Over the years, there have been hundreds of movies nominated for the
Academy Awards. Many films win one or two, some collect a handful.
15. Cabaret
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 1972
In Berlin in 1931, American cabaret singer Sally Bowles (Liza
Minnelli) meets British academic Brian Roberts (Michael York), who is
finishing his university studies. Despite Brian's confusion over his
sexuality, the pair become lovers, but the arrival of the wealthy and
decadent playboy Maximilian von Heune (Helmut Griem) complicates matters
for them both. This love triangle plays out against the rise of the
Nazi party and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.
14. Slumdog Millionaire
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 2008
As 18-year-old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) answers questions on the
Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," flashbacks show how
he got there. Part of a stable of young thieves after their mother dies,
Jamal and his brother, Salim, survive on the streets of Mumbai. Salim
finds the life of crime agreeable, but Jamal scrapes by with small jobs
until landing a spot on the game show.
13. Amadeus
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 11
Release Year: 1984
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) is a remarkably talented young
Viennese composer who unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the
disciplined and determined Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham).
Resenting Mozart for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable
talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually consumed by his
jealousy and becomes obsessed with Mozart's downfall, leading to a
devious scheme that has dire consequences for both men.
12. Gandhi
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 11
Release Year: 1982
This acclaimed biographical drama presents major events in the life
of Mohandas Gandhi (Ben Kingsley), the beloved Indian leader who stood
against British rule over his country. Dedicated to the concept of
nonviolent resistance, Gandhi is initially dismissed by English
officials, including the influential Lord Irwin (John Gielgud), but
eventually he and his cause become internationally renowned, and his
gatherings of passive protest move India towards independence.
11. On the Waterfront
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 12
Release Year: 1954
Dockworker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) had been an up-and-coming
boxer until powerful local mob boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb)
persuaded him to throw a fight. When a longshoreman is murdered before
he can testify about Friendly's control of the Hoboken waterfront, Terry
teams up with the dead man's sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) and the
streetwise priest Father Barry (Karl Malden) to testify himself, against
the advice of Friendly's lawyer, Terry's older brother Charley (Rod
Steiger).
10. My Fair Lady
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 12
Release Year: 1964
In this beloved musical, pompous phonetics professor Henry Higgins
(Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself
to transform a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for
a cultured member of high society. His subject turns out to be the
lovely Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), who agrees to speech lessons to
improve her job prospects. Higgins and Eliza clash, then form an
unlikely bond, one that is threatened by an aristocratic suitor (Jeremy
Brett).
9. From Here to Eternity
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 13
Release Year: 1953
At an Army barracks in Hawaii in the days preceding the attack on
Pearl Harbor, lone-wolf soldier and boxing champion "Prew" Prewitt
(Montgomery Clift) refuses to box, preferring to play the bugle instead.
Hard-hearted Capt. Holmes (Philip Ober) subjects Prew to a grueling
series of punishments while, unknown to Holmes, the gruff but fair Sgt.
Warden (Burt Lancaster) engages in a clandestine affair with the
captain's mistreated wife (Deborah Kerr).
8. Gone With the Wind
Oscar Wins: 8
Oscar Nominations: 13
Release Year: 1939
Epic Civil War drama focuses on the life of petulant southern belle
Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh). Starting with her idyllic on a sprawling
plantation, the film traces her survival through the tragic history of
the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and her tangled love
affairs with Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) and Rhett Butler (Clark
Gable).
7. The Last Emperor
Oscar Wins: 9
Oscar Nominations: 9
Release Year: 1987
This sweeping account of the life of Pu Yi (John Lone), the last
emperor of China, follows the leader's tumultuous reign. After being
captured by the Red Army as a war criminal in 1950, Pu Yi recalls his
childhood from prison. He remembers his lavish youth in the Forbidden
City, where he was afforded every luxury but unfortunately sheltered
from the outside world and complex political situation surrounding him.
As revolution sweeps through China, the world Pu Yi knew is dramatically
upended.
6. Gigi
Oscar Wins: 9
Oscar Nominations: 9
Release Year: 1958
Gaston (Louis Jourdan) is a restless Parisian playboy who moves from
one mistress to another, while also spending time with Gigi (Leslie
Caron), a precocious younger friend learning the ways of high society.
The platonic relationship between Gaston and Gigi changes, however, when
she matures, but the possibility of something lasting seems unlikely
since he won't commit to one woman. Gigi refuses to be anyone's
mistress, however, and Gaston must choose between her and his carefree
lifestyle.
5. The English Patient
Oscar Wins: 9
Oscar Nominations: 12
Release Year: 1996
The sweeping expanses of the Sahara are the setting for a passionate
love affair in this adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel. A badly
burned man, Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), is tended to by a nurse,
Hana (Juliette Binoche), in an Italian monastery near the end of World
War II. His past is revealed through flashbacks involving a married
Englishwoman (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his work mapping the African
landscape. Hana learns to heal her own scars as she helps the dying man.
4. West Side Story
Oscar Wins: 10
Oscar Nominations: 11
Release Year: 1961
A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New
York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west side, two
gangs battle for control of the turf. The situation becomes complicated
when a gang members falls in love with a rival's sister.
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Oscar Wins: 11
Oscar Nominations: 11
Release Year: 2003
The culmination of nearly 10 years' work and conclusion to Peter
Jackson's epic trilogy based on the timeless J.R.R. Tolkien classic,
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" presents the final
confrontation between the forces of good and evil fighting for control
of the future of Middle-earth. Hobbits Frodo and Sam reach Mordor in
their quest to destroy the `one ring', while Aragorn leads the forces of
good against Sauron's evil army at the stone city of Minas Tirith.
2. Ben-Hur
Oscar Wins: 11
Oscar Nominations: 12
Release Year: 1959
Charlton Heston plays a Palestinian Jew who is battling the Roman
empire at the time of Christ. His actions send him and his family into
slavery, but an inspirational encounter with Jesus changes everything.
Heston finally meets his rival in a justly famous chariot race and
rescues his suffering family.
1. Titanic
Oscar Wins: 11
Oscar Nominations: 14
Release Year: 1997
James Cameron's "Titanic" is an epic, action-packed romance set
against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic; the pride and
joy of the White Star Line and, at the time, the largest moving object
ever built. She was the most luxurious liner of her era, the "ship of
dreams", which ultimately carried over 1,500 people to their death in
the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April
15, 1912.
Labels: Ben-Hur, The English Patient, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Titanic, West Side Story