With the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday the end credits will roll on another year of tearful acceptance speeches, surprising snubs and red-carpet wardrobe disasters. To mark the occasion we’ve crunched the numbers on our DVD collection to discover your most popular movies based on usage.
Here are your all-time top ten. The results might surprise you…
10: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Does it prove the theory that sequels are always better than the originals (Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back) and that third instalments are always much, much worse than their predecessors (Godfather: Part III, Superman III, Richard III…)? The Godfather: Part II certainly took your Marlon Brando, raised you Robert De Niro, and walked off with 6 Oscars including Best Picture.
9: Maria Full of Grace (2004)
Catalina Sandeno Moreno was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar at the 77th Academy Awards for her performance as a Colombian teenager who gets pregnant and then winds up becoming a drug mule. She also won Best Actress (Silver Bear) at the Berlin Film Festival where the movie was nominated for the Golden Bear. Seriously, the Golden & Silver Bears. Brilliant.
8: Being John Malkovich (1999)
Nominated for 3 Oscars, the film stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and of course the eponymous Mr Malkovich himself and is about, well, people getting inside someone’s head. Literally. It’s probably easier to watch than to describe.
7: Naked (1993)
Legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh’s film was overlooked by the Academy, but was recognised at a wide range of other ceremonies and film festivals worldwide, including at Cannes where it scooped Best Director and Best Actor for David Thewlis. Described as a comedy-drama, its adult content and themes means it’s, well, not for faint-hearted; and there’s not a cheesy-pineapple stick in sight.
6: Amélie (2001)
This French romantic comedy, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is definitely at the more joie de vivre end of the cinematic spectrum, and delighted audiences mondialement back in 2001. The story about a girl whose mission in life is helping others to be happy earned itself 5 Academy Award nominations, but sadly went home empty-handed.
5: Goodbye Lenin! (2003)
Set against a backdrop of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, this German film about a young man pretending to his unwell mother that East Germany still exists was lauded at award ceremonies pretty much everywhere except the Oscars, and lost out at the BAFTAs in the Best Film Not In the English Language category.
4: This is England (2006)
Shane Meadows’ take on skinheads living in 80s Britain helped launch the careers of several British actors including Stephen Graham, picked up the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the BAFTAs and spawned several television sequels. Nothing at the Oscars though, despite posting positive critical reviews stateside.
3: When Harry Met Sally (1989)
“Can men and women ever just be friends?” That’s the key question in this classic Rob Reiner rom-com written by Nora Ephron (who picked-up the film’s only Oscar nomination for her screenplay). With charming performances by a cast including Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal and the late Carrie Fisher, even the curmudgeonliest individual will want what they’re having after 96 minutes.
2: Manhattan (1979)
Neurotic writer? Check. Awkward romantic entanglements? Check. Diane Keaton? Check. The ‘overrated’ Meryl Streep thrown in for good measure? Indeed. Despite winning Best Film at the BAFTAs Woody Allen’s classic didn’t even get shortlisted at the Oscars, with the Academy only nominating it for Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Mariel Hemingway): it won neither.
and, at number one…
1: Adaptation (2002)
4 Oscar nominations (including one for Meryl Streep), 1 win (Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Chris Cooper) and a whole host of other awards, Charlie Kaufman’s film is about a writer hired to adapt a book for the screen. Oh, and that writer happens to be Charlie Kaufman, who wrote Being John Malkovich (see, no.8)…