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The year in movies 2012 is shaping up to be a great year in terms of quality, quantity, and perhaps most importantly, big box office. There were plenty of great films that made a lot of money, including over the summer. The term "blockbuster" tends to be overused, but this year it seems just about every film that was hyped to no end actually delivered. Well, save for Battleship. As 2012 comes to a close, we're in the beginnings of what is termed "Oscar season". The first awards and nominations have been announced from several of the awarding guilds, and we're just over a month away from when it all goes full-throttle. However, before we start talking about the cream of this year's crop, I thought it would be fun to revisit last year. There were quite a number of great films from 2011 that didn't get a lot of awards recognition, so allow me to present these 13 titles for your consideration...

Moneyblog: 2011 Oscar Predictions (February 26, 2012)

This Sunday, February 26, the long Oscar season comes to an end. (Sorry, Razzies, but in moving your ceremony to April 1, you blew it. No one cares now.) With the exception of Saturday night's Independent Spirit Awards (which you can see on IFC at 10PM), all of the nominations have been made and all of the awards and accolades have been given out. Billy Crystal will host the 84th Annual Academy Awards on ABC with red-carpet coverage on about four networks all throughout the day. It's time for me to make my final decisions and predictions for who I think will be taking home the gold.

Best Picture nominees, "War Horse"

We've spent the last week or so looking at each of the nine nominated films for Best Picture. The Oscars are coming this Sunday, and my predictions will be announced either tomorrow or Thursday. I'm still working on a few categories and doing my best to see as many clips and films and shorts as I can. In the meantime, we've looked at eight of the Best Picture nominees, and we have one left. I was doing these in no particular order, but as it turns out, the ninth and final film is the last one alphabetically. Apropos of nothing but ironically, it was the first one announced the morning of the nominations. The film is "War Horse".

Best Picture nominees, "Moneyball"

As passionate as I am about movies, I am equally as passionate about baseball. Sure, I love tennis and I love football and I love hockey, but nothing comes close to baseball. So you can bet that after I read Michael Lewis's famed baseball book "Moneyball" last year, and soon afterwards learned of the movie coming as well, I was eagerly anticipating this one. The question was whether or not the movie would work, because the book contains a LOT of analytical and statistical data that would not transmit into making an interesting movie, which would mean the movie would need to "Hollywood it up", so to speak. I was thrilled to find that this film not only did work, but delivered one of my absolute favorite films of 2011.

Best Picture nominees, "The Descendents"

Some years ago, there was always a front row seat during the Academy Awards that had Jack Nicholson in it. This would mean he'd appear on camera frequently during the broadcast, and it also usually meant he'd be the butt of a few jokes from the host as well. Nowadays, the "Jack seat" is the "George seat", because every year, George Clooney is in that front row somewhere. What helps his cause is that every year, he seems to be in the mix with nominations for acting and/or directing and/or writing and/or producing. This year is no exception as he has two nominations. One is for his screenplay (with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon) for "The Ides of March". The other is for his lead performance in the film being discussed here, "The Descendants".

So what are these Oscars anyway?

OK, so you've obviously ascertained by now (if you didn't know it already) that I'm a ridiculous moviephile, and I'm an especially hopeless nerd when it comes to the Oscars. However, beyond the obvious major categories that are pretty self-explanatory, some of the other categories are a little less understood. What is the difference between an "original" screenplay and an "adapted" screenplay? Why are there two awards given for sound? What in the hell is "cinematography"? I've been asked those questions several times over the years, and sometimes even I have a hard time giving a concrete answer. So here, for those who may be interested (such as my wife, who's asked me the second and third question I listed above at one time or another), I felt it would be a good idea to clear the air and explain what these categories are exactly honoring.

Best Picture nominees, "The Tree of Life"

I tried. Honestly, I tried.

This movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received an equal amount of raucous applause and lustful boos. A friend of mine who works at a theater told me she gave out over 50 refunds to the film in its opening weekend because people kept walking out, not comprehending it and liking it even less. I'd read critical praise, and just as much vitriol.

But it's up for Best Picture. I did want to see it and give it a chance.

I walked out after 30 minutes.