True, and most likely Cotton Hill is, like most people, a casual mainstream moviegoer who would find these art films a tough sit. And I agree that the blockbuster offerings were weak. Though I did like Ghost Protocol and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Me either, but I kind of am.

There are always good small budget, independent type arthouse films, year in and year out. I guess I'm just talking about mainstream releases, the movies that get the press and you see commercials for and actually have wide multi-thousand theater releases.

Once upon a time it seemed like a movie could be great AND be a box office smash. Now it seems that the movies that do big numbers are all god awful and the good movies the smaller ones you don't hear much about.

That was pretty much the reason they expanded the number of best picture nominees. When it was capped at 5 it recently got to be the 5 best films nominated were movies nobody saw, so they needed to expand it to include a few of the less terrible blockbusters in a desperate attempt to get people interested in the Oscars again.

They just need to make better f'ing mainstream releases again.

Bad year for movies. Here's to 2012!

No, not this many and not of this quality. 2011 was ridiculous for that.

So weird not seeing a Pixar movie nominated in the animated category.

I notice you didn't answer PJ's post regarding a bunch of amazing movies you likely haven't seen. If you seek mainstream only, you're doing yourself a disservice as a movie goer

I didn't see Moneyball, but I'm making the assumption Jonah Hill's role could not have been that difficult or Oscar worthy. Isn't supporting actor always a loaded category? Did Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti take the year off?

Phil Hoffman was in Moneyball!

And yes, Jonah Hill was that good. Really good.

I enjoyed Moneyball quite a lot but there wasn't anything in Hill or Pitt's performances that would make me consider either of them for an acting nomination. The were good but it was all very straightforward, nothing particularly nuanced or special.

Hill stands out only because it's the first time we've seen him in this type of role. Again he was good but it wasn't anything special.

Shame is pretty much the only film I went to see this year and I though Fassbender was one of the best acting performances I've ever seen.

Poor Demitri Martin.

Shame was way better than every film nominated for BP

If a no-name or established dramatic actor had Hill's role he wouldn't be up for a nom. Its basically "hey the funny fat kid can act!"

What the **** at Extremely close being nominated for best picture. lol that movie was awful

And how is it eligible for nomination? I thought it was released in 2012.

And I would have to agree, 2011 was one of the worst years for movies in recent memory. I don't recall one great movie from last year really.

Completely agree with this.

I'll take 2007 for movies...at least we get Lincoln and Django this year weeeeeee

Only really care about Tree of Life winning cinematography

Surprised no Elizabeth Olson best actress nom.

Well maybe not surprised since the Globes left her out too but I thought she was deserving.

I'm pretty much not seeing Moneyball specifically because Jonah Hill is in it. No way that turd put out an Oscar-worthy performance.

Thought process was probably "wow, no dick or pussy jokes? He should get an award!"

Plus just don't see Pitt as 6'4" black-haired athlete Billy Beane. Everyone who has seen it said it was a good movie though.

Didn't the guy Jonah Hill was supposed to play (Paul DePodesta) object to being played by him so they had to give his character a fake name (Peter Brand)?

I plan to see Moneyball this weekend, and am really interested to see Hill's performance. I don't think it's a stretch to say you can insert a mediocre to decent actor into a Sorkin script and get a pretty good performance.

How was he in Cyrus?

No, it had nothing to do with Hill. He just didn't like how he was portrayed in the book and didn't want his name associated with it again.

I talked to a guy who knows Art Howe and he told me Art did not like how he was portrayed in the book, either.

I love Melissa McCarthy, but I don't know how I feel about these best actor/actress awards going to zany over-the-top comedy performances. Is this the first time it's happened? There've been waaaaay better comedy performances that didn't sniff an award.

As much as I like comedy films, I guess I'm glad that they're getting serious consideration, although McCarthy's performance isn't really the kind you'd think of as award-worthy.

I can be convinced otherwise.

Terrific. I had never thought much of him (though I liked him fine in Superbad) until Cyrus, then I was like holy **** he can act! Then Moneyball is great -- subtle, effective in the right spots, and you never catch him being false.

I really need to see Shame.