By John H. Foote
Since 1970, the following Oscar winning Best Pictures were also major box office hits. Bear in mind these are Best Picture WINNERS, if I were to list the nominees that were hits the list grows substantially. And if we’re to go backwards, into the sixties, awestruck West Side Story (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Tom Jones (1963), My Fair Lady (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), and Oliver! (1968) were box office hits all!
Methinks the Academy did blow it…yet again.
PATTON (1970)
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
THE GODFATHER (1972)
THE STING (1973)
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975)
ROCKY (1976)
KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979)
ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983)
AMADEUS (1984)
OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
PLATOON (1987)
RAIN MAN (1988)
DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
FORREST GUMP (1994)
TITANIC (1997)
GLADIATOR (2000)
CHICAGO (2002)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS – THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)
THE DEPARTED (2006)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008)
THE ARTIST (2011)
ARGO (2012)
SPOTLIGHT (2016)
Box office hits all….is that not popular? Hmmmm, seems to me it is.
John H. Foote is a well-recognized Canadian film critic/historian who has been an active critic for 30 years. His deep love for the movies began at a very young age. He began his career as co-host of the popular TV show Reel to Real where he remained for nine years. While on TV he began dabbling in education, eventually ascending to Director of the Toronto Film School, where he also taught film history. After leaving the college to care for his wife, he returned to teaching at Humber College where he taught both Film History and Method Acting Theory. John has written two books: “Clint Eastwood – Evolution of a Filmmaker” and the upcoming “Spielberg – American Film Visionary”. He is currently working on two books, one about the films of the seventies and another on the films of Martin Scorsese. Through his career he has worked in TV, radio, print and the web. John has interviewed everyone in the industry (more than 300 interviews) except Jack Nicholson, he says sadly. Highlights include Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow.
