from Her
Rosario Dawson | Descent
Ashley Judd | Bug ****
Ellen Page | Juno
Christina Ricci | Black Snake Moan

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ****
Javier Bardem | No Country for Old Men
Sam Rockwell | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Paul Rudd | Knocked Up
Seann William Scott | Southland Tales

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sarah Michelle Gellar | Southland Tales
Kelly Macdonald | No Country for Old Men ****
Eva Mendes | We Own the Night
Amy Ryan | Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton | Michael Clayton

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Glue
Juno
Michael Clayton
Southland Tales ****
We Own the Night

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ****
Away from Her
Bug
Into the Wild
No Country for Old Men

2008
BEST PICTURE
A Christmas Tale
Funny Games
Rachel Getting Married
Snow Angels
The Wrestler ****

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky | The Wrestler ****
Jonathan Demme | Rachel Getting Married
Arnaud Desplechin | A Christmas Tale
David Gordon Green | Snow Angels
Michael Haneke | Funny Games

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Colin Farrell | In Bruges
Andrew Garfield | Boy A
Sam Rockwell | Snow Angels
Mickey Rourke | The Wrestler ****
Jean-Claude Van Damme | JCVD

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Kate Beckinsale | Snow Angels
Anne Hathaway | Rachel Getting Married ****
Famke Janssen | Turn the River
Naomi Watts | Funny Games
Michelle Williams | Wendy and Lucy

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Mathieu Amalric | A Christmas Tale
Josh Brolin | Milk ****
Ralph Fiennes | In Bruges
Brad Pitt | Burn After Reading
Michael Shannon | Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz | Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt | Rachel Getting Married
Vera Farmiga | Nothing But the Truth
Isla Fisher | Definitely, Maybe
Marisa Tomei | The Wrestler ****

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
A Christmas Tale
In Bruges ****
Rachel Getting Married
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Wrestler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Let the Right One In
Paranoid Park
Revolutionary Road
Snow Angels ****
Wendy and Lucy

2009
BEST PICTURE
Adventureland ****
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man
The White Ribbon

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker
Tom Ford | A Single Man
Michael Haneke | The White Ribbon
Greg Mottola | Adventureland ****
Rob Zombie | Halloween II

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Nicolas Cage | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans
Alex Descas | 35 Shots of Rum
Colin Firth | A Single Man ****
Jeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker
Adam Scott | The Vicious Kind

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Michelle Monaghan | Trucker
Catalina Saavedra | The Maid
Gabourey Sidibe | Precious
Kristen Stewart | Adventureland
Tilda Swinton | Julia ****

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Peter Capaldi | In the Loop
Brad Dourif | Halloween II
Woody Harrelson | The Messenger
Anthony Mackie | The Hurt Locker
Christoph Waltz | Inglourious Basterds ****

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Vera Farmiga | Up in the Air
Amber Heard | The Informers ****
Diane Kruger | Inglourious Basterds
Melanie Laurent | Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique | Precious

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
35 Shots of Rum
Adventureland ****
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Fantastic Mr. Fox ****
In the Loop
Julia
A Single Man
Thirst


Comment on mine or post your own. Either or.

[ShogunRua]

I don't know how to respond, really. Just looking at the last couple of years, your picks are "Adventureland" and "The Wrestler"?! Both were good, solid movies, but neither was anything exceptional. "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Hurt Locker" WERE exceptional.

"The Wrestler" is probably the weirder choice of the two. Yeah, I dig the realism, and Rourke had an amazing performance, but what else was special about that film, exactly? It suffered from certain weaknesses, such as the poorly acted Evan Rachel Wood role and very predictable story and ending. Among real-life friends, everyone thought it was "good", no one said "great".

Worse yet, not only did you not nominate "Slumdog" that year, you didn't even nominate "The Dark Knight". But "Rachel Getting Married" made it. Uh, okay.

[astrakhan]

Based on the age you look in your picture, are we supposed to believe that you have seen 4628 films?

[DougReese]

Based on the age you look in your picture, are we supposed to believe that you have seen 4628 films?

Like I've ever asked for you to believe me.

[DougReese]

I don't know how to respond, really. Just looking at the last couple of years, your picks are "Adventureland" and "The Wrestler"?! Both were good, solid movies, but neither was anything exceptional. "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Hurt Locker" WERE exceptional.

They are definitely personal picks above, and I actually, personally, felt "Adventureland" and "The Wrestler" were exceptional. The former being a film that I could really relate to, and the latter being one that also personally effected me some how. If it means anything, "The Hurt Locker" happens to be my #2 in 2009, and it was second place to recieve Picture and Director from me.

"The Wrestler" is probably the weirder choice of the two. Yeah, I dig the realism, and Rourke had an amazing performance, but what else was special about that film, exactly? It suffered from certain weaknesses, such as the poorly acted Evan Rachel Wood role and very predictable story and ending. Among real-life friends, everyone thought it was "good", no one said "great".

