Oscar farce

Yet again we see a list of nominations that are quite frankly, a joke, yes, everybody has their own idea of what makes a good film, how to define a great performance, was the script really something new and different etc. etc. and most of us would probably choose a few of the nominees anyway, but how on earth do some pieces of utter garbage ever get nods, was this such a bad year for film or is bribery really so rife amongst the voters?
Anyway back to the nominees, here's the "Best Motion Picture of the Year" nominees, what I think about the film and a couple of other choices I think should have made the grade.

The Artist - 8.5/10 In my eyes this is easily the best of an average bunch, it's funny, charming and it delivers something different and does it damn well.
The Descendants - 7/10 Not a bad film, it looks stunning and there are a couple of decent performers (but only a couple), but the script was poor and ALL the characters were unlikeable
The Help - 7/10 Again this is a decent film, a well rounded loosely based on truth story, that was acted well by some of the cast, but it's a bit too simple considering the plot ie. there seems to be too many caricatures and (pardon the phrase) it's just too black and white
Hugo - 7/10 A joy to watch but it leaves little lasting impression
Midnight in Paris - 6.5/10 Another reasonable film, not as engaging as much of Allens work and a little too slow and predictable for me
Moneyball - 3/10 Now I'm a sports fan, a sports film fan and even a fan of statistics, but this film was utterly rubbish, 2 of the points I've given are purely for Jonah Hill, who I'd previously thought of as no more than the butt of jokes in average (at best) comedies
The Tree of Life - 6.5/10 As a fan of Terrence Malick and a few of the actors I feel let down by this, it's overly sentimental yet lacks any real emotion, it looks brilliant as you'd expect from Malick but ultimately it left me hollow
War Horse - 4/10 And every one of those points goes to the horse, if you want something so sentimental that it's bathed in syrup, so preposterous that it would befit an Eastenders Christmas day episode and so self-indulgently over the top it could be a despots palace, then this is the film for you
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close I haven't seen this yet so can't comment about it

Where is Drive or We Need to Talk About Kevin, both of which are far superior to most on the list and more imoprtantly in the scheme of things, both have performances that are better than any of those nominated for the acting Oscars, Ryan Gosling was great as the 'driver' and Tilda Swinton delivered a performance better than any I've yet seen this millennium, I can sort of see why they've missed out on the big one as neither is a pleasant film, but to miss out on the acting categories is beyond farce.

With your ratings out of ten, what rating would constitute getting an Oscar nomination?

Is the 8.5 you gave to the Artist enough? Are the 7/10s enough? Or would you expect to see films that you rate at 9/10 as good enough?

I hope that makes sense....

Over the last few years I've only seen half a dozen films I'd give more than 8.5/10 and here is the problem I have with most rating systems used by most people, I see 10/10 being given to good films, frankly that's a joke, 10/10 is perfect and I'm yet to see anything that was perfect.

A 9/10 is about as good as it generally gets, with The Shawshank Redemption, The Philadelphia Story, The Godfather II and The Great Dictator being the only films I'd even consider giving 9.5/10 to, maybe I'm just a sad pedant, but I'm yet to find the perfect beer and boy do I try them all, so I'm unlikely to ever see a perfect film.

I gave The Artist 1.5 points more than any of the others on the list and that's why I had a go at last years films, I think I was generous with the marks I gave to some of the other films and I certainly wouldn't rate any of them as being good enough to be classed as "Best Film", maybe when I watch The Artist again I'll think it worthy and ATM it's head and shoulders above any of the others, but that says more about a very poor selection than how good The Artist is.

To put it another way, I'd give Tilda Swintons performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin 9.5/10, it was truly incredible, but the film as a whole I'd only rate at about 7-7.5/10.

R rated films seem to have been discounted at the Oscars this year for some reason, though for what reason I'm really unsure. Like you I'd agree some films are given rating scores nowhere near what they deserve at times often giving any rating system a very skewed look.

Of those top rated films you mentioned you'd give 9.5 to, I'm not sure I'd give some of them such high remarks but that's just me. I'd give Ikuri a 10/10 and possible maybe one or two others but I do agree alot of ratings can be taken with a pinch of salt.