It doesn’t seem five minutes since Avatar was battling it out with The Hurt Locker during the awards season of 2010.
For the second year there are ten movies that will be battling it out for the prestigious title of Best Picture. And we take a closer look at the nominees:
Black Swan – Darren Aronofsky is known for making slightly off the wall, odd sort of movies and Black Swan is no different – but it picked up early critical support when it appeared on the festival circuit last year.
Darren Aronofsky has produced a very beautiful and powerful melodrama that will leave you asking what the hell just happened? Long after the credits have rolled.
Black Swan is a thrilling piece of cinema and while it’s possibly not to everyone’s taste the film is intoxicating as the story and Portman haunting performance gets under your skin.
The Fighter – This movie has been a labour of love for leading man Mark Wahlberg – who has been attached to this project and training for the role for a couple of years now.
But The Fighter is finally here and was well worth the wait as David O.Russell has delivered a powerful and enthralling movie.
Ok so we have seen many boxing movies over the year but The Fighter really does pack a punch – the fight scenes are great and the talented cast all turn in some great performances.
Inception – It’s great to see s blockbuster movie included in the Best Picture category along the more traditional Oscar movies – and it really is a film that deserves this nomination.
Inception was the first movie for director Christopher Nolan since the success of The Dark Knight in 2008 – and once again he doesn’t disappoint as he delivers and original script and s visually stunning movie.
Nolan is a director who is unafraid to use complex narrative and plot as he tests and asks questions of the audience.
Inception is a maze from the off as Nolan adds layer upon layer to the story as the audience takes a trip into a dream world and an exploration of the subconscious. This was the best movie of 2010!!!
The Kids Are All Right – It was obvious that The Kids Are All Right had the potential to be an Oscar contender but its early release ran the risk of it possibly being overlooked.
I’m delighted to say that that is not the case and this is a must see movie if you have not had the chance to catch it yet.
The Kids Are All Right is a very intelligent as well as very funny look at adult relationships and the stresses and strains that come hand and hand with them.
We may have seen hundreds of family movies in the past but The Kids Are Right is witty and warm not to mention incredibly fresh.
The King’s Speech – Film fans both sides of the Atlantic have been flocking to cinemas to catch The King’s Speech in recent week as Tom Hooper’s movie seems to have charmed just about everyone.
This film has been drowning in praise and awards all of them totally justified as Colin Firth delivers the performance of a career.
This is a very fascinating look into an untold piece of our monarch’s history as Bertie was thrust into a role that he never wanted.
The King’s Speech is a story of courage as Bertie became the voice of resistance during the war – but his personal battle to find that voice really will leave you speechless.
127 Hours – Danny Boyle has not made a movie since he had that bit of success with Slumdog Millionaire – you may have heard of it!
But 2011 saw his return as he brought the real-life story of climber Aron Ralston to the big screen with 127 Hours.
This is the first must see movie of 2011 as Boyle delivers a powerful, brutal and yet incredibly moving story about one man’s desire to live.
The really is a movie about human resilience, bravery and hope that can do nothing but move you to the core – Boyle really has struck movie gold for a second time.
The Social Network – Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, David Fincher’s The Social Network has won over critics and fans since its release last year.
The movie has already picked up the Golden Globe for Best Picture and it appears to be a two horse race with The King’s Speech for the Oscar.
It’s a snappy script, a great screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, and this is backed up by some great turns, the central performances from Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake in particular.
Toy Story 3 – We all thought that Pixar had achieved greatness with Wall-E and Up in the recent years but the Toy Story 3 really does top all that.
It really is a timeless story with universal themes that we can all relate to about coming of age, moving out into the world and leaving childhood behind.
Toy Story 3 is a warm and very funny movie that is just as much for adults as it is for the kids, seriously parents will also fall in love with the characters and the story.
True Grit – The Academy can’t get enough of Joel and Ethan Coen as they bag yet another Best Picture nod for their latest movie True Grit.
A remake of the sixties movie True Grit brings together a fine cast of Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin
This movie is a fine character driven movie that has been pitched perfectly by the Coen Brothers – it’s exciting as well as compelling.
From a cinematography stand-point the movie really is stunning as the Coen Brothers keep the Western genre alive.
Winter’s Bone – Winter’s Bone is the final film in the Best Picture category but by no means least as Debra Granik delivers a fabulous movie.
Leading lady Jennifer Lawrence it a revelation in this movie demonstrating that she has a very bright future ahead of her.
Winter’s Bone is a brutal movie of survival in harshest of landscapes as one teenager struggles to save her family.
The Oscars are announced 27th February