5 Academy Award-winning Prime Video movies to watch this week (March 16

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In honor of last night’s 98th Academy Awards, this week we’re focusing on the films that took home the gold statue. There is, however, a catch. Instead of looking at current nominees and winners, we’re exploring some of the 20th century Oscar winners streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

The number one pick this week is a Best Picture masterpiece with so much quotable dialogue it’s ridiculous; then, we dive into a psychological horror film that will require beans and a good bottle of Chianti. Rounding out the list is a 1985 classic that has captured the hearts of viewers for decades. Enjoy these five films this week on Prime Video.

5

Out of Africa (1985)

A love story for the ages

Easily one of the most acclaimed romance films of the 1980s, Out of Africa is an epic drama loosely adapted from Karen Blixen’s 1937 autobiography, among other sources, about her life in Kenya from 1913 to 1931. Produced and directed by Sydney Pollack, the film is known for its deep and heartfelt portrayal of Blixen’s life.

Meryl Streep plays Karen, a Danish aristocrat who moves to Africa to join her husband in running what she believes to be their dairy farm. However, upon her arrival, she discovers that he has invested their money in a coffee plantation. After he has an affair and leaves, Karen has to manage the farm. Seeking help, she turns to free-spirited big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton (the late Robert Redford) and quickly falls in love. However, upon realizing that he prefers a simpler life to his upper-class background, she has a decision to make: love or personal growth.

Out of Africa received 11 Academy Award nominations, including seven in 1986: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Art Direction and Set Decoration, and Best Original Score.

Out of Africa

Release date: December 20, 1985
Runtime: 161 minutes
Director: Sydney Pollack

4

The Pianist (2002)

Adrien Brody in his best performance

Boasting a 95% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, The pianist is a biographical war drama telling the true story of a Polish-Jewish classical musician struggling to survive the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

Adrien Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a radio pianist who sees life change before his eyes as the war begins. After being forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, he was later separated from his family during Operation Reinhard. As the situation worsens, he endures years of starvation, horror, and isolation while hiding in the ruins of Warsaw, relying on luck and friendly strangers to survive until the war ends. But just before, he is discovered by a German officer who spares his life after hearing him play the piano. If the film is heartbreaking, it ends with liberation.

The pianist received seven Oscar nominations, including three in 2003: best actor (Brody), best director and best adapted screenplay.

The pianist

Release date: March 28, 2003
Runtime: 150 minutes
Director: Romain Polanski

3

The Rain Man (1988)

No umbrella required

In 1988, Rain man took the audience by storm. Stars Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman star in Barry Levinson’s hit comedy-drama.

Charlie Babbitt (Cruise) is a selfish and abrasive classic car dealer who discovers that his estranged father left a $3 million fortune to an older brother he never knew existed. Raymond (Hoffman) is an autistic savant with superb memorization skills in a mental institution who follows strict routines and is quite obsessed with observation. The people’s court with Judge Joseph Wapner. Motivated by money, Charlie kidnaps Raymond from the institution and the two embark on a cross-country road trip that transforms not only their relationship as brothers, but also as individuals understanding themselves in the world they find themselves in.

Rain man received eight Academy Award nominations and won four in 1989: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hoffman), and Best Screenplay. As of 2025, it is the only film to win both the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear and the Academy Award for Best Picture in the same year.

Rain man

Release date: December 16, 1988
Runtime: 134 minutes
Director: Barry Levinson

2

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The most impressive horror film of the 90s

While I think The silence of the lambs Deserving of a perfect critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the hit film has held up over the years at 95 percent. The gripping psychological horror film is based on the 1988 novel of the same name and features iconic performances from Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in just 16 minutes of screen time.

To stop a serial killer busy kidnapping, torturing, murdering, and skinning women, the FBI sends intern Clarice Starling (Foster) to interview an imprisoned subject who they believe can provide insight into Buffalo Bill, a composite character modeled after real serial killers. Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) is a grotesquely captivating and brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath and cannibal serving his life behind bars in a hospital for the criminally insane. He is enamored with Clarice’s arrival, and in exchange for personal details about her traumatic past, he agrees to provide cryptic clues on how to locate and apprehend Buffalo Bill.

The silence of the lambs won what are known as the Big Five Academy Awards in 1992: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Actress (Foster), and Best Adapted Screenplay. After three decades, the hit film remains the only horror film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

1

Forrest Gump (1994)

He can run like the wind blows

Forrest Gump is one of the greatest films of the 1990s. This unmissable gem from Robert Zemeckis tells the history of the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Sally Field and Gary Sinise deliver astonishing performances.

Forrest Gump (Hanks) may be simple and slow-witted, but he is sharp with an unwitting wit and has never considered himself at a disadvantage, thanks to his loving and supportive mother (Field). His childlike optimism is an inspiration wherever he goes, whether he’s dominating on the field as a college football star, fighting in Vietnam, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving the survivors of his platoon, or captaining a shrimp boat. Besides his mom, he cares most about his sweet but troubled childhood friend and only love, Jenny (Wright).

Forrest Gump received 13 Academy Award nominations and won six in 1995: Best Picture, Best Actor (Hanks), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects and Best Film Editing.