There's a fallacy that anything recognized by the Academy Awards is the equivalent of "eating your vegetables." Over the Oscars' nearly 100-year history, this has never been true. Sure, the crop of Best Picture winners features its fair share of banal, forgettable historical biopics and turgid dramas, and the term "Oscar bait" exists for a reason. However, some of the most crowd-pleasing and entertaining movies of all time have been rightfully crowned Best Picture by the Academy. Voters understand that making the viewer feel alive and actively involved is a film's most powerful trait, and these 8 honorees of the Oscars' top prize are the finest examples of appealing to the masses while retaining their artistic merit.


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