If there were no other worthy nominees, I would have no issue with Hill being nominated, but there were much better performances (which I mentioned).

Get to voting, guys:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dDNPc196V0NES0tvcDhHTGpfdVI5NlE6MQ#gid=0

This,
Great comics, great movie.

Voted.

It was a tough choice between Clooney and Hardy for best actor, but most anticipated was really hard. In the end, I picked Django Unchained.

I just went over the list of nominations and realized that not only had I not even heard of most of the films, the only movie on the entire list I even saw was the Harry Potter one.

I saw a LOT of movies this past year.

I think that this just goes to show what a huge disconnect there is between everyday people and these self-appointed elitists in Hollywood who apparently know what we want more than we do.

I grew up on the Tintin comics, and when they announced the movie a two years ago, I went from excitement, to "surely they'll mess it up" disappointment. But I went to go see it anyway, and I was not disappointed. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was damn near close. And I went with people that hadn't read the comics and they enjoyed it very much as well. It was a good movie that could please everyone, even a die-hard comic reader such as myself.

The best movie of the year was Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

I just didn't understand why there was no Professor Calculus, he was one of about four recurring characters in the books.

I'm with you on this, I saw quite a few movies last year. I also haven't seen most of the movies nominated and the reason why is because they're all released at the end of the year. All of the artsy movies like the Artist and the Descendants get released at the end of the year just because its awards season.

Yup.

Actually, my favorite films I watched this year weren't even released this year. Only one that even qualifies to be in a list of my favorite films from this year would be Drive. That one might make it to cult status too... perhaps. Also, I haven't seen War Horse, or Descendants (should get around to that, actually...) but Descendants looks interesting. (Though they both seem somewhat forgettable.)

The Artist and The Descendants aren't artsy movies and are actually quite accessible.

Because Calculus wasn't introduced until Red Rackham's treasure and the movie was a hybrid of The Crab With the Golden Claws and The Secret of The Unicorn. I was fine with there being no Calculus; he would certainly be in a sequel, but I think he would've made this movie too cluttered. The two classic Tintin jokes are Haddock being drunk and messing stuff up/saving the day, and Calculus' deafness messing things up. All in all, I don't think he would've added much.

I guess artsy was the wrong word to use. They're award fodder, you just know that they are going to be nominated for something and you know that is the main reason why they are released near the end of the year. I'm not trying to insult the films, but it does annoy me.

Okay, the results of our own awards are in:

BEST PICTURE
Drive

BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

BEST ACTOR
Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

BEST ACTRESS
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Nick Nolte, Warrior

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (tie)
Carey Mulligan, Drive
Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life

BEST SCREENPLAY
Moneyball

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

BEST ANIMATED FILM (tie)
Rango
The Adventures of Tintin

BEST BLOCKBUSTER
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

BEST COMEDY (tie)
Rango
Midnight in Paris

BEST MUSIC
Drive

MOST SURPRISING
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

MOST DISAPPOINTING
Green Lantern

MOST OVERRATED
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

MOST OVERLOOKED
Drive

WORST MOVIE
The Smurfs

MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIE OF 2012
Django Unchained

I can't believe Tintin wasn't nominated for Best Animated Feature. Absolutely ridiculous that crap like Kung Fu Panda would make it on there and not... Tintin. Also sad to see Melancholia didn't make any nominations. I haven't seen it yet, but it looks fantastic.

P.S. I've heard either Peter Jackson or Spielberg (maybe both) saying that Calculus is in the next movie.

Here are my last-minute predictions:

BEST PICTURE
The Artist

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

BEST ACTOR
Jean Dujardin, The Artist

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis, The Help

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, The Help

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Midnight in Paris

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Rango

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Separation

BEST DOCUMENTARY - FEATURE
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

BEST DOCUMENTARY - SHORT SUBJECT
Incident in New Baghdad

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Raju

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
La Luna

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Artist

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets

BEST SOUND EDITING
Hugo

BEST SOUND MIXING
Hugo

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist

BEST MAKEUP
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Artist

BEST FILM EDITING
The Artist

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Oscars are tonight on ABC at 7:00 pm EST / 4:00 pm PST! Don't miss them!

Most Over-Rated: Drive.

I think I must be one of the few on the planet who found that movie to be largely ordinary and rather boring. It had moments (mostly from the older supporting cast like Brooks & Cranston) but I don't understand all the fuss. But then I'm "old" & jaded when it comes to films anyway.

As to the actual Awards....I don't pay much attention to them, since they're mostly about famous people patting other famous people on the back.
I did, however, love Moneyball. Most everything else I either haven't seen or just fell into the realm of watchable/somewhat entertaining or popcorn-action-light-fun.

I would actually say that its one of the most underrated, but I do think that it wasn't marketed properly. When I went to see it in the theatre, everyone around me seemed to be expecting some big action movie and were disappointed.(Not saying that's you, just who I think the majority are.)

Edit: I just checked on the other page and it seems that I did put it with Source Code as one of the most underrated.

I thought Drive was going to be action too. Loved that film, really well made and very surreal. They definitely should have marketed it more as a slow burner.

Best Animated was the only award that I particularly cared about this year and Rango won it.

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

I'm so happy Christpher Plummer made it!

No love for Drive? I call bs.