How to watch almost every Oscar-winning picture

CANCEL all other plans. You only have three weeks to watch 70 out of 89 Best Picture Oscar winners before another film is added to the elite club.

HOW many of the 89 Best Picture Oscar winners can you watch in the three weeks until this year’s ceremony?

If you’ve always wanted to catch up on all those movies you’re supposed to have seen by now but never got around to, now’s a good time to start.

Foxtel is running an Oscars pop-up channel, running 70 best picture winners, plus La La Land (the unofficial winner for about four minutes) for good measure.

Starting with 1927 winner Wings, starring silent screen legend Clara Bow, and ending with last year’s exquisite honouree Moonlight, the whole program plays out over the span of a week. We’re assuming you’ll want to sleep, shower and maybe go to work at some point so you can catch up on whatever you miss the following week, save it on your iQ or pull it up on Foxtel On Demand.

You could relive the suspense of The Silence Of The Lambs (1991), The French Connection (1971) or The Deer Hunter (1978). You could sing along to West Side Story (1961), Chicago (2002) and The Sound Of Music (1965). Rediscover the comedic banter of The Apartment (1960) or Annie Hall (1977).

Strap in for the harrowing war experiences of The Hurt Locker (2009), On The Waterfront (1954) and Bridge On The River Kwai (1957).

If you find yourself with lots of time to spare, the Oscar list is not short of epics — Gone With The Wind (1939), Ben-Hur (1959), Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) and Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003) all clock in well past the three-hour mark.

There are 19 films missing from the list (due to broadcast rights), which you’ll have to find elsewhere, including proper classics such as One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, It Happened One Night and Rebecca. As for Gigi? You’re not missing too much there, except for Maurice Chevalier’s now-creepy song about “little girls”.

This is every movie playing on the channel:

Originally published as How to watch almost every Oscar-winning picture