Since Oscar season has arrived with the recent announcement of the nominations, BWNG decided to go left-field and pay tribute to the great movies which somehow DIDN’T manage to pick up any single academy award. These same movies hold credit for teaching us a little bit about life and leaving a lasting impression on our naive fragile little minds.

8 Movies Which Changed Our Lives (But Got No Oscar)

WARNING: Profanity and Violence are a running theme in most videos below, if you’re easily offended or under the age of 18, the Disney Channel have a cool website you can check out.

City of God

You always have that one “If I wanted to see subtitles I’d flick on teletext” idiot friend who’s too lazy to watch foreign films because reading is his kryptonite. We had that type of friend until he saw City of God. This film is an instant classic; the grim and violent nature of the brazilian slums is balanced well with the subtle moments of comedy and an unfulfilled love story. Far from glamorising gang culture it gives us a wider view on how far it can reach in both landscape and demographic. Edutainment no doubt, I borrowed it out on DVD in 2009 and have yet to see it since. But I get to see the actor who plays Rocket every weekend for Manchester City.

Snatch

As a script the film Snatch must have looked like a cinematic shambles, with a million and one story lines and characters; but in reality it turned out to be a work of genius with clever transitions between characters and countless humour and suspense. Arguably Guy Ritchie’s best film to date the movie Snatch is full of classic scenes and some of the funniest characters in cinema history. Nothing less than spectacular is the the scene when my favourite character Boris refuses to die after countless attempts, and he ends up going home to grab his machine gun to return to his perpetrators. The Russian music in the background is priceless. That soundtrack alone deserved an award for the best score of 2000. This scene however is just as historic.

Se7en

You can’t get thrillers much better than this. Way before Jigsaw made me question how much spare time you must have on your hands to want to kill people in such an elaborate fashion Kevin Spacey’s character had me sat still, confused and intrigued trying to understand what was going on his mind. It took a while to realise he was straight Cuckoo and committing murders according to the seven deadly sins as I was quite young at the time and wasn’t concerned with previews or reading the back of videos (the name should have gave it away though). Though twisted and gory as hell it is far more than bloody crime scenes and gruesome murders, its  true psychological thriller. The twists and turns in the script and the drama, have you glued to the screen not wanting to miss a second as you might lose track. Great endings make great films and the end of this is was done perfectly.

Do The Right Thing

I was first exposed to Spike Lee‘s movie around the age of  9; it was probably the first time I had noticed significant directorial differences in movies. This wasn’t just because of the subject matter but the way it was edited, abstract with random but integral monologues that kept with the direction of the movie. The thing that ironically stood out for me was the defining moment in the movie when the main character Mookie throws the garbage can through the window at his workplace; a sign of anger and frustration culminating from his position in society and triggered by police killing a man in his neighbourhood. This of course incited a riot…..sounds way too close to home right? Amazing film.

Coming to America

Arguably the funniest film of all time, for the simple fact that 20 odd years on people still talk about this simple yet humorous storyline of an African prince who travels to New York to find his queen, ironically in Queens. I am a sucker for a good score and there is no soundtrack that sticks to my memory better than the Afro inspired, trumpet filled royal theme song which plays in the background as King Jaffy Joe’s fleet of royal-mobiles is in pursuit of Hakeem. I was hoping that in the day of Obama’s inauguration that this theme song would be played in the streets of Washington, but unfortunately this never materialised.

Basic Instinct

I don’t even remember this film being any good, I just liked watching Michael Douglas movies due to his popularity and the high possibility of him blowing the back out of the female lead in a hilariously unorthodox hollywood fashion. I had it instilled in my head that for at least 7 years in the late 80s and early 90s Michael Douglas must of had “insert aggressive sex scene” on the first page of his film contract. Anyway despite earlier efforts this was the first time I thought that soft porn and normal film were synonymous. Ha!

Shawshank Redemption

I don’t cry during films because I’m hard like that (unless it’s a Pixar ting) but this got me close to trickles witnessing this man’s journey. Its a story of a man sentenced to double life in prison coming to terms with the possibility of never being freed. He builds a strong friendship with Red (Morgan Freeman) and there is where the journey to redemption starts. This is some powerful sh*t, the kind you watch either by yourself  or a lady friend depending on how comfortable you are with showing your He-motions.

Memento

If you watch this film and don’t think its amazing something is wrong with you; edited well, narrated well, casted well  and the storyline is mind boggling and confusing on purpose. A man who has no short term memory, attempts to piece together the story behind the tragic murder of his wife; unable to remember whatever he has learned up until that moment before, his memory resets at any given time. In short this man cannot remember anything and even his simple interactions with people are entertainment enough. Using the craziest methods to retain information this man attempts to deconstruct everything that happened piece by piece on the day of the murder and get his revenge on the person who killed his wife. *Disclaimer* Do not watch this film high, drunk or in any state which inhabits concentration, you will just be confused.

Most films are worthy of Netflix viewing but there are those elite few that are worth having a DVD collection for, these are those films. To think a couple of these films didn’t even get nominated for an Oscar when the likes of Seabiscuit did and to think that films like Avatar aka Pocahantas 2: The Return of the Smurfs 3D scooped a silly amount of academy awards in one year when these couldnt even get one is shocking but alas what can we do but give our own salute to the cream of the cropped. And we’re done! Shoutout to Dr J of SBM for inspiring this post

#BWNGAsks What are YOUR 3-5 favourite movies of all time? Oscar winners, nominated or not. Let us know!