Actors in Back to Back Best Pictures
Gladiator (2000); A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Who is Russell Crowe?
The exclusion of Wall-E and this movie from the 2008 Best Picture race is widely believed to have prompted the Academy to expand the category from five nominees to ten.
What is The Dark Knight?
Up and Toy Story 3 were both nominated for Best Picture in addition to Best Animated Feature; the only other animated film to receive a Best Picture nod was this 1991 movie, a decade before the animation category existed.
What is Beauty and the Beast?
The Social Network, Black Swan, Inception
What is 2010?
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
What is WWI?
James Mangold directed Walk The Line (2005), a biopic about Johnny Cash; Cash is a minor character in this 2024 film also directed by Mangold, a musical biopic about Bob Dylan.
What is A Complete Unknown?
Birdman (2014); Spotlight (2015)
Who is Michael Keaton?
An unprecedented campaign of ads and industry pressure from producer (he-who-must-not-be-named) Harvey Weinstein led to the shocking upset of this movie over the heavy Best Picture favorite, Saving Private Ryan.
What is Shakespeare in Love?
The record for personal nominations in the animation category is a three-way tie between Pete Docter (Pixar), Chris Sanders (Disney and Dreamworks), and this Japanese filmmaker who founded Studio Ghibli.
Who is Hayao Miyazaki?
Pulp Fiction, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Shawshank Redemption
Platoon (1986)
What is the Vietnam War?
Clocking in at 215 minutes including intermission, this film with ten Oscar nominations has surpassed Martin Scorsese's The Irishman as the longest Best Picture contender since 1964.
The Deer Hunter (1978); Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
Who is Meryl Streep?
Academy voters decided the issue of the day in 2005 was racism rather than homophobia, crowning this movie with Oscar gold instead of Brokeback Mountain.
What is Crash?
This 2013 film was both the first Disney film to win Best Animated Feature, and the first musical to do so.
What is Frozen?
Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood, Juno
What is 2007?
The Hurt Locker (2009)
What is the Iraq War?
This one-time fixture of late night talk shows, now known more for his work in podcasting, will be the host of this year's Academy Awards.
Who is Conan O'Brien?
The Artist (2011); Argo (2012)
Who is John Goodman?
DAILY DOUBLE
Woody Allen (scandal noted) was so certain his 1977 film Annie Hall would lose to this blockbuster, he did not even attend the ceremony; he found out that he'd won in the next day's newspaper.
Pixar won four years in a row with Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 4; when Cars 2 wasn't nominated in 2011, this chameleonic Johnny Depp movie took home the gold instead.
What is Rango?
Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon, Jaws
What is 1975?
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
What is WWII?
With the inclusion of these two movies, 2024 is the first year multiple musicals have been nominated for Best Picture since 1968 when Oliver! and Funny Girl got nods.
What are Wicked and Emilia Perez?
The Hurt Locker (2009); The King's Speech (2010)
Who is Guy Pearce?
Apparently, film buffs still hold How Green Was My Valley (1941) in high regard, but this film it beat for Best Picture is considered one the greatest movies of all time.
What is Citizen Kane?
This 2024 film was the first entry from Latvia to be nominated for an Oscar in any category, earning nods for both Best Animated and Best International Feature Film.
What is Flow?
What is 1967?
Braveheart (1995)
What is the First War for Scottish Independence? (Or part of the Gascon War or the Franco Flemish War)
Sean Baker finally broke into the mainstream this year, with this film picking up six nominations, four of which are for him personally: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
What is Anora?