Neuman’s Movie Monday-Best Oscar Picture Winners

With the Academy Awards being last night, we look at all the best picture winners over the years and determine a top 10.

Honorable Mentions (No particular order):
Crash
Gladiator
Forrest Gump
The Silence of the Lambs
Rainman
Amadeus
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

10. The Deer Hunter

It cracks the top 10 at number 10 mainly because the first half is rather slow. It's a long party scene before this group of friends goes off to war. But as soon as they are shown in Vietnam, the whole movie changes. There is a scene that can only be described as breathtaking. I mean that because I don't think I took a breath during the whole scene. The whole rest of the movie is great too. Just get through the kind of slow first half and you'll know what I mean.

9. Slumdog Millionaire

I had trepidation when it came to watching this movie. I watch 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' a bunch when it came out on TV in America, but when I heard that's what the whole movie is about, I kind of scoffed it off. But to have a movie where the contestant is figuring out the answers from real life experiences and to be battling the corrupt game show host and their producers made this movie way more entertaining that I thought it was going to be.

8. The Sting

Just let this movie suck you in. It is the greatest hi-jinks ever pulled on screen. Every piece of the puzzle is put together to paint a perfect picture.

7. The Hurt Locker

There are moments in this movie where you feel actual relief. Jeremy Renner's maverick ways of being in the military bomb squad has you on the edge of your seat. You just don't know what is going to happen and it's so scary how he just doesn't care. He goes off protocol and you are terrified for him because he isn't scared at all. This is a really good movie for being by yourself or with a group.

6. 12 Years a Slave

Throughout this whole movie you are thinking, "OH, COME ON!" He's a free man and he gets enslaved and you know he isn't supposed to be there. To see him go from a free man to a slave is just heart breaking. You are pulling for Soloman the whole time. I'm a big fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor. He's great in "The Martian" also.

5. The Departed

This is the movie Leonardo DiCaprio should have won the Oscar for. To be a mole for the police as he infiltrates the local mafia group of Boston. This is one of the best casts that's ever been put together and it made the list for jaw dropping movies. A must see.

4. Braveheart

This was a great story. We had this on VHS at home and it seems like we had it on all the time. It was so long that it came on 2 tapes and we had to have an intermission. Mel Gibson obviously did a great job but Brendan Gleeson was awesome and so was David O'Hara who was the Irishman, Stephen. But also, and I'll get to this in a future Neuman's Movie Monday, Longshanks is my favorite movie villain. He's the all time best.

3. Schindler's List

I know I have talked about "Schindler's List" ad nauseam but it is a great movie. It was more than a movie when it came out. It was more like a movement. This is by far Steven Spielberg's best work and Liam Neeson and Ralph Finnes are amazing. It's not like you can just sit down on a Saturday night and watch "Schindler's List" but it is a must see for every human being, movie buff or not.

2. The Godfather

From start to finish this is a great movie. It's like how a comedian uses their best joke as their closing bit, ever scene in this movie is a closing bit. Every scene is memorable. From the start where this guy comes in to see Don Corleone and asks him to commit a murder to the end where there's a new Don taking over, it's a perfect movie.

1. The Godfather Part 2

The only reason that this one tops part 1 is because how great Michael's ruthlessness comes out. He's betrayed by his own flesh and blood and he isn't having it. Also, the addition of watching how Don Vito Corleone rose to his own power being an immigrant also makes this a perfect movie. This was the hardest top 3 of a top 10 I've had to choose from so far. So in many times the Oscars gets it right. These are all gems. But remember... don't ever go against the family... ever.