Oscars: Every Best Picture Nominee Of The 2010s - Ranked Worst To Best

58. Captain Phillips

"I'm the Captain now."

Paul Greengrass' take on the true story of Somali pirates hijacking a ship is mostly remembered for that line, delivered by Barkhad Abdi whose superb turn wasn't quite the star-making performance it seemed at the time.

Still, it features some excellent direction from Greengrass, and while the biopic is, for the most part, a little too by-the-numbers, Hanks effortlessly makes the role work, with the exception of its final moments: it's there, when he shows the heart-wrenching impact the event has taken on him, that the movie offers a glimpse of something special. It's just a shame the rest of the film isn't quite up to that standard.

JH

57. Dallas Buyers Club

Looking back at Dallas Buyers Club with the benefit of hindsight now, it could be dangerous to think of it solely as a vehicle for some Christian Bale-style transformative method acting by Matthew McConaughey and a showy, of-course-the-Academy-would-love-that performance by Jared Leto. Both of those performances deserve credit, obviously, but they're also the kind that attracts the same snide revisionist criticism that Eddie Redmayne gets now.

Dallas Buyers Club is an incredibly important, incredibly affecting story that ought to stick with all of us. It's a tale - like Schindler's List - of a small act of defiance in the face of colossal human moral failures. The performances are great, the story gripping and mostly well-made (but for some stylistic choices that already date it).

SG

56. Les Miserables

It's virtually impossible for any filmmaker to live up to the sheer quality and reputation of the stage show when translating Les Miserables over to the big screen, but Tom Hooper did a pretty damn fine job back in 2012. The first hour in particular is an incredibly emotional study of Jean Valjean, propped up by the alway-committed Hugh Jackman. Some plot developments do seem rushed by nature of the film needing to cram so much into three hours, but it's always solid, and really comes to life in the moments where the script gets time to breathe.

And while Tom Hooper's directing style was criticised in the entry for The King's Speech, it does fit nicely with Les Miserables. The close-ups compliment the decision to record the singing live, really digging down to the emotional core of each number. It helped Anne Hathway win an Oscar, so you can see why Hooper relies on it so much - even when it detracts from the scale of the movie's depiction of the eventual revolution.

The rough edges only award it with more charm as well. Les Mis could have felt so empty, but there's real heart running all the way through it - to the point where it almost makes you forgive Russel Crowe's singing. Almost.

JB

55. Hugo

In a similar way to Life of Pi, Hugo is often remembered most for actually using 3D in an effective way, but there's a little but more substance here too. Sure, it's easily one of Martin Scorsese's lesser films, but as a family tale for all ages it spins a heartfelt, occasionally wonderous fantasy yarn.

Even better, though, is how much of a love letter this is to cinema. You get the sense this comes straight from Scorsese's heart as he pays homage to those who paved the way, and in those moments it truly soars. It's overlong, and those glimpses of wonder don't quite come often enough, but you sense if another filmmaker had made this, people might be more welcoming of what it does. And yet, no other filmmaker could have made this either.

JH