20. All about Eve (1950 ? 23rd Best Picture Winner) Plot: Aspiring actress uses an aging stage performer to further her career. Why It’s Great: Audiences today will probably love to see this one for Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and Marilyn Monroe, but the story is a timeless one involving ambition and betrayal. It was also unusual for the time to have a movie so heavily driven by its female performances earn this type of recognition. Other nominees: Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride, Sunset Boulevard and King Solomon’s Mines.
Oscar Wins: 6 Budget: Data unavailable IMDB User Rating: 8.4

19. The Apartment (1960 ? 33rd Best Picture Winner) Plot: An ambitious man opens his apartment up to business higher-ups for philandering and falls in love along the way. Why It’s Great: Billy Wilder had a decidedly ugly, though not altogether unappealing view of the world. Even though you wouldn’t want to know a lot of his characters, they sure were fun to watch. The Apartment beat out Elmer Gantry, Sons and Lovers, The Alamo and The Sundowners, and Wilder captured the Best Director award.
Oscar Wins: 5 Budget: $3 million ($22.467 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.4

18. Amadeus (1984 ? 57th Best Picture Winner) Plot: Composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are chronicled in this lavish tale of pride, envy, and, possibly, murder. Why It’s Great: F. Murray Abraham (Salieri) and Tom Hulce (Mozart) carry the film and were both nominated for the Best Actor award as a result. (Abraham won.) Director Milos Foreman keeps things rollicking along at a fast clip despite the close to 3-hour runtime. Great acting, great music, a lot of fun. Other nominees were The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart and A Soldier’s Story.
Oscar Wins: 8 Budget: $18 million ($38.357 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.4

17. Braveheart (1995 ? 68th Best Picture Winner) Plot: 13th Century Scottish warrior William Wallace fights for the FREEDOM of his people from tyrannical British rule. Why It’s Great: He may be nuttier than squirrel turds, but Mel Gibson is a gifted storyteller, and his wins here for Best Picture and Best Director were well-deserved. Other nominees included Il Postino, Babe, Sense and Sensibility and Apollo 13.
Oscar Wins: 5 Budget: $53 million ($77.248 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.4

16. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 ? 30th Best Picture Winner) Plot: World War II. The Japanese capture enemy soldiers and force them to build a bridge that will help with an impending invasion. Some of the men have other ideas, while one does not. Why It’s Great: Director David Lean understood how to make you hate these characters one minute and cheer them the next. His strength for characterization was unlike any filmmaker who ever lived, and TBOTRK is only one of his masterpieces. Others nominated for the BP prize: Sayonara, Peyton Place, Witness for the Prosecution and 12 Angry Men.
Oscar Wins: 7 Budget: $3 million ($23.63 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.4

15. The Sting (1973 ? 46th Best Picture Winner) Plot: The con is on when two grifters target a ruthless mob boss in 1936 Chicago. Why It’s Great: Paul Newman and Robert Redford reunite with director George Roy Hill in a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid reunion trumping their first outing, hard as that was to do. The Sting also juggled atmosphere, tension and humor – a difficult task – with expert precision. Other BP nominees: American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist and A Touch of Class.
Oscar Wins: 6 Budget: $5.5 million ($27.457 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.4

14. Gladiator (2000 ? 73rd Best Picture Winner) Plot: A general in the Roman army fights for revenge at the Coliseum when his family is murdered by the ruthless Emperor Commodus. Why It’s Great: Everything you love about Roman history and fights-to-the-death through the lens of an amazing director in Ridley Scott. Joaquin Phoenix also steals the show as one of the more detestable movie villains. Other combatants for Oscar this year were Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Chocolat, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Oscar Wins: 5 Budget: $103 million ($132.833 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.5

13. American Beauty (1999 ? 72nd Best Picture Winner) Plot: A man undergoing a mid-life crisis becomes enamored with his teen daughter’s friend. Why It’s Great: American Beauty is one of those rare movies that can have you rolling on the floor in laughter one moment and utterly shocked and disturbed the next. The characters are real, and so are the situations. This beauty beat out The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider and The Sixth Sense for top honors.
Oscar Wins: 5 Budget: $15 million ($20 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.5

12. The Departed (2006 ? 79th Best Picture Winner) Plot: Remake of the Hong Kong crime flick Infernal Affairs. Two cops – one undercover, one a gangster – seek to uncover the other’s identity before it’s too late. Why It’s Great: Martin Scorsese hasn’t lost a step here, and he’s working with a white-hot cast, each at the top of their games. On Feb. 25, 2007, the Academy righted a wrong long overdue in giving Scorsese the Best Director Oscar and also awarded the film with Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay. Other BP nominees included Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen.
Oscar Wins: 4 Budget: $90 million ($100 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.5

11. Forrest Gump (1994 ? 67th Best Picture Winner) Plot: A “slow” Alabama native grows up from 1945 to 1982, experiencing a number of cultural milestones on his way to living a truly remarkable life. Why It’s Great: Director Robert Zemeckis had some leftover sense of humor and affinity for the past from his days on the Back to the Future trilogy, and it hits a fever pitch in 1994’s warm, funny, sad and touching drama. Other BP nominees for the year were Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, Four Weddings and a Funeral and (the true Best Picture) The Shawshank Redemption. Still, even though the Academy botched it in a major way here – as they often do – their pick remains time well spent.
Oscar Wins: 6 Budget: $55 million ($82.167 million) IMDB User Rating: 8.7