Buzzworthy Suggestions for Best Overall Awards

Awarded to the individual or film regardless of genre. For each award, you may vote for up to ten different nominees. You may also cast up to three Power Votes, divided among your ten nominations any way you choose (one each for three different nominees, all three for one, or two for one and one for another). We have provided “buzzworthy” suggestions for each award. You may choose from the suggestions and/or may write in your own.

• Rules about voting
• Vote for the Best Overall nominees
• See lists and buzzworthy suggestions for other 20th Anniversary Awards

Best Director of All Time

Awarded to the film director living or dead whose entire body of work you most admire. Excludes the winner of the Best Director Lifetime Achievement Award issued at the 2001 awards.

Not Eligible: Alfred Hitchcock

Buzzworthy: Robert Altman • Paul Thomas Anderson • Wes Anderson • Gregg Araki • Darren Aronofsky • Ingmar Bergman • Kathryn Bigelow • Tim Burton • James Cameron • Frank Capra • Charlie Chaplin • Damien Chazelle • Joel and Ethan Coen • Bill Condon • Ryan Coogler • Francis Ford Coppola • Alfonso Cuarón • George Cukor • Stephen Daldry • Lee Daniels • Brian De Palma • Guillermo Del Toro • Clint Eastwood • Federico Fellini • David Fincher • John Ford • Miloš Forman • Stephen Frears • Greta Gerwig • Dan Gilroy • Michel Gondry • Paul Greengrass • D. W. Griffith • Luca Guadagnino • Paul Haggis • Todd Haynes • Tom Hooper • Ron Howard • John Huston • Alejandro G. Iñárritu • Peter Jackson • Barry Jenkins • Patty Jenkins • Bong Joon-ho • Stanley Kubrick • Akira Kurosawa • Fritz Lang • Yorgos Lanthimos • David Lean • Ang Lee • Spike Lee • Richard Linklater • Kenneth Lonergan • George Lucas • Baz Luhrmann • Sidney Lumet • David Lynch • David Mackenzie • Joseph L. Mankiewicz • Rob Marshall • Tom McCarthy • Adam McKay • Steve McQueen • Theodore Melfi • Sam Mendes • Bennett Miller • George Miller • John Cameron Mitchell • Mike Nichols • Christopher Nolan • Alexander Payne • Jordan Peele • Todd Phillips • David O. Russell • Martin Scorsese • Ridley Scott • John Singleton • Steven Spielberg • Quentin Tarantino • François Troufaut • Morten Tyldum • Gore Verbinski • King Vidor • Denis Villeneuve • Peter Weir • Orson Welles • Billy Wilder • George C. Wolfe • Franco Zeffirelli • Chloé Zhao • Fred Zinnemann

Best Costume Design and Make-Up of All Time

Awarded to the film whose costume design, hair styling, and/or make-up are deemed by Cosmo voters to be the best.

Buzzworthy: 12 Years a Slave (2013) • 8½ (1963) • The Addams Family (1991) • Adventures of Don Juan (1949) • The Age of Innocence (1993) • Alice in Wonderland (2010) • All About Eve (1950) • All That Jazz (1979) • Amadeus (1984) • The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) • American Hustle (2013) • Amistad (1997) • An American in Paris (1951) • Anna Karenina (2012) • Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) • Antebellum (2020) • Around the World in 80 Days (1956) • The Artist (2011) • Avengers: Endgame (2019) • The Aviator (2004) • The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) • Barry Lyndon (1975) • Beauty and the Beast (2017) • Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) • Bell, Book and Candle (1958) • Ben-Hur (1959) • Birds of Prey (2020) • Black Mass (2015) • Black Panther (2018) • Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) • Bugsy (1991) • Camelot (1967) • Carol (2015) • Chariots of Fire (1981) • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) • Chicago (2002) • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) • Cinderella (2015) • Cleopatra (1963) • The Color Purple (1985) • Cromwell (1970) • Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) • Dallas Buyers Club (2013) • Dangerous Liaisons (1988) • The Danish Girl (2015) • Darkest Hour (2017) • Darling (1965) • Deadpool (2016) • Death on the Nile (1978) • The Devil Wears Prada (2006) • The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) • Dick Tracy (1990) • Doctor Zhivago (1965) • Down With Love (2003) • The Duchess (2008) • Elizabeth (1998) • Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) • The English Patient (1996) • The Facts of Life (1960) • Fanny and Alexander (1983) • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) • Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) • Far From Heaven (2002) • The Favourite (2018) • Fellini’s Casanova (1976) • The Fifth Element (1997) • Gandhi (1982) • Gangs of New York (2002) • Gate of Hell (1954) • Gigi (1958) • Girl With the Pearl Earring (2003) • Gladiator (2000) • Gosford Park (2001) • The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) • The Great Gatsby (1974) • The Great Gatsby (2013) • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) • Hamlet (1948) • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) • Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) • The Heiress (1949) • Hello, Dolly! (1969) • Henry V (1989) • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) • Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) • I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955) • I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) • Inception (2010) • Into the Woods (2014) • Jackie (2016) • Joan of Arc (1948) • The King and I (1956) • The King’s Speech (2010) • La Cage aux Folles (1979) • La Dolce Vita (1961) • The Last Emperor (1987) • Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) • Les Girls (1957) • Les Misérables (2012) • Lincoln (2012) • The Lion in Winter (1968) • Little Women (2019) • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) • Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) • Maleficent (2014) • Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) • A Man for All Seasons (1966) • Marie Antoinette (2006) • Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) • Mary Poppins (1964) • Mary Poppins Returns (2018) • Mary Queen of Scots (2018) (2018) • Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) • Maurice (1987) • Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) • Midsommar (2019) • Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016) • Moulin Rouge (1952) • Moulin Rouge (2001) • Mr. Holmes (2015) • Mulan (2020) • Murder on the Orient Express (2017) • My Fair Lady (1964) • Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) • The Night of the Iguana (1964) • Oliver! (1968) • Orlando (1993) • Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) • Pan (2015) • Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) • A Passage to India (1984) • Phantom Thread (2017) • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) • A Place in the Sun (1951) • Planet of the Apes (1968) • Pleasantville (1998) • Pride and Prejudice (2005) • Ragtime (1981) • Ran (1985) • Ray (2004) • Restoration (1995) • The Robe (1953) • Rocketman (2019) • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) • Roman Holiday (1953) • Romeo and Juliet (1968) • A Room with a View (1986) • Sabrina (1954) • Samson and Delilah (1950) • Schindler’s List (1993) • Serenity (2005) • Shakespeare in Love (1998) • The Shape of Water (2017) • Sleepy Hollow (1999) • Snowpiercer (2014) • The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) • Some Like It Hot (1959) • Sophie’s Choice (1982) • The Sound of Music (1965) • Spartacus (1960) • Spider-Man (2002) • Spider-Man 2 (2004) • Star Trek Beyond (2016) • Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) • Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) • The Sting (1973) • Suicide Squad (2016) • Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) • The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) • Tess (1980) • Titanic (1997) • Topsy-Turvy (1999) • Travels with My Aunt (1972) • Troy (2004) • Valmont (1989) • Vanity Fair (2004) • Vice (2018) • Victor/Victoria (1982) • West Side Story (1961) • What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) • The Witches (2020) • The Wiz (1978) • The Wolfman (2010) • Wonder Woman (2017) • Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) • The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) • X2: X-Men United (2003) • X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) • The Young Victoria (2009)

