And the Winner Should Have Been... -- Brad Strauss Picks His Alternate Oscars

In case you haven't heard, the 84th Annual Academy Awards will be presented tonight. 

Having already pontificated on the Oscar nominations and made whatever predictions I care about--I think The Artist will win Best Picture and hope it does--I thought I would turn to a film buff friend who has looked back through history and indicated the movies he thinks should have won Best Picture.

Brad Strauss is an organizer of the Chicago Film Discussion Meetup Group and runs the monthly Sunday Brunch Discussion Meetups where we opine on a given topic, such as films of a chosen director, genre or country. Our next meetup, on March 25, will be about Documentaries. I have been watching many docs and will likely write about some favorites in the weeks to come.

Inspired by a 1993 book by Danny Peary called Alternate Oscars, in which Peary indicated substitute choices for Best Picture, Actor and Actress--unless there were cases where he agreed with the Academy; I don't have the book--and gave his reasoning, Brad compiled his own list of Alternate Oscars.

I thought it would make a good post for today and Brad kindly allowed me to share his picks with the world. So below is a list of the films that the Academy chose as Best Picture and those that Brad thinks should have won for each year (in many cases, his choices weren't even nominated).

I fully respect Brad as a highly knowledgeable cinemaniac with diverse tastes and am happy to share his opinions, even if they aren't necessarily congruent with mine.

In several cases I agree with him; The Social Network should have won last year, Citizen Kane is a fairly obvious Oscar gaffe and Brad's advocacy of a broader vernacular than the Academy typically celebrates makes picks like Memento, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Do the Right Thing, This Is Spinal Tap and M*A*S*H not only agreeable but laudable.

There are also many cases where Brad's picks are just that, his picks. But that's what's makes Oscar night so much fun, more than the awards themselves or even the glamor. We all have opinions and everyone else's--including quite often the Academy's--are usually terribly wrong. Or so we like to think.

If it wasn't for the arguments amongst ourselves, all we'd be left with is a bunch of egomaniacs in fancy clothes thanking their agents.

On that note...

I would like to thank Brad Strauss for straightening out the Academy. 

And his winners are...

Academy Award for Best Picture              Brad Strauss' Choice

2011 - ????…………………………………….. A Separation 
2010 - The King’s Speech……………………..The Social Network
2009 - The Hurt Locker ………………………. Inglourious Basterds
2008 - Slumdog Millionaire…………………….Synecdoche, New York
2007 - No Country for Old Men ……………… Black Snake Moan
2006 - The Departed…………………………..  United 93
2005 - Crash……………………………………  Sin City
2004 - Million Dollar Baby…………………….  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2003 - Return of the King……………………... Kill Bill: Volume 1
2002 - Chicago…………………………………  Adaptation
2001 - A Beautiful Mind……………………….  Memento
2000 - Gladiator………………………………..  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
1999 - American Beauty………………………  Fight Club
1998 - Shakespeare in Love…………………...The Truman Show
1997 - Titanic…………………………………..  Wag the Dog
1996 - The English Patient……………………  Breaking the Waves
1995 - Braveheart……………………………..  Se7en
1994 - Forrest Gump………………………….  Pulp Fiction
1993 - Schindler’s List………………………….Schindler’s List
1992 - Unforgiven ……………………………... The Player
1991 - Silence of the Lambs…………….       Silence of the Lambs
1990 - Dances with Wolves………………….. Goodfellas
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy……………………. Do the Right Thing
1988 - Rain Man……………………………….  A Fish Called Wanda
1987 - The Last Emperor……………………..  Wings of Desire
1986 - Platoon………………………………….  Hannah and Her Sisters
1985 - Out of Africa…………………………….Shoah
1984 - Amadeus………………………………..This is Spinal Tap                  
1983 - Terms of Endearment………………….The Right Stuff
1982 - Gandhi…………………………………..E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial
1981 - Chariots of Fire…………………………Raiders of the Lost Ark
1980 - Ordinary People……………………….. The Empire Strikes Back
1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer……………………. Apocalypse Now!
1978 - The Deer Hunter………………………. Animal House
1977 - Annie Hall……………………………….Star Wars
1976 - Rocky…………………………………… Taxi Driver
1975 - One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest……Nashville
1974 - The Godfather Part II…………………..Young Frankenstein
1973 - The Sting………………………………..The Exorcist
1972 - The Godfather …………………………  The Godfather
1971 - The French Connection………………. Fiddler on the Roof
1970 - Patton……………………………………M*A*S*H
1969 - Midnight Cowboy……………………… The Wild Bunch
1968 - Oliver!……………………………………2001: A Space Odyssey
1967 - In the Heat of the Night………………..Samurai Rebellion
1966 - A Man for All Seasons…………………The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1965 - The Sound of Music…………………... Chimes at Midnight
1964 - My Fair Lady…………………………… Dr. Strangelove…
1963 - Tom Jones……………………………….8 ½
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia……………………  Lawrence of Arabia
1961 - West Side Story……………………….. West Side Story
1960 - The Apartment…………………………  Psycho
1959 - Ben-Hur…………………………………  Rio Bravo
1958 - Gigi……………………………………….Vertigo
1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai………....Throne of Blood
1956 - Around the World in 80 Days………….The Searchers
1955 - Marty……………………………………. Night of the Hunter
1954 - On the Waterfront………………………Seven Samurai
1953 - From Here to Eternity………………….Tokyo Story
1952 - The Greatest Show on Earth………… Ikiru
1951 - An American in Paris…………………. A Streetcar Named Desire
1950 - All about Eve……………………………Sunset Boulevard
1949 - All the Kings Men………………………The Third Man
1948 - Hamlet………………………………….. Red River
1947 - Gentleman’s Agreement……………… Black Narcissus
1946 - The Best Years of Our Lives…………..Notorious
1945 - The Lost Weekend……………………..Children of Paradise
1944 - Going My Way………………………….The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
1943 - Casablanca…………………………….  Casablanca
1942 - Mrs. Miniver……………………………. Bambi
1941 - How Green Was My Valley……………Citizen Kane
1940 - Rebecca…………………………………The Grapes of Wrath
1939 - Gone with the Wind…………………… The Wizard of Oz
1938 - You Can’t Take It with You…………….The Lady Vanishes
1937 - The Life of Emile Zola………………… The Grand Illusion
1936 - The Great Ziegfeld…………………….  Modern Times
1935 - Mutiny on the Bounty…………………. Bride of Frankenstein
1934 - It Happened One Night……………….. The Scarlet Empress
1932/1933 - Cavalcade……………………….. King Kong
1931/1932 - Grand Hotel……………………..  Horse Feathers      
1930/1931 - Cimarron…………………………  City Lights
1929/1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front…Pandora’s Box
1928/1929 - The Broadway Melody…………. The Passion of Joan of Arc
1927/1928 - Wings…………………………….  Metropolis