Oscar Two Weeks in Review: December 18-31, 2011

Note: Due to the holiday weekend last week, there was no column. This will cover the last two weeks in Oscar happenings. Sorry for the delay.

Oscar News

The 97 eligible scores list was released by the Academy, as was the list of 39 eligible songs.
The Academy released the official poster for the 84th Awards, and it is already getting a lot of criticism for the films it chose to highlight.
Among the critics groups to release their winners were Austin (Best Picture: Hugo), the Black Film Critics (The Help), Oklahoma (The Artist) and Utah (Drive).

War Horse, the latest live-action film by Steven Spielberg, picked up a 72 on Metacritic, although even its most devoted praise acknowledges that it is corny and old-fashioned.
The Adventures of Tin Tin, the first animated film by Steven Spielberg, picked up a 68 on Metacritic, although even its most devoted praise acknowledges that it is lightweight and shallow.
David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a 71 score from Metacritic. Most of the criticism has been on the flimsiness of the plot, but Rooney Mara has gotten rave reviews across the board.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has become one of the year’s biggest critical punching bags. With a 44 score on Metacritic, the film has a few supporters, but most charge the film with being manipulative and vapid.
Although Meryl Streep is picking up solid notices for her Maragaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady only has a 52 on Metacritic. Most reviewers cite the film as a dull biopic only brought to life by the central performance.
Although Glenn Close is picking up solid notices for her lead character, Albert Nobbs only has a 53 on Metacritic. Even the most vehement detractors, though, cite Janet McTeer as the film’s standout.
A Separation received a whopping 93 on Metacritic, making it one of the best reviewed films of the year. The Iranian masterpiece, though, has an uphill battle in any non-foreign language category come January, though.

War Horse might have been the biggest winner of the Christmas weekend, picking up $15 million in only one day of release.
Young Adult, We Bought a Zoo and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo all had disappointing openings, although the latter film could still pick up steam on word-of-mouth.