Best Screenplay of All Time

Awarded by Cosmo voters to the film deemed by Cosmo voters to have the best script or screenplay of all time. No distinction is made between original and adapted screenplays. The winner of this award at the 2001 Cosmos is not eligible to win again. The buzzworthy list was created from previous annual Cosmo winners, Cosmo Lifetime Achievement nominees, and a list created by the Writers Guild of America.

Not Eligible: All About Eve (1950)

Buzzworthy: Adaptation (2002) • Amadeus (1984) • American Beauty (1999) • Annie Hall (1977) • The Apartment (1960) • Apocalypse Now (1979) • August: Osage County (2013) • Being There (1979) • The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) • Birdman (2014) • BlackKklansman (2018) • The Bridge On the River Kwai (1957) • Broadcast News (1987) • Brokeback Mountain (2005) • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) • Casablanca (1942) • Chinatown (1974) • Citizen Kane (1941) • Double Indemnity (1944) • Dr. Strangelove (1964) • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) • Ex Machina (2015) • Fargo (2014) • Get Out (2017) • The Godfather (1972) • The Godfather II (1974) • Gone with the Wind (1939) • Goodfellas (1990) • The Graduate (1967) • Groundhog Day (1993) • Harold and Maude (1971) • Hidden Figures (2016) • His Girl Friday (1940) • Inception (2010) • It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) • Knives Out (2019) • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) • A Letter to Three Wives (1949) • The Lion In Winter (1968) • Little Miss Sunshine (2006) • Lost in Translation (2003) • The Maltese Falcon (1941) • Memento (2001) • Midnight Cowboy (1969) • Network (1976) • North By Northwest (1959) • On the Waterfront (1954) • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) • Ordinary People (1980) • The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) • The Philadelphia Story (1940) • The Princess Bride (1987) • Promising Young Woman (2020) • Pulp Fiction (1994) • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) • Schindler’s List (1993) • Shakespeare in Love (1998) • The Shawshank Redemption (1994) • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) • The Sixth Sense (1999) • Some Like It Hot (1959) • Sophie’s Choice (1982) • The Sting (1973) • Sullivan’s Travels (1941) • Sunset Blvd. (1950) • The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) • Taxi Driver (1976) • Terms of Endearment (1983) • The Third Man (1949) • To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) • Tootsie (1982) • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) • Unforgiven (1992) • The Usual Suspects (1995) • When Harry Met Sally (1989) • The Wizard of Oz (1939) • The Women (1939)

Buzzworthy Suggestions for Other Awards

• Best Overall Awards
• Acting Awards
• Action Film Awards
• Comedic Film Awards
• Crime Film Awards
• Historical and Pseudo-Historical Film Awards
• Holiday Movie Awards
• Horror Film Awards
• LGBTQ+ Film Awards
• Musicals and Music Film Awards
• Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Awards
• War Film Awards
• Western Film Awards
• Other Miscellaneous Film Genre Awards