Last year I did this just for fun, so I thought I’d give it another whirl. My ranking of the 43 features nominated for an Oscar this year. (Interesting to note, last year it was 36 films. I wonder if it’s always pretty close to 40.)
Feel free to offer up your list of whatever you’ve seen in the comments section. The top 10 here, the rest after the jump:
1. “A Prophet”
2. “A Serious Man”
3. “Up in the Air”
4. “The Cove”
5. “Avatar”
6. “Precious”
7. “An Education”
8. “The Lovely Bones”
9. “Star Trek”
10. “The Messenger”
11. “The Hurt Locker”
12. “District 9”
13. “Food, Inc.”
14. “Up”
15. “Crazy Heart”
16. “The Secret in Their Eyes”
17. “Sherlock Holmes”
18. “Julie & Julia”
19. “Inglourious Basterds”
20. “Coraline”
21. “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
22. “In the Loop”
23. “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country”
24. “The Princess and the Frog”
25. “Bright Star”
26. “A Single Man”
27. “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
28. “The White Ribbon”
29. “Which Way Home”
30. “The Secret of Kells”
31. “The Last Station”
32. “The Blind Side”
33. “The Young Victoria”
34. “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
35. “The Milk of Sorrow”
36. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
37. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
38. “Nine”
39. “Coco Before Chanel”
40. “Il Divo”
41. “Ajami”
42. “Paris 36”
43. “Invictus”
The best film not nominated for a single Oscar: “Antichrist”
Comments
84 responses to “Ranking Oscar’s 43 features”
I love Un Prophete, too. And yet it’s a very sad, shameful disgrace that the colorless, style-less, emotionless White Ribbon is going to win the Foreign Language Oscar over it… I really really hope that doesn’t happen, but I’ve already begun to accept that it will.
Transformers 2 is better than Harry Potter 6?
I’m sure they’re both terrible but seriously, ouch.
1) A Serious Man
2) Public Enemies
3) A Single Man
4) Inglorious Basterds
5) Avatar/ Up in the Air
6) Crazy Heart
7) UP
8) Zombieland
9) Adventureland
10) World’s Greatest Dad
how far into that list before you stop actually liking the film? Because inglorious basterds seems pretty high.
Can’t fathom how someone could rate Julie and Julia higher than Inglourious Basterds, but it’s interesting that you do.
Love lists like this Kris, good work!
Well, I’ve not seen all the movies, so it’d be impossible to rank them all. I guess my top ten would look something like this, though:
1. A Serious Man
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Up in the Air
4. A Single Man
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Star Trek
7. The Hurt Locker
8. Avatar
9. Up
10. An Education
Actually, several of those could easily change position and I’d be just as satisfied with the list. I find it really hard to rank films, actually. I constantly second guess myself.
Makes me realize how few of these I’ve seen. I can’t imagine Transformers 2 being better than Harry Potter. The first one is probably in the conversation of the worst movies I’ve ever seen…
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Up in the Air
4. A Serious Man
5. Star Trek
6. An Education
7. The Messenger
8. Crazy Heart
9. Up
10. Sherlock Holmes
11. The Lovely Bones
12. District 9
13. Fantastic Mr Fox
14. Harry Potter
15. Julie & Julia
16. The Blind Side
17. Precious
18. Invictus
19. Avatar
01. The White Ribbon
02. A Serious Man
03. Inglourious Basterds
04. A Prophet
05. The Hurt Locker
06. Bright Star
07. Fantastic Mr. Fox
08. District 9
09. The Secret In Their Eyes
10. Up
11. Coraline
12. The Cove
13. Il Divo
14. Up In The Air
15. An Education
16. The Milk Of Sorrow
17. Avatar
18. The Messenger
19. Star Trek
20. In The Loop
21. Burma VJ
22. The Princess And The Frog
23. Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire
24. The Secret Of Kells
25. Food, Inc.
26. Sherlock Holmes
27. Nine
28. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
29. Invictus
30. The Young Victoria
31. Crazy Heart
32. Julie & Julia
33. Coco Before Chanel
34. The Blind Side
35. Paris 36
36. The Lovely Bones
37. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
Not seen: Ajami; The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus; The Last Station; The Most Dangerous Man In America; A Single Man; Which Way Home
You’re missing “Coraline” :)
Filmoholic: I fell asleep in HP6. I’m very much over the franchise. And re: TF2, I guess there’s something to be said for entertainment. But both suck.
