Ranking 2011's Oscar Nominated Films

I've had the feeling that I saw less Oscar nominated movies this year than in previous years. Not so. In fact I feel less complete in Oscar knowledge this year than in previous years when I had seen more films nominated. This year, it scales out to 24, only 5 of which I'd profess to truly love, and only one of those is nominated where it most matters. "Drive" only has one nomination to its name. The worst film I saw of the bunch, until today, was "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", and it has three, which I suppose is somewhat deserving, but it only repeats the Academy's favoritism towards glitzy, gaudy, and obvious.

If nothing else, this gives me an outlet for ranking some of the other films that didn't make the cut past the top 20. I have no doubt people will think I'm crazy in ranking "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" above "The Tree of Life", "The Descendants", and "The Adventures of Tintin", but for the life of me I had more of an experience in Michael Bay's rampant actioner than I did with those that rank lower than it. Anything lower than 20, I did not like, so the majority of the films nominated that I've seen, I do enjoy them. I think that they are rather good. It doesn't change the fact that there are better films out there that simply aren't being represented here, and that's a shame.

1. "Drive"

2. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

3. "A Separation"

4. "The Artist"

5. "The Muppets"

6. "Rango"

7. "Midnight in Paris"

8. "The Tree of Life"

9. "The Ides of March"

10. "Kung Fu Panda 2"

11. "Jane Eyre"

12. "The Adventures of Tintin"

13. "Moneyball"

14. "Bridesmaids"

15. "Beginners"

16. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

17. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

18. "Warrior"

19. "The Help"

20. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

21. "Real Steel"

22. "The Descendants"

23. "Hugo"

24. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
25. "War Horse"