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First off, I'd like to thank the Academy. Seriously, way to go, guys, you actually didn't do too bad a job this year with the Best Picture lineup. What's more, you used the opportunity of nominating ten films, rather than five, for good instead of evil. I didn't know you had something like this in you, but your top ten list matched up 50% with mine, which is impressive considering that in 2007 my top ten list combined for a single Academy Award nomination (Best Costumes for Across the Universe) and none of the Best Picture nominees made my top 15 list.

So maybe it's not them, but me. I'm known for having movie tastes that run counter to the mainstream, and while my top ten list this year had some unconventional choices — such as foreign dark comedies Four Lions and Terribly Happy — it also included some movies that were embraced by critics, audiences, and the Academy. Of course, maybe it isn't me or them, but rather the film industry itself. A group of filmmakers just happened to make a handful of movies that pleased the Academy while simultaneously earning my appreciation. Before this year, the only Danny Boyle movie that did well at the Oscars was my least favorite film of his career, and the Coen brothers are very hit-and-miss both with me and the Academy, and rarely do they hit both me and them with the same film. This year was the exception.

Of course, having this many great movies nominated for Best Picture makes it much harder for me to rank the nominees from best to worst. The fact that there are five great Best Picture nominees, three genuinely good ones, one pretty good one, and one that was kind of okay, is remarkable considering that last year The Blind Side, as awful as it was, managed not to be the worst nominee of the year (that's right, I hated Avatar even more than The Blind Side). So ranking the 2011 Best Picture nominees was an arduous task, and when push came to shove, I called “uncle” and cheated:


1, 2, and 3: Black Swan, Inception, and The Social Network

I know, I know, it doesn't really count if I lump all three of them at the top, but you have to give me some credit here. When was the last time the studio system produced three such unique and superb films in the span of six months? All three films are essentially perfect, in that they are extremely ambitious, have a clear style and tone they are attempting to create, and are flawlessly executed. From writing to acting to cinematography to sound design to score, I would be hard-pressed to point out anything wrong with any of these films, and after that it's really just a matter of opinion. If you put a gun to my head and force me to put them in order, I would first suggest you question your priorities in life, and then put them in the order I listed above. Let's just say I did it because Natalie Portman is hotter than Leo Dicaprio, who is hotter than Jesse Eisenberg.

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