You know the drill. Winners in bold, then we break it down.

BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Should have won: The Tree of Life
Not even nominated: Take Shelter
There’s a long-running joke that no one remembers or cares about Avatar, the highest-grossing movie of all time. The same humorous logic could be applied to The Artist. No Best Picture winner since has won more Oscars (5), yet not a single winner has even been nominated again by the Academy, save costume designer Mark Bridges. It’s easy to see why voters went nuts: It’s a charming movie about making movies, with no spoken dialogue but plenty of lush filmmaking and strong performances. But it feels like a trifle compared to some of these other nominees.
In comparison, The Tree of Life is about as heavy as it gets, grappling with aging, family relationships and the divine. Everything else from this year pales in comparison.
Exploring similar themes, but in a much more intense way, Take Shelter deserved a nomination here (and for lead actor Michael Shannon and Jeff Nichols’ script). That this acclaimed film blanked at the Oscars while Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – a film I have never heard anyone discuss favorably, if at all – is baffling.

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Should have won: Terrence Malick
Not even nominated: Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
If you’re going to go nuts for The Artist, it only makes sense to similarly reward its creator. But there were a lot more imaginative films, including Drive. It was the coolest movie of 2011, but managed only one measly Sound Editing nod.

BEST ACTOR
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Should have won: Brad Pitt
Not even nominated: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Brad Pitt had a phenomenal 12 months between The Tree of Life and Killing Them Softly premiering at Cannes. But this was his only acting nomination in that rich period. As Billy Beane, he’s superstitious and anxious, but doggedly determined to change the way baseball teams are managed. But he somehow manages to make a man putting in a ton of effort feel effortless. It’s a true movie star performance.
And while there aren’t any duds in this category, it’s still shocking Michael Fassbender didn’t make it in with his astonishing performance as a sex addict in Shame. The explicit film may not work entirely, but Fassbender is riveting from first frame to last.

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Should have won: Viola Davis
Not even nominated: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Oof. Yes, Meryl Streep is one of our greatest actresses. But holy fucking shit was this a bad call. It’s another imitation of a famous person with little in the way of embodiment. It also doesn’t help that The Iron Lady presents Margaret Thatcher – one of the worst politicians of the 20th Century – mostly as a hero. Anyone else would have been a better choice. The best of these is Viola Davis, whose performance is by far the strongest part of The Help, going well beyond a sometimes surface-level movie.
Let’s kick Streep out entirely and replace her with Kirsten Dunst, earning her first Oscar nomination a decade earlier. Lars von Trier’s end-of-the-world drama isn’t “enjoyable” in any traditional sense, but her performance as a deeply depressed woman who’s all to ready for Armageddon might be the finest of anyone this year, regardless of category.





