What Oscar got wrong

In theaters Friday: Alice in Wonderland, Brooklyn’s Finest

New on DVD/Blu-ray: 2012, Cold Souls, Gentlemen Broncos, Ponyo, Where the Wild Things Are

The stage is set, and it’s that time of year again to get caught up on all the great movies we missed in 2009. The 82nd Academy Awards air this Sunday at 7 p.m. on ABC. This year the Academy is mixing things up by having two hosts—Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin—and hiring popular comedians to announce most of the awards rather than previous Oscar winners and droll veterans. Acceptance speeches will be limited to brief “what this award means to me” clips, with all those long lists of thank-yous saved for backstage interviews that will be posted online.

But the biggest change for Oscar this year is the super-sized Best Picture category. See, after The Dark Knight—which had the highest critical acclaim, best box office returns and most Oscar nominations—somehow failed to make the top five in the Best Picture category in favor of dark horses Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader last year, the Academy chose to double the number of Best Picture nominees to 10 in order to avoid that kind of embarrassment again.

They also probably want to catch the attention of the plebeians who year after year complain that they haven’t seen any of the nominees and haven’t even heard of a few. Unfortunately, this has only given the Academy elbowroom to make more wrong choices.

Exhibit A:

This year’s 10 Best Picture nominees.

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

A Serious Man

Up

Up in the Air

Now, I’m not going to try to hash out why some of these made the cut and why some should remain. Instead, I’m just going to submit—

Exhibit B:

10 other movies just as deserving, if not more so, than the real Best Picture nominees.

Bright Star – Jane Campion’s John Keats biopic puts the thrill and tragedy of first love on full display. With Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw and Paul Schneider this is perhaps the best acted film of the year.

Crazy Heart – The Dude! Who doesn’t love Jeff Bridges? He is a shoe-in as Best Actor for his turn as a washed-up country star, but for some reason the Academy snubbed the film itself. Bad form, Oscar.

(500) Days of Summer – Woody Allen would be proud. Better than any comedy in recent memory, this film staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel captures the rapture and the mystery of modern romance and manages to create a he said/she said without completely villainizing either party.

Fantastic Mr. Fox –This hilarious and heartfelt Roald Dahl adaptation by director Wes Anderson is hands-down the most quotable movie of the year—in any genre.

In the Loop – O political satire, where art thou? Armando Iannucci’s gloves off, Dr. Strangelove-style dig at international coalitions and bureaucracy sees the U.S. President and U.K. Prime minister colluding to launch a lucrative war in the Middle East.

The Messenger – The always excellent Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson play ‘casualty notification officers’ in this quiet drama that might be the smartest film yet inspired by the War on Terror.

Moon – They don’t make them like they used to, and if A Serious Man was nominated for its intimate throwback feel, I submit that Duncan Jones’s engrossing 1970’s style sci-fi drama does the Coen Brothers one better.

Two Lovers – Before Joaquin Phoenix grew a beard and blew our minds with his joke “rap career,” he starred opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in this dark, Brooklyn-set romance. Fans of character studies and relatable dialogue can rejoice with this film. Plus, Isabella Rossellini will make you cry.

Where the Wild Things Are – Spike Jonez pulled of one of the toughest adaptations ever, and with a great cast and gorgeous soundtrack, this is a landmark indie and family friendly film that will last for generations.

The White Ribbon – This moody, pre-WWI mystery made Roger Ebert’s top films of 2009 list. Told from a small town teacher’s point of view, the film explores the socialization of violence through the mysterious injuries of seemingly random residents of town filled with oppressed children.

I would have loved to see any of the above films get a nomination for Best Picture. But as is and for the record, I am rooting against the over-hyped dumb bomb that is Avatar and pulling for The Hurt Locker this Sunday.