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           ‘The King’s Speech’ won in the Best Picture category at the 83rd Academy Awards. It is an extraordinary period film, directed by Tom Hooper and starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham-Carter.

            The film depicts the early years of Prince Albert (Duke of York), the man who would be King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The movie follows his struggle with a severe speech impediment that kept him from carrying out public speaking engagements. His wife Elizabeth, Duchess of York (Bonham-Carter), enlists the services of a failed Australian actor turned speech therapist Lionel Logue (Rush) to help her husband. Logue’s unconventional methods do indeed begin to make some progress.

            At the Academy Awards, ‘The King’s Speech’ won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director (Hooper), Best Actor (Firth), and Best Original Screenplay (Seidler). The film had received 12 Oscar nominations, more than any other film in that year.

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            ‘The Hurt Locker’ is an American war movie, released in 2008. The movie is set in the second year of the Iraq War.

            Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the movie chronicles the lives of three US soldiers in Iraq: Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Eldridge (Brian Geraghty).

            The trio makes up an Iraq war explosive ordnance disposal team, basically a bomb squad. The movie does not address the ever-controversial politics of the war, instead focusing on the day-to-day lives of the characters.

            For the film, Bigelow sought to immerse audiences into something clearly realistic and raw. It was nominated in nine categories at the 82nd Academy Awards, and won in six: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original, Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing.

            Kathryn Bigelow also became the first female director to win Best Director.

            ‘The Hurt Locker’ received universal acclaim, with Jeremy Renner’s performance receiving praise from critics.

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            ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a British dramatic film, released in 2008. The movie was directed by Danny Boyle. Set and filmed in India, the movie was loosely based on the novel ‘Q & A’ by Vikas Swarup. It’s a Western movie made in Mumbai. It does, however, have several references to Indian culture and Bollywood movies.

            The movie tells the story of Jamal Malik who is on the verge of winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’. There’s just one problem: he is living in a slum and working at a minimum wage job, and nobody can see how he knew any of the answers. As they go through each question, he shows how events in his childhood and life contributed to his knowing almost every single one.

            The movie won eight out of ten Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including the Best Picture and Best Director. Composer A.R. Rahman collected two Oscars for original score and original song. Gulzar shared the award with A. R Rahman for original song. Resul Pookutty also won the Oscars for Best Sound Mixing, along with Richard Pryke, and Ian Tapp

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            ‘No Country for Old Men’ is unique among the Academy Award winning movies. The movie was based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. It was written and directed by the Coen Brothers.

             When a Vietnam veteran discovers two million dollars while wandering through the aftermath of a Texas drug gone horribly awry, his decision to abscond with the cash sets off a violent chain reaction in a stripped-down crime drama from Joel and Ethan Coen.

             The film was honoured with numerous awards: it received three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and Academy Awards for Best Picture (Ethan and Joel Coen), Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (the Coen brothers), and Best Supporting Actor (Bardem). Many regard it as a masterpiece, as well as one of the classics.

            The American Film Institute listed it as an AFI Movie of the year, and the National Board of Review selected the film as the best of 2007.

 

            ‘The Departed,’ is a 2006 American crime-thriller film and remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime-thriller ‘Infernal Affairs’. ‘The Departed’ was directed by Martin Scorsese, written by William Monahan, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nichoson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin.

             This tense action thriller is set in Boston, Massachusetts, where notorious Irish kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) takes neighbourhood boy Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) under his wing. He grooms him to be his informant within the Massachusetts State Police. Colin rises through the rank and file to get himself placed on an investigation unit that is working to bring down Costello. At the same time, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is seeking to become a cop, despite the fact that he comes from a family that has a very disreputable past, and numerous ties to organized crime. Considering his background, he is recruited to go undercover to infiltrate Costello’s crew.

             The film was nominated for five Academy Awards of which it won four; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

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            ‘Crash’ is a 2004 movie. This ensemble piece, directed by Paul Haggis, addresses racism affecting the lives of several Los Angelenos as they interact over several days time. The incident that begins it all is the carjacking of a couple, the Cabots, by two Afro-American carjackers, Anthony and Peter.

            ‘Crash’ was inspired by a real life incident, which was faced by the director himself. The story is narrated as two days in the life of its characters, and the stories are interwoven. The film deals with racism in a rather impartial way.

             The film features Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito and William Fichtner. ‘Crash’ was nominated for six awards at the 78th Academy Awards and won three, including the win for Best picture.

            ‘Crash’ was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and the other for Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco).

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              ‘Million Dollar Baby’ is an American sports-drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood. This 2004 film tells the story of Margaret Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) a down and out waitress, striving for a better life.

               She shows keen interest in learning boxing. The first portion of the movie deals with Margaret training herself at the Hit Pit, trying to get Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to train her into becoming a credible boxer. She eventually succeeds, and is able to get Frankie and another trainer, and former boxer Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman) to warm up to her. After a good deal of training, she enters into the world of professional women’s boxing and becomes a remarkable fighter. Eventually, the movie takes a turn for the worse.

             The movie received the award for Best Picture at the 77th Academy Awards. Clint Eastwood was awarded his second Best Director Oscar for the film. Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman received Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscars, respectively.

