30 Greatest Best Picture Oscar Nominees Of The Last Ten Years
10. Lady Bird
Lady Bird is a film that really sneaks up on you. On paper, it sounded like a cliched indie dramedy, the likes of which we've seen hundreds of times before - and in certain ways, yes, it is the movie you're expecting. Like a few of the other films on this list, it succeeds without necessarily reinventing the wheel that much.
Having said that, Lady Bird does actually differentiate itself a bit, such as the focus being on a parental relationship instead of a romance, and there's another very important way in which Lady Bird stands out: it's practically flawless.
How many other coming-of-age films get practically everything so goddamn right in pretty much every conceivable way? How many others create such a beautiful, heartfelt, hilarious and affecting viewing experience in which so many people will see their own lives reflected within?
Not many, to be honest.
It's hard not to love Lady Bird with every fibre of your being. It's a masterpiece of its genre, tremendously acted, flawlessly written and brought beautifully to life on-screen by writer-director Greta Gerwig. It's among the best American films of the last few years, and despite being perhaps the smallest, most low-key of the 2018 Best Picture nominees it managed to trump them all.
Well, almost all of them...