Best Picture An editor recently made this edit about American Beauty being the first Best Picture winner in eight years which was primarily set in the present day While uncited it sounded like a worthwhile observation to consider Through Google Books Search I found this that says Dealing with the here and now American Beauty also had the distinction of being contemporary In the last twenty years only five contemporary movies have won Best Picture the other four being Ordinary People Terms of Endearment Rain Man and The Silence of the Lambs I would include the contemporary nature of American Beauty in some fashion though I don t think that the eight year timespan is worth noting It should just focus on mentioning how occasional the contemporary Best Picture winner can be