Tricky one Blob as some films listed have not yet been released in the UK. I dread the Clooney as I in the past appear to have been a bit of an Payne-o-phobe and Georgie has gone back to waggling his head a lot. I do like the look of the Hanks/Bullock thing with the silly name no one can remember. I was thinking of doing a short (yeah we'll believe that when we see it Z) piece on why Streepy shouldn't get the Oscar. The Artist is hard to rad Oscar-wise because it's just the harmless movie-referential thing the Academy people like to award.

I like Hugo and they might like to use it to boost 3D ticket sales even though I think Tin Tin makes more imaginative use of the process. Tree of Life looks more religiose the more you look at it which diminishes it for me, and Melancholia grows in stature by the same token. The Help is nice heart-warming little film but not the best of the year by a stretch. Midnight in Paris has too many flaws (and Owen Wilson) for me. Moneyball is excellent but the baseball/sports theme limits it a bit.

It is a shame there isn't a straight entertaining thriller - I thought The Bourne Ultimatum was just about the best film of its year - and Dragon Tattoo was strikingly good I thought. But Hollywood is a bit up itself about entertainment films for the Oscars. Curious as they are its stock-in-trade for the rest of the year and attract all the money.

The bookies have The Artist odds-on but I'd like to see the nominees I haven't yet seen first. It's a harmless enough game. I'd be interested to hear Writeworder's choices.

best

Z