Top 10 Movies of 2011

The Oscars are quickly approaching (actually they are this Sunday!), so everyone is looking over the list of nominees one last time trying to figure out who's going to win all the major awards. Will it be The Descendants or The Artist? George Clooney or Jean Dujardin? Viola Davis for The Help or Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady? Will Martin Scorsese pick up a surprise Oscar for Best Director for Hugo, following his win in the same category at the Golden Globes? Will Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, who won for writing last year's The Social Network, beat out frontrunners Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for Best Adapted Screenplay (Moneyball vs. The Descendants)? Will there be any major upsets? We can only hope there will be for it makes the night far more interesting. On top of all the nominees and winners, what can we expect from host Billy Crystal? His 9th time hosting the awards show marks the first time he's been the MC since 2004. After 8 years can he still make us laugh as we once did and turn the show, that has become a pretentious, overblown and predictable annual event, into the special event it once was? Again, we can only hope. It's during these few days, right before the Academy Awards, that I like to look back over all the films I saw during the year and truly analyze how many of the films I really enjoyed or fell in love with got no Academy love. Unfortunately, it appears that the majority of my favorite 2011 films went completely nomination-less. That is why I take this moment to forget about the Oscar hubbub and look back on all the fine films that the Academy glossed over and to remember that the number of gold trophies or nominees a single film can rack up means very close to nothing. It's recognition, sure, but when there are so many other fine and overlooked films, it's hard to trust the Oscars anymore. Here is my list of Top 10 Movies of 2011 (and 5 Honorable Mentions)