2. The Godfather - 1972
You didn't think I could make this list without one of Coppola's masterpieces, did you? The Godfather Part II may be a superior film but it also faced must stiffer competition, lending valid arguments as to what exactly was the best film in THAT year. This year, however, held no such distinction. Considering how strong the decade of the 1970s was for film, it's a bit surprising how weak the best picture field was in 1972. Deliverance was a good movie and Cabaret was a decent one. How Bob Fosse was awarded best director over Francis For Coppola, I'll never understand that one. The only truly great film of the bunch was The Godfather. Spearheaded by Marlon Brando's Oscar winning role as Vito Corleone, The Godfather paints a portrait of family, honor vs. betrayal and some good old fashioned revenge. The rest of the cast definitely held their own. In fact, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Al Pacino ALL were nominated in the supporting actor category. That's right, three of the five nominees were from the same damn movie. Despite some of the inexplicable wins for Cabaret elsewhere, (looking at you supporting actor and director) Coppola picked himself up another statuette for adapted screenplay but the big one is all that counts in the end and The Godfather was the biggest of them all.