Your 2018 Oscars viewing guide: The 10 movies you must see

Awards season is upon us, and we have the full list of nominees for the 2018 Academy Awards. If you have been playing catch with the Best Picture nominees, how about settling down for a weekend of binge watching as we look at previous winners.  There have been nearly 90 "Best Picture" winners over the years but lucky for you we have narrowed it down to 10-must watch movies. 

Won 2014 - 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave  became the first film directed and produced by a black filmmaker (Steve McQueen) and also the first to be written by an African-American (John Ridley) to win the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year.

The historical drama based on the true story of Solomon Northup, took home Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (for Lupita Nyong’o), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for John Ridley).

Won 2009- Slumdog Millionaire

Regarded as a sleeper hit, Slumdog Millionaire was widely acclaimed, being praised for its plot, soundtrack and direction. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight—the most for any 2008 film—including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Won 2001 - Gladiator

Gladiator won five awards including Best Picture. Gladiator became the first film to win Best Picture without a directing or screenwriting win since 1949's All the King's Men. Russell Crowe was victorious in the Best Actor race for his role as mighty Maximus.

Won 1998 - Titanic

Titanic won 11 awards including Best Director for James Cameron and Best Picture. It became the first film to win Best Picture without a screenplay nomination since 1965's The Sound of Music. Nominated for their performances as Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, Best Actress nominee Kate Winslet and Best Supporting Actress nominee Gloria Stuart became the first pair of actress nominated for portraying the same character in the same film.

Won 1995 - Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. The movie has made multiple American Film Institute lists including the quote "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." ranking 40th on 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. The film ranked 240 on Empire's list of the 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time.

Won 1996 - Braveheart

Braveheart won five awards, including Best Director for Mel Gibson and Best Picture. Braveheart was the ninth film to win Best Picture with no acting nominations. There was much controversy around this with critics saying Braveheart was the worst film to ever win Best Picture. 

Won 1985 - Amadeus

Amadeus is a tribute to the glorious music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1985, the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including the double nomination for Best Actor with Hulce and Abraham each being nominated for their portrayals of Mozart and Salieri, respectively. The film won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Abraham), Best Director (Forman), Costume Design (Theodor Pištěk), Adapted Screenplay (Shaffer), Art Direction (Karel Černý, Patrizia von Brandenstein), Best Makeup, and Best Sound. The film was nominated for but did not win Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Editing.  

1973 - The Godfather

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel of the same name. It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family. The story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando), focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone (Pacino) from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss. The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. The Godfather was nominated for seven awards at the 30th Golden Globe Awards: Best Picture – Drama, James Caan for Best Supporting Actor, Al Pacino and Marlon Brando for Best Actor – Drama, Best Score, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.

1943 - Casablanca

This was the first year that Best Supporting Actors and Actresses received full-sized Oscar statuettes, rather than miniature Oscar plaques. Director Michael Curtiz'  Casablanca (with eight nominations and three Oscar wins - Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay for Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch) - the melodramatic story of international intrigue, romance and politics in the Nazi-occupied exotic locale of French Morocco, is now considered one of filmdom's best pictures ever made.

1939 - Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film, adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to receive an Academy Award, winning in the Best Supporting Actress category for Gone with the Wind. At the 12th Academy Awards, it received 10 Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from 13 nominations, including wins for Best Picture, Best Director (Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sidney Howard), Best Actress (Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel). It set records for the total number of wins and nominations at the time.

Best Picture nominees for 2018:

 “Call Me by Your Name”

“Darkest Hour”

“Dunkirk”

“Get Out”

“Lady Bird”

“Phantom Thread”

“The Post”

“The Shape of Water”

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

So who do you think will win? Predict online now and put yourself in line to win one of ten R1000 vouchers from Incredible Connection or the grand prize of a connected home package, with hardware and a TV to the value of R30 000.

The 90th edition of the Academy Awards will broadcast live on M-Net Movies Premiere at 03:30 am CAT on Monday, 5 March and M-Net on the same day, at 21:30.