As the time approaches for the Academy Awards to be bestowed upon the best films of 2008, we realize one unsettling fact: There's a good chance that whatever wins won't actually be a very good film. (This is especially true if it's The Reader.) Oscar has a history of choosing Best Pictures that aren't all that great, and what do you know? We've ranked them! Here are the last 20 Best Picture winners, from least worthy to most.

20. Crash (2005). Undoubtedly the worst Best Picture winner of the last 20 years. Its only hope to be rescued from that distinction is for The Reader to win this year.

19. Forrest Gump (1994). Sappy, manipulative, and mediocre.

18. The English Patient (1996). I'm not fully convinced that anyone ever actually watched this.

17. A Beautiful Mind (2001). Another modestly entertaining but far from brilliant movie.

16. Shakespeare in Love (1998). See previous comment.

15. Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Nothing wrong with this sweet little film, but Best Picture? Come on.

14. Dances with Wolves (1990). Yawn.

13. Braveheart (1995). Isn't this movie nothing more than a mega-violent button-pusher? That is, it sets up a hero, then forces us to feel emotionally stirred when he gets ripped apart?

12. American Beauty (1999). What seemed like a fine film at the time now feels a little smug, though Kevin Spacey's performance holds up.

11. Rain Man (1988). Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman at their best -- two very different flavors that taste great together. OK, maybe not great, but pretty good.

10. Gladiator (2000). Two and a half hours long, and not a wasted scene anywhere. Are you not entertained?

9. The Departed (2006). Martin Scorsese's vigorous, masculine cops-and-robbers epic.

8. Titanic (1997). Women love the first half. Men love the second half (where everyone dies). A decade later, the special effects are still pretty good, too.

7. Million Dollar Baby (2004). A sports movie that goes in completely unexpected directions and forces you to contemplate what you would do in that situation.

6. Chicago (2002). Deep? No. Toe-tappin'? Yes!

5. No Country for Old Men (2007). The futility of life, the meaninglessness of it all -- the Coens' favorite comic themes, played here with a straight face and a terrifying villain.

4. Unforgiven (1992). This gut-punching anti-violence Western is probably Clint Eastwood's best film.

3. Schindler's List (1993). Who can argue with Schindler's List?

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). On its own, it's terrific. As the culmination of a 10-hour epic adventure story, it's a landmark.

1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991). It has a lot more face-eating than the typical Oscar-winner, but it's alarmingly good at what it sets out to do, which is to creep you out and give you Anthony Hopkins nightmares.

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