Friday, February 24, 2012

2012 Academy Awards: Ranking the Nominees

I am stealing this idea from John at John Likes Movies, who was influenced by In Contention. Having just seen the final Best Picture nominee, and the last nominated film I will see before the ceremony, I thought I would rank this year's Academy Award nominees. I will start with a list of those I haven't seen, and then rank the ones I have. There might be a few surprises.

Films I haven't seen: A Cat in Paris, Chico and Rita, Bullhead, Footnote, In Darkness, Monsieur Lazhar, Rio, W.E, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Pina, Undefeated, Hell and Back Again, If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Real Steel, Margin Call and A Better Life.

1. A Separation
2. The Tree of Life
3. Drive
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
5. Moneyball
6. Midnight in Paris
7. The Descendants
8. Warrior
9. Rango
10. The Artist
11. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
12. The Ides of March
13. Hugo
14. The Muppets
15. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
16. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
17. Beginners
18. Kung Fu Panda 2
19. My Week With Marilyn
20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
21. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
22. Jane Eyre
23. The Help
24. Puss In Boots
25. War Horse
26. Albert Nobbs
27. Bridesmaids
28. The Iron Lady
29. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Trivia - There were only two ★★★★films nominated, but every film down to Beginners I rated ★★★★ or above. There is a big drop off with the bottom six films. Personally, how would you rank them?

14 comments:

  1. My ranking:

    1. A Separation
    2. Moneyball
    3. The Help
    4. Bridesmaids
    5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
    6. A Better Life
    7. Drive
    8. The Ides of March
    9. The Descendants
    10. Margin Call
    11. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
    12. Midnight in Paris
    13. The Artist
    14. Kung Fu Panda 2
    (4 1/2 to 5 stars)

    then...

    15. Warrior
    16. Jane Eyre
    17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
    18. The Muppets
    19. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
    20. Hugo
    21. The Adventures of Tintin
    22. The Iron Lady
    23. War Horse
    24. Rio
    25. Real Steel
    26. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
    27. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
    28. Beginners
    29. Bullhead
    30. Rango
    31. Albert Nobbs
    (4 stars)

    32. Tree of Life
    33. Puss In Boots
    (3 stars)

    Btw, haven't you seen My Week With Marilyn and Puss In Boots?

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  2. Wow, we're very different. Except with our #1. You weren't a fan of Rango?

    Thanks for picking up the two I missed - I have seen them and forgot all about them. They don't feature that high haha.

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  3. A Separation is just frickin brilliant. I don't hate Rango, I just didn't enjoy it as much as other films (4 stars is a pretty decent rating, no?). I even respect Tree of Life a lot, those "dead" moments just annoyed me a bit.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah 4 Stars is a very good score - but some of the films at the bottom of my list were getting 1 to 2 stars. Tree of Life was one of the most wonderful experiences for me. Few films (A Separation is one) came close to it - but I understand the polarising opinions. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  4. Sorry, I mis-read something and I thought it was yours. How can anyone pick Extremely Ludicrous & Incredibly Cloy over The Tree of Life?

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    Replies
    1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is not the worst film nominated for Best Pic.

      I am actually leaning on the positive side of the fence for that one. I was moved - and I thought Thomas Horn was superb. I am in the minority, but that's how I feel. It is, of course, no Tree of Life.

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  5. Oh, Transformers is at the bottom? I thought it would have featured closer to the top! Haha.

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    Replies
    1. Transformers has a strong challenger - The Iron Lady. Both were complete wastes of time.

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    2. The Iron Lady may be the worst movie from 2011 for me :) Nice list, glad to see Moneyball so high.

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    3. It is an awful film. I loved Moneyball. My second fav. of the Best Pic nominees. Really want Zaillian and Sorkin to win Adapted Screenplay.

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  6. I'm sorry, Andy, but "Beginners" is about 17 places to low. Not that I'm insanely biased.

    On a related note, I watched "If A Tree Falls" last night on DVD. A really good and even-handed doc.

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    Replies
    1. I enjoyed Beginners - but it just didn't move me the same way as it did for others. Though I found myself relating a little to McGregor's character. Laurent was stunning, and Plummer was great. I haven't seen any of the docos but this is the second time I have heard positive reports about 'If A Tree Falls'. Will have to check it out in future. I predict PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY, but I really have no idea.

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    สมาชิกใหม่ไม่ต้องรอลุ้น

    ReplyDelete