Fitz: Are you looking at some parallel universe’s list of Oscar nominations?
Rhett: Just because I’ve been railing against IB as the overrated film that it is doesn’t mean I didn’t see plenty of merits in the production.
Diego: Crap! I’ll adjust.
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. In the Loop
3. Bright Star
4. Il Divo
5. A Serious Man
6. The White Ribbon
7. The Hurt Locker
8. Fantastic Mr. Fox
9. The Cove
10. Up in the Air
11. Star Trek
12. Up
13. An Education
14. Coco Before Chanel
15. Julie & Julia
16. Crazy Heart
17. District 9
18. Precious
19. Avatar
20. Food, Inc.
Have not seen the rest.
Wait, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is the only *bad* movie among the nominees … how does it get placed above “Half-Blood Prince” and “Invictus?” Come to think of it, how did it get listed above ANYTHING?
I also noticed “Avatar” is in your top ten. This doesn’t surprise me, but I, personally, prefer movies with decent a script in addition to great visuals. Also, you forgot “Coraline.”
Here’s my list.
1. A Prophet
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Up in the Air
4. In the Loop
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. Star Trek
7. District 9
8. A Serious Man
9. The Cove
10. Up
11. The Hurt Locker
12. An Education
13. The Messenger
14. Coraline
15. The White Ribbon
16. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
17. Precious
18. The Secret in Their Eyes
19. Crazy Heart
20. Sherlock Holmes
21. Food, Inc.
22. The Secret in Their Eyes
23. The Last Station
24. A Single Man
25. The Princess and the Frog
26. Bright Star
27. The Young Victoria
28. Invictus
29. Julie & Julia
30. Burma VJ
31. The Milk of Sorrow
32. Il Divo
33. The Most Dangerous Man in America
34. The Lovely Bones
35. Avatar
36. Coco Before Chanel
37. Ajami
38. The Blind Side
39. Nine
40. Paris 36
41. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
–. The Secret of Kells (haven’t seen it)
–. Which Way Home (haven’t seen it)
Oh, damn, no Coraline. I guess I would put that between An Education and Coco Before Chanel.
Best film not nominated for anything: Summer Hours, the second best film of 2009.
Harry Potter should have been #22, not Secret in Their Eyes, sorry.
Can’t see how anyone can place a film with dialogue as bad as Avatar’s so high on such a list?
Good God, tony rock, have you not followed my coverage this year? Something like that comes as a shock? Jesus…
Sorry, but how’s about everyone stop being such little bitches about my ranking and just offer up your own, hm?
At the risk of being a bitch, what about Il Divo was so poor to you, Kris?
1. A Single Man
2. Precious
3. Up in the Air
4. Star Trek
5. Avatar
6. An Education
7. Julie & Julia
8. Princess and the Frog
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
10. District 9
11. The Last Station
12. The Blind Side
13. Up
14. Crazy Heart
15. Inglourious Basterds
16. Sherlock Holmes
17. Bright Star
18. The Lovely Bones
19. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
19/42, eh. I really wish Where the Wild Things Are were in there, it’d be at #1 or #2. And even though I really didn’t like Basterds (although I did only see it once), I’d probably happier with a Basterds victory than an Avatar victory. Weird.
James: Hey, that’s a fair question. Much more compelling than “I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t see things the way I do.”
Anyway, I loathed it. The style got in the way and felt entirely arbitrary. I had no idea who this guy was by film’s end. And the lead performance was equally confused. It just did not work in the slightest for me.
1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Coraline
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. The Princess and the Frog
5. The Hurt Locker
6. A Serious Man
7. District 9
8. Up
9. The Cove
10. An Education
11. Coco Before Chanel
12. Precious
13. Up in the Air
14. A Single Man
15. Sherlock Holmes
16. Star Trek
That’s all I saw.
Kris, that’s my favorite thing I’ve read from you all year. The list is cool, too.
Kris I thought A Serious Man was your #1 for the year?
