[If I were in the Academy…]

Inspired by Moira McDonald over at Popcorn & Prejudice, & not wanting to start a new project for the last half-hour of the day, I thought I’d do a little Best Picture ranking myself. I’m feeling sorta cocky this year because I saw all ten nominees in the theater & before they were announced. That will probably never happen again.

1. Black Swan
2. 127 Hours
3. Winter’s Bone
4. The Fighter
5. Inception
6. Toy Story 3
7. The King’s Speech
8. The Social Network
9. The Kids Are All Right
10. True Grit

That’s how I’d fill out my ballot, if I were an Oscar voter, which would never happen. Like McDonald, I’m not a ranking-movies sort of person typically. My year-end round-up is never as much a top ten than it is “here is a bunch of stuff I thought was cool this year”.

Here are things I thought were interesting about that exercise:

1. I didn’t have to think about the top five at all. Just bam bam bam straight through. Slots 6-10 shifted around a bit before they settled.
2. Even though I famously hate The Social Network, it didn’t rank last because I can’t argue with the quality of the craft. Sorkin’s script is excellent: it’s also bullshit.
3. I haven’t been excited about The King’s Speech winning the various Guilds, except insofar as it’s perceived as a snub to TSN, and now I see why. (Also, I really wanted The Fighter to win best ensemble last night. SAG, why you gotta hate?)
4. And at the end of the list, I think no one would care about The Kids are All Right if it wasn’t about a lesbian couple, and I feel like everyone else is seeing an entirely different movie than I did when I went to a cold & forgettable True Grit.

What do you guys think?