In the latest preview of the 2019 Oscars, a list of the best films of the year that often forecasts the Academy's Best Picture choices has just been unveiled.
The American Film Institute on Tuesday released its picks for the ten best films of 2018: BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Eighth Grade, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Favorite, First Reformed, Green Book, Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, and A Star Is Born. At the end of a year in which the Academy briefly discussed introducing an award for "popular film," it's worth noting that nearly half the movies on this list would easily qualify. Black Panther, A Quiet Place and A Star Is Born were all box office hits, and Mary Poppins Returns looks set to join those ranks when it opens on Dec. 19.
The AFI's list often has a fair amount in common with the Oscars, although it never lines up exactly. Last year, seven out of the 10 films on the AFI's top 10 list went on to receive a Best Picture nomination, but The Big Sick, The Florida Project, and Wonder Woman didn't make it. Gold Derby points out that since 2010, the AFI has predicted 65 of 73 Best Picture nominees, not counting films made outside of the United States since those aren't eligible for the AFI's list.
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One notable snub here is First Man, Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong biopic that has been gunning for a Best Picture nomination but was a box office bomb and was previously snubbed by the National Board of Review. Adam McKay's Dick Cheney biopic Vice was also left out in the cold, as was Widows, Steve McQueen's heist thriller starring Viola Davis. Netflix's Roma, a Best Picture frontrunner, isn't included either, but that's just because it wasn't eligible. Instead, it received a special award.
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