~~ Oscars 2013: Place your bets on the 9 Best Picture nominees ~~

With a little over a week to go for the 85th Annual Academy Awards, I thought it'd be fun to put together a formbook of the 9 films in the running for the biggest award of all.


This isn't based on how good the films are (though the accompanying text should indeed make my opinion on each contender unambiguously clear) but on how good their chances look to lift the Best Picture trophy.

Hooper isn't nominated for Best Director, the film has earned very mixed reviews (which means some real stinkers) and, most vitally, Hooper's The King's Speech robbed The Social Network of this Oscar a couple of years ago.

Nope, this one's not happening.

It's hard not to admire Ang Lee, a wonderfully sensitive filmmaker with an incredibly diverse range.

Lee does beautiful things in 3D with this film, most of them involving a majestic tiger, but there's a bit too much heavyhanded preachiness afoot.

It's a helluva spectacle, make no mistake, but it really isn't in contention for the top prize.