1. “Inglourious Basterds”
2. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
3. “Up in the Air”
4. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
5. “Coraline”
6. “A Single Man”
7. “District 9”
8. “An Education”
9. “Star Trek”
10. “Up”
11. “The Hurt Locker”
12. “Nine”
13. “Julie & Julia”
14. “Avatar”
15. “A Serious Man”
16. “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
17. “The Princess and the Frog”
18. “The Blind Side”
19. “Sherlock Holmes”
20. “Invictus”
21. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
The Best Film Not Nominated for a Single Oscar: “Must Read After My Death”
Have not seen: “Ajami,” “Bright Star,” “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country,” “Coco Before Chanel,” “The Cove,” “Crazy Heart,” “Food, Inc.,” “Il Divo,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “In the Loop,” “The Last Station,” “The Messenger,” “The Milk of Sorrow,” “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsburg and the Pentagon Papers,” “Paris 36,” “A Prophet,” “The Secret in Their Eyes,” “The Secret of Kells,” “Which Way Home,” “The White Ribbon,” “The Young Victoria”
You’re WAY off on HP 6, Kris. It’s one of the most beautifully made movies of the year and has a wonderful sense of humor, wit and charm.
Features:
1. Avatar
2. Up
3. Star Trek
4. District 9
5. The Cove
6. Up in the Air
7. The Hurt Locker
8. The Secret of Kells
9. An Education
10. The Young Victoria
11. The Messenger
12. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
14. Fantastic Mr. Fox
15. Coraline
16. Sherlock Holmes
17. The Princess and the Frog
18. The Lovely Bones
19. Inglourious Basterds
20. Crazy Heart
21. Julie & Julia
22. A Serious Man
23. The Blind Side
24. Invictus
25. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
26. Nine
Shorts:
1. Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death
2. French Roast
3. China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
4. Logorama
5. La dama y la muerte
6. Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
Damn, forgot to put in In the Loop, it would be just after Up in the Air and ahead of Hurt Locker for me.
Best movies not nominated for a single award: (500) Days of Summer, Moon and The Road
Can’t believe I haven’t even seen half of this year’s nominees. Then again…
1. “A Serious Man”
2. “Precious”
3. “The Messenger”
4. “The Hurt Locker”
5. “Bright Star”
6. “Star Trek”
7. “District 9”
8. “A Single Man”
9. “Inglourious Basterds”
10. “The Princess and the Frog”
11. “The Young Victoria”
12. “Up in the Air”
13. “An Education”
14. “The Lovely Bones”
15. “Julie & Julia”
16. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
17. “Nine”
Casey: It was. A Prophet was released in February in the US.
I actually just got back from seeing “A Prophet.” I thought it was good, with a brilliant lead performance, but otherwise I found it overlong and really saggy in the middle. A bit disappointed honestly.
And it’s nowhere near as good as “A Serious Man.”
A reply to a few of the comments above either ripping on Kris’s list or seeking an explanation what a certain film was ranked where it was.
The appreciate, entertainment and/or general admiration for a film is severely subjective. It’s like telling someone a joke, person doesn’t laugh and you assure no it really is a funny joke. Just like with movies you might have loved but there must be something that this person didn’t enjoy about it.
Personally I have very diverse taste in film so I can like a wide variety of films and genres. So I can love Up just as much as The White Ribbon or Precious or The Hurt Locker or Avatar but wasn’t enamored with Fant. Mr Fox or A Serious Man that much and that’s just that.
Of what I’ve seen
1. The White Ribbon
2. Inglorious Basterds
3. The Hurt Locker
4. A Serious Man
5. Up
6. Coraline
7. The Secret in Her Eyes
8. An Education
9. Precious
10. A Single Man
11. The Milk of Sorrow
12. District 9
13. Up in the Air
14. Star Trek
15. Avatar
16. Nine
17. Julie & Julia
18. Sherlock Holmes
19. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
20. The Young Victoria
21. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
22. Crazy Heart
23. Coco Before Chanel
24. Invictus
25. Paris 36
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Up in the Air
4. A Single Man
5. Precious
6. A Serious Man
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. Up
9. District 9
10. Avatar
11. The Cove
12. The Messenger
13. Crazy Heart
14. Star Trek
15. An Education
16. Bright Star
17. The White Ribbon
18. The Last Station
19. The Lovely Bones
20. Invictus
21. The Blind Side
22. Julie & Julia
English: Give it some time and see it again. I felt similarly after I saw it in Telluride, but on a second viewing a few weeks ago, it settled in. I think it’s a masterpiece, and indeed, better than A Serious Man (which as you know, was close to my top 10 of the decade).
