from your list, I would say Eternal Sunshine, Big Fish and Lars should have definitely gotten nominations.

big fish was amazing

WHAT?!?!? Why are they doing that? Are they going to do 10 of everything next? Boo to this idea! BOO!

In 1997 the best movie of the year was not Titantic...it was Eve's Bayou which was sorely missing at the Academy Awards that year!!! And Debbi Morgan was easily the Best Supporting Actress of that award season!

good list Buzz!

I agree, though adding another fabulous movie to some of those years would have made it harder to decide! I only disagree on Mulholland Drive.

That list was subpar. The five movies I'd add for each year this decade:

2000:
Almost Famous (should have won)
You Can Count On Me
Wonder Boys
Yi Yi
The Contender

2001:
Mulholland Drive (should have won)
Ghost World
Memento
Black Hawk Down
Amelie

2002:
Y Tu Mama Tambien (should have won)
Adaptation
About A Boy
Minority Report
Talk to Her

2003:
American Splendor
Finding Nemo
In America
The Station Agent
Master and Commander

2004:
Before Sunset (should have won)
Spiderman 2
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Maria Full Of Grace
A Very Long Engagment

2005:
The Squid and the Whale (should have won)
Capote
Pride & Prejudice
The 40-year-old Virgin
Paradise Nwo

2006:
Pan's Labyrinth (should have won)
Volver
United 93
Children of Men
Notes on a Scandel

2007:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (should have won)
Ratatouille
The Bourne Ultimatum
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
Bridge to Terabithia

2008:
The Wrestler (should have won)
Wall*E
The Band's Visit
Snow Angels
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

what about Gran Torino?

I would say that every year warrants 10 best picture noms, I can say that for all the most recent years, and most definitely before the 2000's .7

i don't think they should have 10 slots for best picture nominees. it's just too much! i understand some movies get left out, but in the end only one wins, right?

1999: The Iron Giant should have straight up won Best Picture.
2000: Requiem For A Dream should have won, no contest. Most powerful film I have ever witnessed in my life.
2001: The Royal Tenenbaums should have been nominated.
2005: V For Vendetta should have been nominated; I think it should have won.
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is better than Slumdog Millionaire.

Having said that, great list, especially with The Truman Show and Big Fish.

wow how about Fight Club, Memento, The Dark Knight, 2001 Space Odyssey, Alien, Starwars, Starwars Empire Strikes Back, Trainspotting, Blade Runner, Shinning and many more that top the films listed here. The movies I listed shouldn't have just been nominated or won, but are consider some of the greatest movies of all-time. Cut the Best Picture type Bullsh*t and just nominate the best films of the year and award the best film of the year. I mean come on 2001: Space Odyssey is like what top 10 greatest movies of All-time and it doesn't even win best picture for the year it came out? Now I know there wasn't a film better then it that year. Some years are exceptions like when Gorrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction came out, but even then they pick the weakest of three amazing films. Oscars are to concerned with the political implications of films and not the art or philosophical meanings of films. Films that actually change lives, like Memento and Trainspotting of films that blow are minds in artistic ways like 2001: Space Odyssey or the Shinning should win best picture. Just like this year Slumdog Millionaire won because of political bullsh*t. The Wrestler, The Dark Knight, Let the Right One In enough said.

Good list, but i think that Boogie Nights got snubbed of best picture in 1997, and should have made this list.

Um...Jeramy..."Master and Commander: The Far Sideof the World" WAS nominated for Best Picture back the 2004 Oscars.

Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Monster, etc. etc. were also excellant movies.

I'm glad they're increasing the nominations to 10 films. There's so many quality films that come out every year, it would be nice to see more movies get the recognition they deserve. Crap like Transformers 2, will still be bad, but films like Memento could get more publicity and attract a larger audience, like it deserved. Just my 2 cents.

Just so some people know... foreign films can't win Best Picture at the Oscars. And one anonymous needs to know that 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien and Star Wars were ALL nominated for Best Pic. This isn't a "who should have won" article, it's "who should have been NOMINATED". Oh, and as for the article, I basically agree with everything except Memoirs of a Geisha. That movie was like 2 hours of boredom, soap opera acting, bad accents and really awesome set/clothing designs.

How about Blood Diamond in 2006. Thought provoking, epic, and with two of the best performances of the year.

totally agree with the list.

I agree with pretty much everything the 12 poster said.
I tihnk every film on your list though, with the exception of of 'Eternal Sunshine' (which I love) and 'Little Children' (Which I haven't seen so I wouldn't know) are all kind of intellectually middling films that are either soft pedal big ideas to a dumb mass-audience (Big Fish and the Truman Show) or are just major studio movies designed to be Oscar bait (Ali, Memoirs of a Geisha, Talented Mr. Ripley) ... and I tihnk Oh' Brother is one of the Coen Brother's weakest films ("hey howbout 'the Odyssey' in a radically different setting?". "Oh, you mean like Ulysses?" "No, not at all", "okay?")
I think the Oscar's are B.S. anyway, the real ultimate definition of how little they matter is the year Forrest Gump came out against Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. 2 out of the 3 films have been accepted as unimpeachable cinematic canon , and the third is seen in retrospect as nostalgic schmaltz... Who gives a f*ck about Forrest Gump?

Um , Magnolia? WALL-E? Fight Club? You just chose bait. Awful.