87% Winner: The Artist 100 min, PG-13, [Comedy, Drama, Romance] [Michel Hazanavicius] [20 Jan 2012]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 79%, Rotten Tomatoes: 95%, Metacritic: 89%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 5 Oscars. Another 145 wins & 188 nominations.
Actors: Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman
Writer: Michel Hazanavicius
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English, French Country: France, USA, Belgium
Plot: Outside a movie premiere, enthusiastic fan Peppy Miller literally bumps into the swashbuckling hero of the silent film, George Valentin. The star reacts graciously and Peppy plants a kiss on his cheek as they are surrounded by photographers. The headlines demand: "Who's That Girl?" and Peppy is inspired to audition for a dancing bit-part at the studio. However as Peppy slowly rises through the industry, the introduction of talking-pictures turns Valentin's world upside-down.
Rotten Tomatoes: Hollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), it seems the sky's the limit - major movie stardom awaits. The Artist tells the story of their interlinked destinies. -- (C) Weinstein
53% Nominee: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 129 min, PG-13, [Adventure, Drama, Mystery] [Stephen Daldry] [20 Jan 2012]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, Rotten Tomatoes: 46%, Metacritic: 46%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 23 nominations.
Actors: Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Zoe Caldwell
Writer: Eric Roth (screenplay), Jonathan Safran Foer (novel)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: USA
Plot: A troubled young boy, Oskar, is trying to cope with the loss of his father. Oskar starts lashing out at his mother and the world. Until a year later, he discovers a mysterious key in his father's belongings and embarks on a scavenger hunt to find the matching lock, just as he used to when his father was alive. On this journey he is bound to meet a lot of people and learn a lot about himself and his family, but will he ever find the lock?
Rotten Tomatoes: Oskar (Thomas Horn) is convinced that his father (Tom Hanks), who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a final message for him hidden somewhere in the city. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a relentlessly active mind that refuses to believe in things that can't be observed, Oskar begins searching New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he found in his father's closet. His journey through the five boroughs takes him beyond his own loss to a greater understanding of the observable world around him. -- (C) Warner Bros
83% Nominee: Hugo 126 min, PG, [Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance] [Martin Scorsese] [23 Nov 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 75%, Rotten Tomatoes: 93%, Metacritic: 83%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 5 Oscars. Another 57 wins & 186 nominations.
Actors: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen
Writer: John Logan (screenplay by), Brian Selznick (based on the book entitled "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: USA, UK, France
Plot: Hugo is an orphan boy living in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. He learned to fix clocks and other gadgets from his father and uncle which he puts to use keeping the train station clocks running. The only thing that he has left that connects him to his dead father is an automaton (mechanical man) that doesn't work without a special key. Hugo needs to find the key to unlock the secret he believes it contains. On his adventures, he meets George Melies, a shopkeeper, who works in the train station, and his adventure-seeking god-daughter. Hugo finds that they have a surprising connection to his father and the automaton, and he discovers it unlocks some memories the old man has buried inside regarding his past.
Rotten Tomatoes: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. This holiday season the legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, based on Brian Selznick's award-winning, imaginative New York Times best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." Hugo is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him, and reveal a safe and loving place he can call home. -- (C) Paramount
83% Nominee: Midnight in Paris 94 min, PG-13, [Comedy, Fantasy, Romance] [Woody Allen] [10 Jun 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 77%, Rotten Tomatoes: 93%, Metacritic: 81%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 24 wins & 101 nominations.
Actors: Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams
Writer: Woody Allen
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English, French, Spanish, German Country: Spain, USA, France
Plot: Gil and Inez travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents' business trip. Gil is a successful Hollywood writer but is struggling on his first novel. He falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s was the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry.
Rotten Tomatoes: This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better. It stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Carla Bruni, among others. -- (C) Sony Classics
85% Nominee: Moneyball 133 min, PG-13, [Biography, Drama, Sport] [Bennett Miller] [23 Sep 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 94%, Metacritic: 87%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 75 nominations.
Actors: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright
Writer: Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Stan Chervin (story), Michael Lewis (book)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team.
