# AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Time Capsule

The AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Time Capsule is one of the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards presented annually by the AARP. The award honors the film that best encapsulates a specific period in history, usually from the twentieth century.

## History

The award for Best Time Capsule was first given in 2003, when the awards expanded beyond their initial categories of Best Movie for Grownups, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Documentary, Best Foreign Film, and Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up.
No films were nominated for or awarded Best Time Capsule between 2006 and 2011. No explanation was given for the award's disappearance, or for its return with the 2011 awards.

## Winners and Nominees

    indicates the winners.

### 2000s

| Year | Film | Director |
| 2002 (2nd) | Catch Me If You Can‡ | Steven Spielberg |
| 2002 (2nd) | Confessions of a Dangerous Mind | George Clooney |
| 2002 (2nd) | Far from Heaven | Todd Haynes |
| 2002 (2nd) | Road to Perdition | Sam Mendes |
| 2003 (3rd) | Down with Love‡ | Peyton Reed |
| 2003 (3rd) | A Mighty Wind | Christopher Guest |
| 2003 (3rd) | Seabiscuit | Gary Ross |
| 2004 (4th) | De-Lovely‡ | Irwin Winkler |
| 2004 (4th) | The Aviator | Martin Scorsese |
| 2004 (4th) | Beyond the Sea | Kevin Spacey |
| 2004 (4th) | The Notebook | Nick Cassavetes |
| 2004 (4th) | Vera Drake | Mike Leigh |
| 2005 (5th) | Cinderella Man‡ | Ron Howard |
| 2005 (5th) | Good Night, and Good Luck. | George Clooney |
| 2005 (5th) | North Country | Niki Caro |
| 2005 (5th) | Capote | Bennett Miller |
| 2005 (5th) | Munich | Steven Spielberg |
| 2006 (6th) | Hollywoodland‡ | Allen Coulter |
| 2006 (6th) | Bobby | Emilio Estevez |
| 2006 (6th) | Flags of Our Fathers | Clint Eastwood |
| 2006 (6th) | Glory Road | James Gartner |
| 2006 (6th) | The Queen | Stephen Frears |
| 2007 (7th) | The award for Best Time Capsule was not given in 2008. | N/A |
| 2008 (8th) | N/A | N/A |
| 2009 (9th) | N/A | N/A |

### 2010s

| Year | Film | Director |
| 2010 (10th) | N/A | N/A |
| 2011 (11th) | J. Edgar‡ | Clint Eastwood |
| 2011 (11th) | The Help | Tate Taylor |
| 2011 (11th) | The Iron Lady | Phyllida Lloyd |
| 2011 (11th) | Midnight in Paris | Woody Allen |
| 2012 (12th) | Argo‡ | Ben Affleck |
| 2012 (12th) | Hitchcock | Sacha Gervasi |
| 2012 (12th) | Hyde Park on Hudson | Roger Michell |
| 2013 (13th) | American Hustle‡ | David O. Russell |
| 2013 (13th) | Lee Daniels' The Butler | Lee Daniels |
| 2013 (13th) | Dallas Buyers Club | Jean-Marc Vallée |
| 2013 (13th) | Inside Llewyn Davis | Joel and Ethan Coen |
| 2013 (13th) | The Wolf of Wall Street | Martin Scorsese |
| 2014 (14th) | Big Eyes‡ | Tim Burton |
| 2014 (14th) | Get on Up | Tate Taylor |
| 2014 (14th) | Jersey Boys | Clint Eastwood |
| 2014 (14th) | Selma | Ava DuVernay |
| 2015 (15th) | Love & Mercy‡ | Bill Pohlad |
| 2015 (15th) | Carol | Nagy|Phyllis Nagy |
| 2015 (15th) | Joy | David O. Russell |
| 2015 (15th) | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Guy Ritchie |
| 2015 (15th) | Straight Outta Compton | F. Gary Gray |
| 2016 (16th) | Jackie‡ | Pablo Larraín |
| 2016 (16th) | Hidden Figures | Theodore Melfi |
| 2016 (16th) | Loving | Jeff Nichols |
| 2016 (16th) | Rules Don't Apply | Warren Beatty |
| 2016 (16th) | The Founder | John Lee Hancock |
| 2017 (17th) | Dunkirk‡ | Christopher Nolan |
| 2017 (17th) | Battle of the Sexes | Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton |
| 2017 (17th) | Darkest Hour | Joe Wright |
| 2017 (17th) | I, Tonya | Craig Gillespie |
| 2017 (17th) | The Post | Steven Spielberg |
| 2018 (18th) | If Beale Street Could Talk‡ | Barry Jenkins |
| 2018 (18th) | BlacKkKlansman | Spike Lee |
| 2018 (18th) | Bohemian Rhapsody | Bryan Singer |
| 2018 (18th) | First Man | Damien Chazelle |
| 2018 (18th) | Roma | Alfonso Cuarón |
| 2019 (19th) | Harriet‡ | Kasi Lemmons |
| 2019 (19th) | Judy | Rupert Goold |
| 2019 (19th) | Little Women | Greta Gerwig |
| 2019 (19th) | Motherless Brooklyn | Edward Norton |
| 2019 (19th) | Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood | Quentin Tarantino |

### 2020s

| Year | Film | Director |
| 2020/21 (20th) | Mank‡ | David Fincher |
| 2020/21 (20th) | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Ruben Santiago Hudson |
| 2020/21 (20th) | One Night in Miami... | Kemp Powers |
| 2020/21 (20th) | The Trial of the Chicago 7 | Aaron Sorkin |
| 2020/21 (20th) | The United States vs. Billie Holiday | Lee Daniels |
| 2021 (21st) | Spencer‡ | Pablo Larraín |
| 2021 (21st) | Being the Ricardos | Aaron Sorkin |
| 2021 (21st) | Belfast | Kenneth Branagh |
| 2021 (21st) | Licorice Pizza | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 2021 (21st) | West Side Story | Steven Spielberg |
| 2022 (22nd) | Elvis‡ | Baz Luhrmann |
| 2022 (22nd) | Armageddon Time | James Gray |
| 2022 (22nd) | Babylon | Damien Chazelle |
| 2022 (22nd) | The Fabelmans | Steven Spielberg |
| 2022 (22nd) | Till | Chinonye Chukwu |
| 2023 (23rd) | Maestro‡ | Bradley Cooper |
| 2023 (23rd) | Ferrari | Michael Mann |
| 2023 (23rd) | Oppenheimer | Christopher Nolan |
| 2023 (23rd) | Priscilla | Sofia Coppola |
| 2023 (23rd) | Rustin | George C. Wolfe |