I have been a film buff since childhood and in recent months have reconnected with dozens of old favorites thanks to channels that include AMC, Netflix, ROKU, and TCM.

For background information, I think these are the best sources:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)

American Film Institute (AFI)

Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

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For example, Oscar recipients for Best Film of the Year (1996-2019). Here they are:

1996 Forrest Gump
1997 Braveheart
1998 The English Patient
1999 Titanic
2000 Shakespeare in Love

2001 American Beauty
2002 Gladiator
2003 A Beautiful Mind
2004 Chicago
2005 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2005 Million Dollar Baby
2006 Crash
2007 The Departed
2008 No Country for Old Men
2009 Slumdog Millionaire

2010 The Hurt Locker
2011 The Artist
2012 Argo
2013 12 Years a Slave
2014 Birdman

2015 Spotlight
2016 Moonlight
2017 The Shape of Water
2018 Green Book
2019 Parasite

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The notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began with Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and improve the industry’s image. He met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetson, to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having an annual banquet was discussed, but no mention of awards at that time. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry: actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers.

After their brief meeting, Mayer gathered up a group of thirty-six people involved in the film industry and invited them to a formal banquet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on January 11, 1927. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. Between that evening and when the official Articles of Incorporation for the organization were filed on May 4, 1927, the “International” was dropped from the name, becoming the “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”

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IMDb (Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television programs, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, plot summaries, trivia, ratings, and fan and critical reviews. An additional fan feature, message boards, was abandoned in February 2017. Originally a fan-operated website, the database is owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.

As of January 2020, IMDb has approximately 6.5 million titles (including episodes) and 10.4 million personalities in its database, as well as 83 million registered users.

IMDb began as a movie database on the Usenet group “rec.arts.movies” in 1990 and moved to the web in 1993.