What makes a film Oscar-worthy?
Given the wide variety of films nominated for, and claiming, the prestigious award, it can be difficult to pin down just what makes a film a worthy of the Oscar glow. Is it the star power of the cast? The message it conveys? The marketing buzz surrounding it?
Often, it’s not until the noise of awards season has died down and the years pass that a film's true legacy can be properly judged.
From crowd pleasers to budget breakthroughs and history-making wins, the acclaimed films in SBS On Demand's , serve as a cinematic time capsule of changing audience tastes and where the industry sits with each passing year. And although there is no magic formula for success, perhaps the ultimate secret to making a film Oscar-worthy is to simply tell a compelling story that feels both specific and universal at the same time.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
One of only three films in history to win the “big five”, which includes best picture, director, writer and both lead actor categories, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is often regarded as a perfect film, and for good reason. Unlike other so-called classics that often appear on critics “best of" lists, Cuckoo is one of those rare occasions where audiences, critics and filmmakers were all in universal agreement as to the film's quiet brilliance. Fifty years later and it’s lost none of its potency, with the film's ultimate message about the power of friendship and thumbing your nose in the face of authority still just as relevant now as it ever was.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
drama • 1975
drama • 1975
All the President's Men
Cited as one of the great movies about reporting and the role of the press, the themes and ideas touched upon in this Best Picture-winning film are just as vital now as they were 50 years ago. With Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman at the peak of their powers, and an Oscar-winning script by screenwriting legend William Goldman, the film details the immediate aftermath of the infamous Watergate scandal, as we follow real life reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on their dogged pursuit to uncover the truth. With an engrossing, fly-on-the-wall style narrative that slowly ratchets up the tension over the course of its all too brief running time, the real achievement of the film is that the audience's knowledge of real-life events has little bearing on the effectiveness of the story. Much like The Godfather is to crime movies or 2001: A Space Odyssey is to Sci-Fi, All the President's Men will forever be the movie by which all other films about journalism are judged.
All the President's Men is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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All the President's Men
docudrama • 1976
docudrama • 1976
The Silence of the Lambs
The second film on this list to have won the “big five” awards, The Silence of the Lambs is a true outlier in the Oscars pantheon. A rare example where the Academy embraced the horror genre, albeit one that focusses on the sinister over the supernatural, with one of the greatest villains ever committed to film. Sir Anthony Hopkins’s performance remains as chilling as ever, made even more impressive when considering he had just 24 minutes of screen time in which to make a lasting impression. But the true legacy of The Silence of the Lambs is ongoing cultural impact, from films like Se7en to the latest true crime hits being at least partially traced back to what director Jonathon Demme achieved with this serial killer classic.
Silence of the Lambs is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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The Silence of the Lambs
Crime drama • thriller • 1991
Crime drama • thriller • 1991
Fargo
For two brothers who can count more than a few cinematic masterpieces to their name, Fargo remains perhaps the Coens' most ground-breaking film in the way it masterfully subverts small town America as the blood-soaked backdrop for random acts of needless violence. From the opening log line proclaiming the film's events to be true, it’s clear that the fearless filmmaking duo have one foot firmly placed in the realm of comedy, even as all manner of unspeakable acts are carried out around us. It's these unique tonal shifts that would not only cement Fargo as a true American classic, but influence an entire generation of filmmakers looking to tell their own edgy stories with a healthy dose of black comedy.
Fargo is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Fargo
Crime drama • Dark comedy • 1996
Crime drama • Dark comedy • 1996
The final season of Fargo, the TV series, is also streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Fargo
series • Crime drama
MA15+
series • Crime drama
MA15+
Talk To Her
Beloved Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is no stranger to Oscar accolades, having been nominated five times over the course of his staggering 50-year career. In 2003, his richly layered melodrama Talk To Her would bag him both directing and writing nominations, the latter of which he would go on to win. A deeply emotional, spiritually complex tale of an unlikely friendship between two men bonding at the bedside of their comatose female companions, the film is widely considered to be the director's magnum opus. For anyone coming to Almodóvar for the first time or looking to start their journey through the best world cinema of the 21st Century, Talk to Her is the perfect starting point.
Talk To Her is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Talk to Her
drama • romance • 2002
drama • romance • 2002
The Lives of Others
Winner of Best International Feature in 2007 and to this day one of the few films to accurately portray the dramatic events that led to the fall of the Berlin wall. The Lives of Others tells the story of the German secret police organization known as the Stasi, and their surveillance of East Berlin citizens at the height of the cold war, through its own unique point of view. Asking its audience to empathise with a character operating within a morally corrupt world, yet whose humanity is given fleeting moments in which to shine through. Like the very best Oscar films, it’s a film that only becomes richer with each viewing, with an ending that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
The Lives of Others will be streaming at SBS On Demand from 1 March.
Michael Clayton
If you ask any long-standing filmmaker in Hollywood about some of their favourite working screenwriters, there’s a fair chance Tony Gilroy’s name will come up in conversation. From his early work on the Bourne films to his recent efforts crafting Star Wars for adults with Andor, Gilroy’s gift for naturalistic dialogue has received a level of recognition usually reserved for acclaimed wordsmiths such as David Mammett or Aaron Sorkin. Here directing his first feature-length film, he would successfully corral together an enviable list of A-listers for a true old school boardroom thriller, filled with morally corrupt characters and arguably a career best performance from George Clooney. Paradoxically, despite its multitude of Oscar nominations, one of which would be won by Tilda Swinton, it still somehow feels like Michael Clayton is underrated all these years later.
Michael Clayton is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Michael Clayton
drama • 2007
drama • 2007
Flee
A fascinating hybrid of animation, narrative and documentary filmmaking, the 2022 film Flee was the first in Oscar’s history to be nominated for international feature film, documentary, and animation categories. This is a powerful true story of a man who goes by the alias of Amin, who recounts his traumatic experiences escaping war torn Afghanistan after facing years of persecution because of his sexuality, and how those past traumas continue to manifest in his present-day life. To say more would be to ruin the singular experience of watching Flee for the first time, suffice to say that this criminally underseen film contains some of the most innovative storytelling seen in any documentary released in the past 20 years.
Flee is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Flee
animated • documentary • 2021
animated • documentary • 2021
Watch more award-winners in SBS On Demand's , and a four-week-long 'The Oscar Goes To' season on SBS World Movies, evenings 23 February to 23 March, with films including In the Heat of the Night, Shaft, Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull and Argo (see the for screening times).
