Considering the millions and millions of dollars it takes to make and market an Oscar-winning movie, it seems odd to say that you can watch some for the price of diddly squat.
Thanks to services like Freevee all it will cost you to watch these classic movies is your time. You might have to put up with the odd advert but it's a small price to pay for cinematic greatness. Here are three worth checking out.
P.S Here's how to watch the 2024 Oscar nominees.
1. Adaptation
This 2002 comedy drama is one of my favourite movies ever and earned Chris Cooper a best supporting actor win but what it should have won was Best Adapted Screenplay. Why? Because it's all about how screenwriter Charlie Kaufman couldn't figure out how to adapt a real book, The Orchid Thief, into a movie. Instead, he wrote this film about the process instead. Does your head hurt yet?
This is a wonderfully meta movie with Nicolas Cage (playing Kaufman) and Meryl Streep shining. I can't really explain everything that happens but please just watch it on Freevee.
2. The Big Short
Don't come for me but if you asked me to pick a movie about market trading, I'd take The Big Short over The Wolf of Wall Street every time.
The Best Adapted Screenplay winner stars its own financial fab four, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Steve Carrell in smaller stories that weave together on the brink of the 2008 US housing market crash.
This film is both hilarious and horrifying. It's smart, but you don't need to be a financial wizard to understand it either (I am not one), Margot Robbie even appears in one memorable cameo to explain the subprime mortgage crisis.
You can watch The Big Short for free on Plex.
3. Sophie's Choice
Of course, any list about the Oscars is bound to feature Meryl Streep multiple times and Mrs Streep won Best Actress for her turn in this 1982 classic.
Streep stars as Sophie, a Polish immigrant in 1947 New York who escaped unspeakable circumstances only to find herself trapped in an abusive relationship in America.
This heartwrenching drama has entered modern parlance as a descriptor for making an impossible choice and watching, it's easy to see why. This isn't one to watch after a hard day, but it is one every film fan should have on their list.
In the UK, you can watch Sophie's Choice for free on ITVX while US readers should try Plex or Freevee.
4. Monster's Ball
Halle Berry scooped the Best Actress award for this 2001 drama that also stars Billy Bob Thornton and the late great Heath Ledger. Again, it's not an easy watch, but drama is often rewarded with the Academy.
Berry plays the wife of a man just executed by the state who unknowingly falls for one of the very guards who put him to death. Both of them have suffered more hardship than most and bond over their shared trauma. Again, please don't watch if you're not in the right mood, but it is a gripping story.
Monster's Ball is available on ITVX in the UK and The Roku Channel in the US.
5. The Apartment
A 1960 Best Picture winner, The Apartment is a classic from another era starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. As far as romantic comedies go, it's considered one of the greatest ever produced.
Lemmon plays Bud Baxter, a corporate drone who lends his apartment to his bosses for their extra-marital affairs in exchange for a promotion. Lending his place out for the last time, he's given two theater tickets to get him out of the house, but his date Fran (MacLaine) is double booked, tasked first with going to the apartment. An old-fashioned screwball comedy that you can now watch for nothing.
The Apartment is available on ITVX in the UK and The Roku Channel in the US.