               Joel Cox, Eastwood’s editor for many years, was nominated for Best Film Editing, and Paul Haggis was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay award.

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            ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is an adaptation of J. R. R Tolkien’s extraordinary novel by the same name into three films (directed by Peter Jackson). The movies were filmed together, and released one year after the other, from 2001-2003.

            The films are subtitled ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001), ‘The Two Towers’ (2002) and ‘The Return of the King’ (2003). The films were remarkably faithful to the novel in many respects, though several changes were made, due to the many factors involved with adapting such a great work.

                The films were critically acclaimed and awarded widely, winning 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations. The final film in the series, ‘The Return of the King’, won all 11 of its Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, which also tied it with ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘Titanic’ for most Academy Awards received for a film. Peter Jackson also directed three films based on Tolkien’s earlier 1937 novel ‘The Hobbit’.

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     ‘Chicago’ is a 2002 film based musical. The movie was directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall and adapted by screenwriter Bill Concdon. The film stars Renee Zeliweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

       The movie is a satire of celebrity trials, the press, and show business in general. It is the story of Roxie Hart (Renee Zeliweger), a wannabe star in Chicago, who is sent to jail on murder charges. She builds a rivalry with the star Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in the jail, who is also there for killing her husband and own sister. Roxie, through bribing the prison warden, Mama Morton, gets the best lawyer in town, Billy Flynn.

      Billy is a smooth-talking trickster who has never lost a case. As tensions mount and the media make Roxie a star, fame begins to get to Roxie’s head.

     The music was composed by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. ‘Chicago’ won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress. The film was critically lauded, and was the first musical to win Best Picture since ‘Oliver!’ in 1968.

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       Academy Award winning movie, ‘A beautiful Mind’ was released in the year 2001.1t is a movie based on the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard. The story was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar.

      The movie tells the story of a genius mathematician called Nash whose mind, though of enormous service to humanity, turns him into a mentally ill person with frightening delusions at the same time. The movie stars Russell Crowe as Nash, and Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Alicia, who is pregnant with their child when the first symptoms of his disease become apparent.

     Crowe gave his best in portraying Nash, who descends into madness and then, unexpectedly, regains the ability to function in the academic world.

      This extraordinary movie won four Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.

            ‘Gladiator’, is an epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott. It was written by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson.

            The movie is about General Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), who is named heir to the ailing Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The story takes a turn as Meridius is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Meridius is minimized into a mere slave. Later, the movie shows how Meridius fights for his life and freedom in order to avenge the murder of his family. The movie follows the events of Roman history in the latter half of the 2nd century AD.

           The film won multiple awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Russell Crowe, and three other Oscars at the 73rd Academy Awards.

          The film received favourable reviews from critics, and grossed 457 million US dollars worldwide, making it the second highest grossing film of 2000.

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            ‘American Beauty’ won in the Best Picture category at the 72nd Academy Awards. It is an American drama-comedy film. It was the breakout film for writer Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes.

            The movie was widely acclaimed by many, even though it got negative reviews too. Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham portrays the character of a 42 year old advertising executive who gets attracted to a teenager.

            The story concerns his midlife crisis, and efforts to find happiness. Kevin Spacey won his second Oscar for his performance in this movie.

            The film is described by academics as a satire on American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction. The movie follows a traditional narrative.

            ‘American Beauty’ won five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

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          ‘Shakespeare in Love’, is a 1998 fictional romantic comedy that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

          The movie directed by John Madden, was written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard.

         The story is about the fictional love affair between William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), an aspiring playwright who works for a theatre that badly needs money, and Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow).

         The story happens in the background of Shakespeare working on his famous piece ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

        ‘Shakespeare in Love’ is set in late Elizabethan England. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), and Best Original Screenplay.

         In 2005, the Writers Guild of America ranked its script the 28th greatest ever written.

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          The Award winning movie ‘Titanic’ was released in the year 1997. This gem of a movie was directed written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron

          The story is a fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Cameron’s inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks. For him, the RMS Titanic was the ‘Mount Everest of shipwrecks’.

         ‘Titanic’ tells the story, in flashback, of Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). They both belong to different social classes, and fall in love during their ill-fated Titanic voyage.

         This movie won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and boosted the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film was released in theatres on December 19th, 1997, and stayed in the theatre for nearly an entire, year, not ending its run in the cinemas until October 1st, 1998.

          ‘Titanic’ won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. 

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          ‘The English Patient’ won in the Best Picture category at the 69th Academy Awards. It is a British-American film, directed by Anthony Minghella. It stars Juliette Binoche as Hana, and Ralph Fiennes as ‘The English Patient’.

          The movie was based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Canadian author Michael Ondaatje. The highly successful movie was produced by Saul Zaentz.

          The movie plot, set in the years before and during World War II, opens in an abandoned villa in Italy. It tells the story of Hana, a Canadian army nurse, who cares for a man referred to as the English patient. He refuses to reveal his identity, but his speech and mannerisms indicate that he is an Englishman.

          The film was released to critical acclaim, and received 12 nominations at the 69th Academy Awards, eventually winning nine, including Best Picture, Best Director for Minghella, and Best Supporting Actress for Juliette Binoche. The British Film Institute ranked ‘The English Patient’ the 55th greatest British film of the 20th century.

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