here’s my top 20
1. A Serious Man
2. Up in the Air
3. District 9
4. Star Trek
5. A Prophet
6. The Messenger
7. An Education
8. Up
9. Precious
10. Coraline
11. Avatar
12. The Hurt Locker
13. Inglorious Basterds
14. Crazy Heart
15. A Single Man
16. Bright Star
17. Julie & Julia
18. The Blind Side
19. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
20. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wow, when I really look at it I realize how poor a list this is for me. Regardless:
01. The Messenger
02. The White Ribbon
03. Bright Star
04. A Prophet
05. In the Loop
06. The Hurt Locker
07. Avatar
08. The Cove
09. Up
10. Inglourious Basterds
11. Fantastic Mr. Fox
12. Star Trek
13. A Serious Man
14. The Young Victoria
15. District 9
16. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
17. Crazy Heart
18. An Education
19. Food Inc.
20. Nine
21. Up in the Air
22. Julie & Julia
23. Sherlock Holmes
24. Precious
25. A Single Man
26. Invictus
27. The Blind Side
28. The Lovely Bones
29. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
1. Star Trek
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Up
4. District 9
5. Avatar (I’m always baffled by the misconception that movies with beautiful visuals must also have a bad story. This was a good story when it was called DANCES WITH WOLVES and THE LAST SAMURAI, and it’s still a good story. It’s a much better story than 16-year-old girl sleeping with 30-something small time criminal, Jewish guy int he ’60’s has all sorts of trouble without any compelling story developing, or German kids possibly doing evil but the screenwriter is too averse to concrete endings to provide a third act)
6. Precious
7. the Hurt Locker
8. Up in the Air
9. The Blind Side
10. Crazy Heart
Runner-up: The first half of Invictus when it was actually about Mandela and politics
THE WORST:
1. Transformers 2… and that sound mix was more like an onslught. Would have been fine in the Sound Effects category, but not sound mixing!
2. A Serious Man. Those Coen Bros, either they nail it (BLOOD SIMPLE, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU) or it’s just WTF
3. A Single Man. (50-year-old guy grieves for his hot male lover while lots of hot young men come on to him. Then he dies. About as self absorbed as that Nic Cage movie about an alcoholic drinking himself to death in Vegas while a hot hooker cares for him.)
4. An Education. (If this were an American film, it’d be really creepy. But it’s British, so it must be art!)
5. Bright Star. (Great costumes, but poets are probably the least interesting people by definition to watch biopics of! They sit around and mope! Maybe this guy could go hang out with THE SINGLE MAN!)
6. THE LOVELY BONES. Remember in GHOST how Patrick Swayze was always intimately involved in trying to catch his killer, and the obstacle was that he couldn’t talk to anyone because he was dead. Great movie! Imagine if he’d had utterly no interest in catching his killer and just wanted to hang out with Robin Williams in WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, so Demi Moore had to figure out who did it, then Tony Goldwyn tripped and died. See this movie. Tucci is outstanding, though.
7. THE WHITE RIBBON. Michael, they’re called ENDINGS! You don’t have to avoid them! They’re good! OK, fine, the kids will grow up to be the Nazis, but grow a third act!
8. The second half of INVICTUS when the leader of a struggling country seemingly had nothing better to do than watch rugby.
9. SHERLOCK HOLMES. Sherlock Holmes via Bruckheimer action and Scooby Doo-level deduction isn’t really Sherlock Holmes anymore. And the badguy’s mysterious plan seemed to involve bribing about half of England, so I can;t imagine how he’s gonna keep this ruse up without word getting out. Great leads, great score, though. Do a sequel and get it right!
10. HARRY POTTER 6. Fine, I guess, but this stuff all seems a bit silly to me.
I don’t feel like ranking them, but my top of the nominees are: The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Coraline, The White Ribbon, a Serious Man, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and In The Loop. Other films that would be near the top are Bright Star, A Single Man, and Star Trek.
I will probably watch Ill Divo soon on netflix.
I haven’t seen Coco Before Chanel, Paris 36, A Prophet, The Secret of their Eyes, Ajami, The Milk of Sorrow, or The Messenger.
(Of those I’ll only probably get around to seeing A Prophet and The Messenger)
Sadly, I’ve missed several this year. Haven’t had a lot of money to go out and see stuff. I have Coraline and In the Loop through Netflix right now and will be watching those tonight. Also, I had opportunities to see Transformers and Harry Potter, but refused (as any sane person would do).
1. Up in the Air
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Precious
4. Avatar
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. An Education
7. Up
8. The Hurt Locker
9. The Blind Side
10. The Cove
11. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
12. Food, Inc.
13. District 9
14. Julie & Julia
15. The Princess and the Frog
16. Crazy Heart
17. A Serious Man
18. Star Trek
19. Sherlock Holmes
I’ve only seen just over half of those films, though thankfully most of the ones I haven’t seen are not of the must see kind, at least theatrically.
