Critically acclaimed movies that are oscar winners or nominees in directing category

Million Dollar Baby(2004)

Combined Rating:
92
Combined Critics Rating: 88

A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional.



Brokeback Mountain(2005)

Combined Rating:
91
Combined Critics Rating: 88

The story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years.



The Departed(2006)

Combined Rating:
92
Combined Critics Rating: 88

An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.



The Queen(2006)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 88

After the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.



United 93(2006)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 88

A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on September 11th, 2001 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.



Avatar(2009)

Combined Rating:
92
Combined Critics Rating: 88

A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.



The Tree of Life(2011)

Combined Rating:
91
Combined Critics Rating: 88

The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.



Nebraska(2013)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 88

An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million-dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.



1917(2019)

Combined Rating:
91
Combined Critics Rating: 88

April 6th, 1917. As a regiment assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.



Lawrence of Arabia(1962)

Combined Rating:
91
Combined Critics Rating: 88

The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.



Licorice Pizza(2021)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 88

The story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.



The Banshees of Inisherin(2022)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 88

Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.



Letters from Iwo Jima(2006)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 87

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.



Milk(2008)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 87

The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.



Up in the Air(2009)

Combined Rating:
91
Combined Critics Rating: 87

Ryan Bingham enjoys living out of a suitcase for his job traveling around the country firing people, but finds that lifestyle threatened by the presence of a potential love interest and a new hire.



The Descendants(2011)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 87

A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.



The Big Short(2015)

Combined Rating:
91
Combined Critics Rating: 87

Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.



Mank(2020)

Combined Rating:
88
Combined Critics Rating: 87

1930's Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).





Black Swan(2010)

Combined Rating:
90
Combined Critics Rating: 86

A committed dancer wins the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" only to find herself struggling to maintain her sanity.




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