I was just having a conversation with a friend about what makes a ‘best picture’ (Oscar-wise) and I had always sort of thought of best pictures as trying to be something a little bit grander, excelling in multiple areas. But after more thought on this and my best pic lists it mostly comes down to what I enjoy. Here are some of the movies that I thought were doing something right (standard caveats apply, and if you’re interested in my pool of pics take a look at those I’ve seen, bolded on critic’s pics):

• Black Swan – I dig a little weird in my films and Aronofsky didn’t disappoint, with Portman and Kunis giving lovely portrayals of the fine line between ballet and insanity.
• Easy A – This flick, and Emma Stone in the lead, hit all the right notes in this perfectly modern take on Scarlett Letter themes with a perfect nod to teen flicks I’ve adored (harder to do than one might think).
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World/Kick-Ass – I like a comic booky story (or graphic novel story) and thought that while Scott Pilgrim did a wonderful job of using a number of methods to create a unique world representative of the journey of battles, Kick-Ass did a surprisingly good job of putting the comic book in the real world (or at least movie real), it’s not so simple to be a superhero.
• The King’s Speech/The Social Network – I’m going to mention these two movies together because they were both somewhat unremarkable, simple stories where not a ton happens, but they both managed to weave a tale together with characters that kept me engaged throughout.
• The Town – Ben Affleck is doing a nice job carving out the directing and writing of work that creates worlds where you see inside the characters, in this the struggle of the primary character with his past, present, and future with love, family, and crime is nicely done.
• It’s Kind of a Funny Story – I at some point noted that this was kind of a sweet story, where we follow a teen who checks himself into a psych ward, with some of the somewhat predictable occurrences, the sincerity that they wove into each character drew me in.
• Inception – This is one of those movies that I give a little extra credit to because it tried to do something different, and I think it was mostly successful, though I mean really a dream inside a dream…
• 127 Hours – This movie goes against my rules of enjoyment because not only was this movie awful, it was worse than I expected, the reason it’s on this list is because despite my girlish squirming, eye covering, and nausea I was engaged throughout.

Honorable mentions: The Fighter (loved Bale, movie not the best of its ilk), True Grit (well done but meh), Winter’s Bone (yes it was good and I can’t quite tell you why I’m not more enamored), The Kids Are Alright (many very good things in this but a plot line that for a bit irritated me just enough to leave off).

Well I certainly can’t be exhaustive on this, I mean everyone does a top ten movie list, but following is a gathering of some of the critics and awards. The attributions with links are listed below and movies I’ve seen are bolded (a gal’s gotta keep track somehow), I can’t see them all but will cobble together my must see list after a quick run to the movies.

• 127 Hours – AFI, TC, LS, OG, Sat, AOS, RD, PGA, BM, BFCA, AA
• Ajami – OG
• Alice in Wonderland – GG
• Animal Kingdom – LS, Sat
• Another Year – LS, OG, SH
• The Art of the Steal – RD
• Black Swan – AFI, GG, MD, AOS, OFC, PGA, BAFTA, BFCA, CFC, GIFA, AA
• Blue Valentine – OG, Sat, GIFA
• Boxing Gym – MD
• Burlesque – GG
• Carlos – TC, MD, AOS, SH
• Cyrus – Sat
• Edge of Darkness – BM
• Exit Through the Gift Shop – TC, OG
• The Fighter – AFI, GG, AOS, PGA, BM, BFCA, AA
• Four Lions – RC
• Get Low – Sat
• The Ghost Writer – LS, OG, Sat, MD, BM
• Greenberg – AOS
• Green Zone – SK, RC
• Inception – SK, AFI, GG, Sat, MD, SH, OFC, RD, PGA, BAFTA, BFCA, CFC, AA
• Inside Job – RC, SH
• Jackass 3D – SK
• Kick-Ass – SK, RD
• The King’s Speech – GG, Sat, SH, PGA, BAFTA, BM, BFCA, CFC, AA
• The Kids Are Alright – AFI, LS, OG, GG, Sat, AOS, SH, PGA, GIFA, AA
• Knight and Day – BM
• Last Train Home – LS
• Let Me In – SK, TC, GIFA
• Life During Wartime – RC
• MacGruber – BM
• Made in Dagenham – Sat
• Monsters – SK
• Mother – TC
• My Dog Tulip – SH
• Never Let Me Go – RC
• The Other Guys – Sat, BM
• Please Give – Sat
• A Prophet – LS, MD
• Rabbit Hole – RC, RD
• RED – GG, Sat
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Sat
• Shutter Island – TC, RD
• The Social Network – SK, RC, LAFC, AFI, TC, LS, OG, GG, Sat, MD, SH, OFC, RD, PGA, BAFTA, BM, BFCA, CFC, NYFCC, SFFC, AA
• Solitary Man – RD
• Somewhere – AOS
• Splice – SK
• Sweetgrass – MD
• Takers – SK
• The Tillman Story – RD
• The Town – SK, AFI, OG, Sat, PGA, BM, BFCA
• The Tourist – GG
• Toy Story 3 – RC, AFI, TC, LS, OG, AOS, SH, OFC, PGA, BM, BFCA, AA
• True Grit – AFI, TC, MD, OFC, PGA, BAFTA, BFCA, AA
• Vincere – AOS
• Waiting for ‘Superman’ – RC
• Wild Grass – RC, MD
• Winter’s Bone – AFI, TC, LS, Sat, AOS, SH, OFC, RD, BFCA, CFC, GIFA, AA

AA – Academy Award Nominations, AOS – AO Scott for NYTimes, AFI – American Film Institute, BAFTA – British Academy Film Awards, GG – Golden Globe Nominations, BM – Ben Mankiewicz for Huggington Post, BSFC – Boston Society of Film Critics, BFCA – Broadcast Film Critics Association, CFC – Chicago Film Critics, GIFA – Gotham Independent Film Awards, LAFC – LA Film Critics, LS – Lisa Schwarzbaum for EW, NYFCC – New York Film Critic Circle, MD – Manohla Dargis for NYTimes,  OFC – Online Film Critics, OG – Owen Gleiberman for EW, PGA – Producers Guild, RC – Richard Corliss for Time, RD – Rossiter Drake for 7×7, Sat – Satellite Awards, SFFC – San Francisco Film Critics, SH – Stephen Holden for NYTimes, SK – Stephen King for EW, TC – Tom Charity for CNN