By the way, Kris, maybe you could do a companion post to this of the 5/10 best films of last year that got no nominations. That could be interesting to see too (both yours and the readers’ consensus).
(Beyond the one you mentioned, I mean)
I’ll just do a top 5
1. A Prophet
2. A Serious Man
3. Up
4. In the Loop
5. The Cove
I have to agree with Kris that with only one viewing A Prophet feels like you’ve watched something damn good if a bit overlong. But subsequent viewings only enhance the greatness of the film. When one already knows what happens to Malik’s character do the pieces of the puzzle come together even better the second time around.
God, I hope it wins Best Foreign Language.
John clearly missed the boat on A Serious Man. And a lot of other movies too. Dude, Invictus was never good. It was mediocre throughout.
That’s interesting, Kris and Dan. I might give it another shot on DVD then, although I can’t imagine doing it so soon after. It’s a difficult enough movie to get by the first time, so I think I’ll let it rest a bit.
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Up in the Air
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. District 9
5. Star Trek
6. An Education
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. The Cove
9. A Serious Man
10. A Prophet
11. In The Loop
12. Precious
13. Crazy Heart
14. Avatar
15. Up
16. The Messenger
17. Julie & Julia
18. The Secret in Their Eyes
19. Which Way Home
20. Coraline
21. Bright Star
22. The Blind Side
23. The Princess and the Frog
24. Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
25. Il Divo
26. Food, Inc.
27. A Single Man
28. The White Ribbon
29. Sherlock Holmes
30. The Young Victoria
31. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
32. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
33. Nine
34. Invictus
35. The Lovely Bones
I have not seen:
• Ajami
• Coco Before Chanel
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Last Station
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
• The Milk of Sorrow
• Paris 36
• The Secret of Kells
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Up
3. The Cove
4. Avatar
5. Precious
6. Star Trek
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. The Messenger
9. The White Ribbon
10. The Secret of Kells
11. A Serious Man
12. Crazy Heart
13. Coraline
14. Inglourious Basterds
15. In the Loop
16. An Education
17. District 9
18. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
19. Up in the Air
20. Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
21. Princess and the Frog
22. Bright Star
23. Julie & Julia
24. The Young Victoria
25. Invictus
26. The Lovely Bones
27. Sherlock Holmes
28. Nine
29. The Blind Side
30. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Haven’t seen: Food Inc, The Secret in Their Eyes, Burma VJ, A Single Man, Which Way Home, The Last Station, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The Milk of Sorrow, Coco Before Chanel, Ajami, Il Divo, Paris 36
The Best Film Not Nominated for a Single Oscar: The Informant!
No offense, Mr. Tapley, sir, but your list is HORRIBLE. How is Invictus last? HPATH-BP was great and BETTER than T: ROTF. How is The Hurt Locker not even in the top 10?! How is Up inferior to D9? These are the questions which haunt me.
RE: John
“I’m always baffled by the misconception that movies with beautiful visuals must also have a bad story. This was a good story when it was called DANCES WITH WOLVES and THE LAST SAMURAI, and it’s still a good story.”
It’s not that it retold the same story, it’s that it did it in a poor way. Looking at the film while disregard the visuals, it’s clear that Cameron really brought nothing new to the story or the characters. He just gave it all a different setting and prettied them up with CGI and 3D. The script is also incredibly boring for the most part and full of incredibly horrible dialogue.
Yes, the story worked for “Dances with Wolves” and “The Last Samurai,” that’s because those two movies actually had a good screenplay to go with the story. “Avatar,” unfortunately, did not. It certainly has its moments and is far from being a bad film, but it is nowhere near the masterpiece people seem to be hailing it as. Might as well herald “The Lovely Bones” as a masterpiece, too… but nobody is doing that.
By the way, Kris, did not mean to sound like a bitch earlier. As I said, “Avatar” being high on a movie list is not surprising to me, I’ve seen it pretty much everywhere. I was just curious how a truly horrendous movie like “Transformers 2” beat decent movies like HP and “Invictus” on your list. THAT, I have never seen before. :)
Jeez, m1, calm down. It’s a subjective list.
I’d wonder how Armond White’s would go.
1. Star Trek
2. Up in the Air
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
4. Up
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. Crazy Heart
7. Sherlock Holmes
8. Avatar
9. An Education
10. Invictus
Btw, the best film not to be nominated for an Oscar IMO: Moon