POLL: Best Academy Award for Best Picture of the 2000s?

So, we’ve officially crossed the ten-year mark of Oscar ceremonies since the turn of the millennium, which got me thinking about which one actually takes the top spot for everyone. I suppose I should have waited for the dust to settle around > before opening this up, but whatever. Here are the winners:

2000. American Beauty (Sam Mendes)


2001. Gladiator (Ridley Scott)


2002. A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard)


2003. Chicago (Sam Rob Marshall)


2004. The Return of The King (Peter Jackson)


2005. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)


2006. Crash (Paul Haggis)


2007. The Departed (Martin Scorsese)


2008. No Country for Old Men (Joel Coen)


2009. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)

Since I’m the one who started this thread, I might as well go first. My personal favorite has to be No Country for Old Men.

American Beauty

"Gladiator", without a single doubt 🙏 then comes Million Dollar Baby and everything else

If I’m going by pure gut feeling—it’s American Beauty. If I’m using my head? Probably Gladiator or No Country for Old Men. But the heart always wins out, obviously. ^^

1. Crash Without a doubt, this takes the top spot for me. It’s easily the most gripping, all-around phenomenal piece of cinema in the bunch. Even though he was far from the frontrunner to actually take home the Oscar that year, his performance completely stole the show for me. Just a staggering, powerhouse film.

If I were expanding this list of all-time greats, I’d certainly toss in Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, No Country for Old Men, and Slumdog Millionaire.

If I were tasked with filling a category for "absolute cinematic disasters," I’d probably start by tossing Chicago and The Lord of the Rings right at the top of the list. Honestly, what kind of garbage are we even dealing with here?

As for the ones that aren't exactly masterpieces but aren't total garbage either? I'd say American Beauty—which was definitely overrated if you ask me—and The Departed.

Most of them are just mediocre, but I’d say American Beauty stands out.

I honestly can't make up my mind. I put The Departed on the list, but I think American Beauty might actually be better. I guess all of these are just incredible, though. Even stuff like Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Million Dollar Baby, and No Country for Old Men. They’re all great in their own way.

1. Gladiator
2. American Beauty
3. Crash
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Departed

So—if I had to rank this list, here’s my top five, followed by the rest in any order at all...

American Beauty

1. Gladiator
2. The Departed
3. Million Dollar Baby

It’s gotta be No Country for Old Men. Hands down. Following that, I’d say American Beauty, and then Million Dollar Baby... those are the heavy hitters for me. As for the rest? Honestly, most of them just didn't do much for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll always happily sit down and watch Gladiator, but it’s not exactly an Oscar-level masterpiece in my book. Crash is alright, I guess, and The Departed would have been absolute perfection if it wasn't just a remake of Infernal Affairs... Slumdog Millionaire left me feeling pretty cold, too. And don't even get me started on The Return of the King—as a massive Tolkien fan, I found the way they butchered the book totally disappointing... and I'm not even going to touch Chicago. Just no.

1. Gladiator
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Slumdog Millionaire

Generally speaking, the competition isn't even that fierce... mostly just weaker films...🤷

No Country for Old Men and Million Dollar Baby. 🙏 The rest don't even come close.

The Departed and American Beauty, hands down.

Slumdog Millionaire 0% 🙂

Wait, hold on... did someone actually cast a vote for Trash???? WTF

Of this entire list, the only one actually worth watching is A Beautiful Mind. An Academy Award for Best Picture is never a reliable metric for quality. The only time those awards might carry weight is for a foreign film.

Dennis Carter said:Hold on, did someone actually vote for Trash???? What on earth were they thinking?

If you were referring to Crash, then yes, I cast my vote there. To me, it’s easily the superior film. It seems some people here just didn't grasp its depth, choosing instead to throw their votes toward overhyped stuff like Lord of the Rings or those typical American bullshit movies.

velvetcrane57 said:If you were talking about Crash, yeah, I voted for it. To me, it’s easily the best one. It seems like people here just didn't get it, so they end up voting for overrated stuff like Lord of the Rings or typical American bullshit.

Hahaha... I honestly love it when someone is just being real about themselves and their own taste. Personally, I’d put Crash right behind Gladiator and Million Dollar Baby, but I still hold it dear. I could probably watch it a hundred times and it would never feel exhausting or mindless (like Lord of the Rings), pretentious (like No Country for Old Men), sappy and banal (like Slumdog Millionaire), or just plain empty (like The Departed)... Now, Chicago is actually quite solid within its genre—it has some really great songs—but it doesn't even come close to The Pianist, which I think should have been the big winner that year. American Beauty is a very good movie, actually an excellent one, but I guess I’ve grown a bit sick of it because it snatched the top prizes away from much better films (The Insider and Sixth Sense, and don't even get me started on why Magnolia wasn't even nominated for Best Picture), plus the lead actors kind of rub me the wrong way. A Beautiful Mind is a good film too, but maybe it lacks a certain weight? Still, considering I think it was one of those weaker years for American cinema, I suppose you can't really blame the Academy...