Rotten Tomatoes: Based on a true story, Moneyball is a movie for anybody who has ever dreamed of taking on the system. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball's conventional wisdom is wrong. Forced to reinvent his team on a tight budget, Beane will have to outsmart the richer clubs. The onetime jock teams with Ivy League grad Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) in an unlikely partnership, recruiting bargain players that the scouts call flawed, but all of whom have an ability to get on base, score runs, and win games. It's more than baseball, it's a revolution - one that challenges old school traditions and puts Beane in the crosshairs of those who say he's tearing out the heart and soul of the game. -- (C) Sony Pictures
82% Nominee: The Descendants 115 min, R, [Comedy, Drama] [Alexander Payne] [09 Dec 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 89%, Metacritic: 84%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 66 wins & 142 nominations.
Actors: Amara Miller, George Clooney, Nick Krause, Shailene Woodley
Writer: Alexander Payne (screenplay), Nat Faxon (screenplay), Jim Rash (screenplay), Kaui Hart Hemmings (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Matt King's family has lived in Hawaii for generations. His extended family - namely he and his many cousins - own 25,000 acres of undeveloped land on Kauai held in trust, which ends in seven years. The easiest thing for the family to do is sell the land before the seven years is up, which is all the talk in the state, as, to whom they sell the property could very well change the face of Kauai. Despite the vast wealth that comes with the land, Matt has decided to live solely on what he earns as a Honolulu lawyer. However, Matt has not had a perfect life living in Hawaiian paradise as many believe. He and his wife Elizabeth were having problems in their marriage. She recently got into a boating accident which has placed her in a coma. Their seventeen year old daughter Alex is in boarding school on the big island since they couldn't handle her rebellion, which was made all the worse by an argument of an unknown nature between mother and daughter during Alex's last visit home. And their ten year old daughter Scottie is starting to act out, which Matt doesn't know if he can handle, potentially raising her on his own. Matt decides to bring Alex home upon news that Elizabeth is brain dead, and that she will be pulled off life support. But revelations about Elizabeth and Alex's argument, which is tied indirectly to the issue of the land sale, leads to some decisions on Matt's part about what is best for him in both mourning Elizabeth's death and what is the best thing to do about the land, the two decisions which may be incompatible.
Rotten Tomatoes: From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, set in Hawaii, The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries. -- (C) Fox Searchlight
73% Nominee: The Help 146 min, PG-13, [Drama] [Tate Taylor] [10 Aug 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 81%, Rotten Tomatoes: 76%, Metacritic: 62%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 79 wins & 116 nominations.
Actors: Bryce Dallas Howard, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis
Writer: Tate Taylor (screenplay), Kathryn Stockett (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: USA, India, United Arab Emirates
Plot: Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up -- to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories -- and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly -- and unwillingly -- caught up in the changing times.
Rotten Tomatoes: The Help stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, Viola Davis as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny-three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed-even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times. -- (C) DreamWorks
79% Nominee: The Tree of Life 139 min, PG-13, [Drama, Fantasy] [Terrence Malick] [17 May 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, Rotten Tomatoes: 85%, Metacritic: 85%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 111 wins & 117 nominations.
Actors: Brad Pitt, Hunter McCracken, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn
Writer: Terrence Malick
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
Rotten Tomatoes: From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of such classic films as Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick's signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life. -- (C) Fox Searchlight
73% Nominee: War Horse 146 min, PG-13, [Drama, History, War] [Steven Spielberg] [25 Dec 2011]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, Rotten Tomatoes: 76%, Metacritic: 72%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 70 nominations.
Actors: David Thewlis, Emily Watson, Jeremy Irvine, Niels Arestrup, Peter Mullan
Writer: Lee Hall (screenplay), Richard Curtis (screenplay), Michael Morpurgo (novel), Nick Stafford (stage play)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English, German Country: USA, India
Plot: Young Albert enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and to the front lines as the war rages on.
Rotten Tomatoes: Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets-British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter-before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse-an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. --(C) Dreamworks