Best movies that are oscar winners or nominees in actor in a leading role category

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 80

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.



Invictus(2009)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 81

Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.



Fences(2016)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 85

A working-class African-American father tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life.



Joker(2019)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 80

In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.



Taxi Driver(1976)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 80

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, while attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.



Darkest Hour(2017)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 84

During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.



Gangs of New York(2002)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 79

In 1863, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.



Cold Mountain(2003)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 80

In the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.



Walk the Line(2005)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 79

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.



Half Nelson(2006)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 82

An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.



A Single Man(2009)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 81

An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.



Captain Fantastic(2016)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 80

In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.



The Two Popes(2019)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 81

Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.



Annie Hall(1977)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 79

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall.



The Silence of the Lambs(1991)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.



The Insider(1999)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 80

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a "60 Minutes" expose on Big Tobacco.



Gladiator(2000)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 76

When a Roman General is betrayed, and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.



Cast Away(2000)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island.



Ray(2004)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 79

The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.



The Last King of Scotland(2006)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 79

Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970's.




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