1. It Happened One Night (1934)
Watch on: Netflix UK and Ireland
Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night was the first movie to ever win in all five of the major Oscars categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.
2. Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Watch on: Netflix US
Controversial in its time, Gentleman's Agreement stars Gregory Peck as a journalist who pretends to be a Jewish man in order to research a story on anti-Semitism in New York City.
3. All About Eve (1950)
Watch on: Netflix Canada and more
You've probably heard of All About Eve, which stars Bette Davis and holds the record for the highest number of Oscar nominations (which has now been matched by Titanic and this year's La La Land).
4. The Godfather (1972)
Watch on: Netflix Australia, India, Japan, and more
The Godfather was the highest-grossing film ever at the time of its release, and according to the American Film Institute, it is the second-greatest film of all time, after Citizen Kane.
5. The Godfather Part II (1974)
Watch on: Netflix Australia, India, Japan, and more
The sequel to The Godfather was actually considered by some critics to be superior to the original (shocking, I know) and was the first sequel to win the Oscar for best picture.
6. Rocky (1976)
Watch on: Netflix Australia
There's no doubting that Rocky is an iconic movie – it was shot in less than a month, became the highest-grossing movie that year, and has like a thousand sequels. (OK, maybe not a thousand. It has six.)
7. Annie Hall (1977)
Watch on: Netflix UK and Australia
Annie Hall is considered to be one of the greatest comedies ever written and, as well as Best Picture, also won Oscars for Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.
8. Out of Africa (1985)
Watch on: Netflix Canada, Mexico, and more
Out of Africa is based (pretty loosely) on the true story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who moved to Kenya with her husband and promptly fell in love with an English army officer. Also, Meryl Streep!
9. Rain Man (1988)
Watch on: Netflix Australia
Starring Dustin Hoffman and a young, pre-Mission Impossible Tom Cruise, Rain Man earned eight Oscar nominations and won in four major categories – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
10. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Watch on: Netflix Australia
The Silence of the Lambs was only the third film to win Oscars in all five major categories, AND it's the only horror film to ever have won for Best Picture. It's great, but probably don't watch it alone.
11. Schindler's List (1993)
Watch on: Netflix Canada, Australia, and more
Starring Liam Neeson, directed by Steven Spielberg, and shot in black and white (apart from that little girl's red coat, of course), Schindler's List is another one considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time.
12. Braveheart (1995)
Watch on: Netflix US, Australia, and more
Braveheart stars Mel Gibson doing a Scottish accent and tells the story of the First War of Scottish Independence, which happened in the 13th century. Also, it's rated R for "brutal medieval warfare", if you're into that.
13. Titanic (1997)
Watch on: Netflix UK and Ireland
You don't need me to tell you about Titanic – it won, like, all the Oscars, holds the joint record for number of nominations, and sparked a decades-long debate about whether or not Leo could've fit on that door (spoiler: meh).
14. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Watch on: Netflix US
Shakespeare in Love is based (very) loosely on the life of (duh) William Shakespeare, while he was writing Romeo and Juliet. Also, Gwyneth Paltrow does a bizarrely good English accent in it.
15. American Beauty (1999)
Watch on: Netflix Canada, Australia, and more
American Beauty stars Kevin Spacey as a man who has a midlife crisis when he starts fancying his teenage daughter's friend. It won five major Academy Awards, and you'll probably recognise that iconic falling rose petals scene.
16. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Watch on: Netflix Australia, India, and more
A Beautiful Mind tells the true story of John Nash (played by Russell Crowe), a mathematician who developed paranoid schizophrenia at a young age. The movie won four Academy Awards and was nominated for a total of eight.
17. Chicago (2002)
Watch on: Netflix Canada
One of only a few musicals to ever win Best Picture, Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart, a woman who murders her husband and goes to prison, and whose solo songs will leave you bopping for days.
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Watch on: Netflix Canada, India, Mexico, and more
Return of the King is the second and final sequel to ever have won an Oscar for Best Picture (after The Godfather Part II, duh), and the only fantasy movie ever to do so.
19. The Departed (2006)
Watch on: Netflix Canada and Australia
Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed won four major awards at the Oscars and is considered to be one of the best movies of the noughties.
20. No Country for Old Men (2007)
Watch on: Netflix US, India, Mexico, and more
The Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men is described as a "neo-western neo-noir thriller", and if that doesn't fascinate you, I don't know what will, tbh.
21. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Watch on: Netflix Australia, Japan, and more
Slumdog Millionaire was the movie that shot a lil' baby Dev Patel to international fame. It won eight Oscars – the most of any film that year – as well as a whole bunch of other awards, and it's Fox Searchlight Pictures' highest-grossing film ever.
22. The Hurt Locker (2009)
Watch on: Netflix Canada, India, Japan, and more
Sure, we're talking about Best Picture here, but you probably remember The Hurt Locker as being the only movie by a female director (Kathryn Bigelow, fyi) to ever win Best Director. Sigh.
23. The King's Speech (2010)
Watch on: Netflix UK, Canada, and more
Starring Colin Firth as King George VI, The King's Speech won a whole bunch of awards, but most importantly it's great because you get to see a (fake) member of the royal family do a lot of swearing.
24. Argo (2012)
Watch on: Netflix Australia, India, and more
Directed by Ben Affleck, Argo tells the true(-ish) story of Tony Mendez, who led the rescue of six US diplomats from a hostage situation in Iran, all while pretending that he was just making a sci-fi movie. It's insanely tense.
25. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Watch on: Netflix Australia, Canada, India, and more
Adapted from the memoirs of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave tells the story of an African-American man who was kidnapped from Washington, DC, and sold into slavery in the mid-1800s.
26. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Watch on: Netflix UK, Japan, and Italy
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor who's haunted by a superhero role in his past. It's all filmed in one shot, and it's literally awesome.
27. Spotlight (2015)
Watch on: Netflix US
Spotlight tells the true story of the investigative journalists of the Boston Globe who, in the early noughties, uncovered the widespread sexual abuse of children by a large number of Roman Catholic priests. It's not exactly a lighthearted watch, but it's incredibly important.
