Best Non-Oscar Winner, No. 5


Recently I chronicled my favorite Best Picture Winners since 1970. Now, for the next five weeks, I'll be sharing my 10 favorite films that fell short of Best Picture despite being nominees since 1990.

5. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano, and Kevin J. O'Connor
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
About: Some films on this list are here because they should have won, but didn't. "There Will Be Blood" is on the list because it's a great film that could have won, but happened to be in an incredibly competitive year. In fact, there's a couple fellow nominees that could have been on this list. In 2007, we had a murder's row eligible for Best Picture. "No Country For Old Men" took the top prize, while "There Will Be Blood," "Atonement," "Juno," and "Michael Clayton" filled out the ballot. That's a great group. And "There Will Be Blood" could have been a winner in most years, but this wasn't most years. And so it's here. Anderson is an acquired taste as a director, and I haven't loved all his films. But I really enjoyed this one. The passion and fiery performances from Lewis and Dano are incredible. Lewis actually won the Oscar for Best Actor, and rightly so, one of just two Oscars for the film. The other was for cinematography. The film had another six nominations, including a pair for Anderson as writer/director. But he went up against the Coen Brothers in both categories, and came up short. Still, this is a fantastic and memorable film. In fact, more than a decade later, you can't be offered a milkshake without thinking of Daniel Day Lewis.
Rating: R for some violence.

Top 10 Non-Winners:
10. Fargo (1996)
9. Whiplash (2014)
8. L.A. Confidential (1997)
7. The Social Network (2010)
6. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

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