The thing with "The Wrestler" is that I don't really see it as a great narrative piece. I just appreciate the grit and realism of it all. Most of all, I loved the three performances in the film. Even Wood. (But if you see from my picks that year, I definitely put Rourke and Tomei ahead of her.) I love Aronofsky's simple direction. Almost reminds me of the Dardenne brothers in a way. And I love the way the film incorporates the theme of identity to all the characters. Whenever I watch the picture, I seriously try to hold back tears like a little baby in the final scene between Rourke and Tomei. "I'm really here" is probably the best anti-"I love you" in film this decade. It really gets to me.

Worse yet, not only did you not nominate "Slumdog" that year, you didn't even nominate "The Dark Knight". But "Rachel Getting Married" made it. Uh, okay.

I love "The Dark Knight". It's probably a close number 11 or 12 that year for me. Barely misses my top 10. And Ledger came super close for me to nominate. It kinda alternates between he and Pitt's great comedic work that year. "Rachel Getting Married" is a superb film, I thought. Sorry you didn't enjoy the visual simplicity of that film, and the performances of all involved. As for "Slumdog Millionaire", it's actually kinda odd, but I actually thought it was a painfully mediocre film. Visually rich, well-edited, and terrifically scored. But the bad acting and redundant screenplay hurt it a lot for me.

[ShogunRua]

Based on the age you look in your picture, are we supposed to believe that you have seen 4628 films?

To be fair, if we assume he is 20, that gives him a good 14 years of movie watching, which works out to over 5000 days off the top of my head. So he would have to watch very close to one film a day, on average. Pretty extreme over the course of so many years, but plausible.

[JooJoo]

Based on the age you look in your picture, are we supposed to believe that you have seen 4628 films?

To be fair, if we assume he is 20, that gives him a good 14 years of movie watching, which works out to over 5000 days off the top of my head. So he would have to watch very close to one film a day, on average. Pretty extreme over the course of so many years, but plausible.

Unless he is the world's greatest shut-in (a title I thought only I aspired to), that seems incredibly unlikely a.k.a. not at all plausible.

[DougReese]

Based on the age you look in your picture, are we supposed to believe that you have seen 4628 films?

To be fair, if we assume he is 20, that gives him a good 14 years of movie watching, which works out to over 5000 days off the top of my head. So he would have to watch very close to one film a day, on average. Pretty extreme over the course of so many years, but plausible.

Unless he is the world's greatest shut-in (a title I thought only I aspired to), that seems incredibly unlikely a.k.a. not at all plausible.

I don't see how it's hard to believe it. Well, maybe I can for the average moviegoer, but I don't think I'm really an "average" moviegoer. Lol. My grandma loves movies and it rubbed on my mom who rubbed it on me. It was only I, however, who started to branch out into more foreign, obscure, and indie territory at the age of 12-13. Around that time was when I started to hit it big with watching many, many, many movies.

Am I shut-in? Well not now. I used to be. From about the age of 12-now (I am 19 years old) I seriously had the habit of watching at least 2-3 films I've never seen before a day (with the occassional rewatch). Sometimes even more. It's not hard to believe when you take into account that a) I was homeschooled; b) I am a transient insomnia; and c) I watch more films than the average cinephile.

Most film buffs stay into a certain area when they watch films. I personally don't. While your average film buff would shrug off going to see "Disaster Movie" or "The Comebacks" or "Alvin and the Chipmunks". They feel like they know it's going to be awful, so why bother? However, when it comes to me, I strive to see those films because, in my own obsessive compulsive way, I need to see if there is really potential for them to be liked by me. Those three movie turned up being awful to me, but I still gave them a chance and I never shut them off no matter how painfully terrible they progressed as being.

More things to take into account is how many gateways I have into watching assortments of films whenever I please. Not only did (yes, past tense seeing as my life is making a drastic change this week) I have plenty of time on my hands, but I used almost all my free time on my cinema addiction. My public library has as many DVDs and VHS tapes as they do books, and I'm not talking some tiny public library. This library is courthouse size. (They helped me catch up on my foreign film watching...) I also have a local videostore in walking distance from me that rents out old releases for $0.99. I take that opportunity whenever I got a little pocket change here and there. There is also Netflix and Netflix instant, premium cable, OnDemand / PayPerView, and then a local arthouse theater I go to about once a weekend. My family also has a strong ritual in which we seem to go see at least one new wide theatrical release every Friday/Saturday night.

I have ranked 4,628 movies on Criticker, and that's not even truly the amount I've seen. In fact, I know I've seen more than that since I haven't rated a film on Criticker since December-ish, and even then I hadn't completed going through the site's full catalog. In the end, all I can say is that you can choose to believe me or not. Up to you, I could care less, frankly. It's not like I do my movie-watching for anybody other than myself anyway. It's just films are my vice in life. While some enjoy partying, staying outdoors, visiting friends, exploring etc. etc. I just like sitting in a theater or in my bed with my laptop and just kick back and watch a film I haven't seen before. It's my way of exploring.

[tef]

I believe you in that I don't care.

[miss jesus]

I liked that you put JCVD in there. It's been so long since I've watched the Oscars that I thought your list was to show your preferred choices from the actual nominees until I got to that part.

Please ignore all the rudeness in this thread and keep doing your thing. It's obvious that you like movies a lot and have your own opinions about them and that's exactly what makes conversations about movies worthwhile in the first place.