Amour

(Actual winner: Argo)

Oscar commentators sometimes assert that the Academy favors films about Hollywood, which partly explains why Ben Affleck's exhilarating crowd-pleaser "Argo" cruised throughout awards season as the leading candidate for Best Picture, before taking home the main prize on Oscar night.

And yet, none of the nine films nominated for An Oscar at the 2013 Academy Awards (including Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," and Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty") came close to matching Michael Haneke's "Amour" in terms of emotional heft and unflinching honesty.

The Academy did the Palme d'Or winner justice by nominating it for several Academy Awards in addition to Best Foreign Language Film, including Best Actress (for Emmanuelle Riva), Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, but this was years before "Parasite" opened the door for foreign-language films to win Best Picture, and thus the film never had a chance to win the top prize. According to IndieWire, "Amour" is the decade's 25th finest film.

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Year of Release: 2012

Director: Michael Haneke

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94/100

IMDB Score: 7.9/10