Best Picture This

Wait -- the same guy who made 1995's "Sense and Sensibility" also made "Hulk" ('03), "Brokeback Mountain" ('04), "Life of Pi" ('12) and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" ('00)?!

Director Ang Lee's career has been a series of surprises and experiments but, through it all, he's maintained a focus on philosophy over genre: exploring our place in the world through a perspective shaped by both Eastern and Western ideas.

In this episode, Mike and Brian talk transcendence and the art of swordplay, as well as decide whether or not to keep or kick "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" from the year's top five.

Join the conversation! 

www.bestpicturethis.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

Email: [email protected]

No one had a better year in 2000 than director Steven Soderbergh, whose movies -- "Traffic" and "Erin Brockovich" -- accounted for two of the five Best Picture nominees at that year's Academy Awards. 

Mike and Brian talk Julia Roberts' celebrity and the power in playing against type, trivia, one-liners, the Oscars, feminism, and decide whether to keep or kick "Erin Brockovich" from the year's top five.

Join the conversation! 

www.bestpicturethis.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

Email: [email protected]

With its documentary feel and multiple storylines, Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" earned mass acclaim (and a Best Picture nod) in 2000, being praised by critics for its complex view on the war against drugs. But can large-scale, societal subject matter sometimes infuse a movie with an unearned sense of importance?

Kicking off their first season on the films of the 21st century, Mike and Brian decide whether to keep or kick "Traffic" from the year's top five, hand out awards for the Best Directing, Writing and Acting Moments, and talk trivia.

Join the conversation! 

www.bestpicturethis.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

Email: [email protected]

One of the greatest movie years of all time, 1999 featured no shortage of films now seen as cultural touchstones. But were the top titles of the year represented in the Academy Award nominations for Best Picture? 

Capping off their pilot season, Mike and Brian look back at the top films of the final year of the 20th century, rank the Academy's picks for Best Picture, make their own top fives and discuss the thematic obsessions shared by the year's best films.

Join the conversation! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSoMzXxF8xF9pyIqAfdlPA

Email: [email protected]

Once hailed as a masterpiece, director Sam Mendes's "American Beauty" has had a hard fall from grace in the two decades since its release. In 1999, it was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screeplay. Kevin Spacey's sexual assault allegations certainly play a part, but are the movie's themes (and how it utilizes underage actors) too problematic to look past with modern eyes? Is the backlash deserved?

Mike and Brian discuss the film's cultural impact, explore its place among the Academy's picks of the top films of 1999 and decide whether to keep it or kick it from the year's top five. 

Join the conversation! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSoMzXxF8xF9pyIqAfdlPA

Email: [email protected]

An actionless action movie? Director Michael Mann's "The Insider" feels forgotten in pop culture 20 years since its release -- but why, exactly? Nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1999, including one for Best Picture, the movie stars Al Pacino and Russell Crowe in powerhouse performances and is based off of real-life national news, when "60 Minutes" interviewed Big Tobacco whistleblower Jeff Wigand. 

Mike and Brian discuss why the movie flopped, explore its place among the Academy's picks of the top films of 1999 and decide whether to keep it or kick it from the year's top five. 

Join the conversation! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSoMzXxF8xF9pyIqAfdlPA

Email: [email protected]

Spider-Man, Ant-Man and Furiosa walk into a barn.... It's "The Cider House Rules"! 

With pretty, pastural cinematography straight out of a Thomas Kinkade painting, it's tough not to see this film as a little polyannaish on first glance. However, the screenplay's exploration of moral ambiguity, abortion and apple-picking earned writer John Irving an Academy Award, Michael Caine a Best Supporting Actor award and director Lasse Hallström five other nominations.

Mike and Brian debate the movies's best/worst moments, pay homage to Delroy Lindo and decide whether to keep or kick the film from the year's top five. 

Join the conversation! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSoMzXxF8xF9pyIqAfdlPA

Email: [email protected]

Director Frank Darabont's follow-up to "The Shawshank Redemption" in 1994, "The Green Mile" is another Stephen King-adapted, prison-set, period melodrama. Except, this time there's circus mice!

Mike and Brian discuss the film's stance on the death penalty, debate its level of fun on the "Popcorn-O-Meter," explore its place among the year's other Academy Award/Best Picture nominees, and decide whether to keep it or kick it from the year's top five. 

Join the conversation! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSoMzXxF8xF9pyIqAfdlPA

Email: [email protected]

"The Sixth Sense" killed it at the box office in 1999, earned six Academy Award nominations including one for Best Picture and established director M. Night Shyamalan's as Hollywood's next big thing. But was it all in the twist? 

Mike and Brian discuss the film's staying power and how a horror movie should make you feel, explore its place among the top films of '99 and decide whether to keep it or kick it from the year's top five. 

Join the conversation! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestPictureThis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestPictureThis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSoMzXxF8xF9pyIqAfdlPA

Email: [email protected]

Welcome to Best Picture this, where it is always Oscar season!

Join Mike and Brian as they dissect every Best Picture nominee of the 21st century to decide whether to keep it or kick it from its Oscar pedestal. 

But first ...

What are the best movies that have ever been nominated for Best Picture? 

Ahead of jumping into their 1999 pilot season, we discuss what makes a movie "important," why the Oscars matter and pick the top 5 films ever to have earned an Academy Award nod for Best Picture, since the first ceremony in 1929.