Beyond The Oscars

Let’s face it, after 85 years, the Oscars have become a bit of a joke. The awards show is too long (2002’s production ran an ungodly 4 hours and 23 minutes), with bad hosts (ahem, Anne Hathaway and James Franco) and the winners (and the nominations) are all-too-predictable (Steven Spielberg and Meryl Streep seem to be at least nominated every year, even when they don’t have a film in the running). When’s the last time you saw a comedy or sci-fi film nominated for Best Picture?

They lack diversity to the point of being embarrassing; according to a 2012 Los Angeles Times study, 94 percent of Oscar voters are white and 77 percent are male. And lets not forget to mention the preceding, frenzied circus of “Oscar buzz” — press junkets, nip slips, wardrobe malfunctions and the ubiquitous “Who are you wearing?”

The Academy Awards are about everything but the art of film. So forget the Oscars, or turn it into a game (e.g. drink every time new host Seth MacFarlane tells an offensive joke). Here at EW, we still really love film, without all the spectacle, and thus we proudly present 2012’s Top Movies (many of which were not nominated). We would not like to thank the Academy …

Top 10 Movies of 2012 – Molly Templeton’s Top 10

Top 10 Movies of 2012 – Rick Levin’s Top 10

Top Documentaries

The Misunderstood and Overlooked