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I love making lists of stuff. Films, TV shows, books, songs... anything. So, in anticipation to the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, I thought it would be fun to make a list of my favourite Best Picture winners. I did a similar thing back in 2017, but I've watched a few more winnings films since then, so this is an updated version of my top 20 favourite Best Picture winners. Please bear in mind that I haven't seen every single film that has won the award, so my choices are based on the ones that I have in fact seen so far.   20. Rain Man (1988) Directed by Barry Levinson, Rain Man  is the story of an abrasive and self-centered wheeler-dealer named Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant who lives in a world of his own and of whose existence Charlie was completely unaware. Besides winning for Best Picture, Rain Man also receiv...

The 1940s were marked by World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history. The end of the war signified a change in the political alignment and social structure of the globe. The Marshall Plan helped rebuild war-torn Europe, while the United States became the most influential economic power in the world. Germany was divided in two, and the Cold War began. The State of Israel was established, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, and Chairman Mao founded the People's Republic of China. Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania developed the first general-purpose electronic computer, and Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven.   (from left to right) American troops of the 1st Infantry Division landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944); Glen Beck and the ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose digital computer (ca. 1947); Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated on January 30, 1948 by a Hindu nationalist; Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China...

Every «Film Friday» throughout February I wrote about a Best Picture winner or nominee in anticipation to the 89th Academy Awards. However, since I didn't have the time to prepare a decent article for today, this week's «Film Friday» is a compilation of all the Best Picture winners and nominees I've written about since starting this blog.   All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Directed by Lewis Milestone | Starring Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim and John Wray All Quiet on the Western Front is widely regarded one of Hollywood's most durable and unforgettable testaments of the cruelty of war. Based on the controversially famous novel of the same name by German author Erich Maria Remarque, it follows a group of young soldiers as they struggle with extreme physical and mental stress during World War I. The film, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. for Universal, was uniformly acclaimed upon release, winning Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for Lewis Milestone, himself a W...