My dream Oscar ballot, 2012

The 84th Academy Awards are this Sunday and though you've already seen my top 20 films of 2011, I also want to share what I would've nominated in other categories. While my ten Best Picture nominees are my top ten films; my other 'nominees' have shifted a lot in the past couple of months since I've been able to revisit certain films, catch some that I missed earlier and really get to see certain players make their case on the press circuit. It's a fun time of year, but I'm looking forward to some resolution on Sunday. Anyway, here is my 'dream Oscar ballot.'

The Best Films of 2011

A lot of movie pundits have agreed to label 2011 as a weak year. I suppose I see where they are coming from. I can only claim to love just a few of 2011's releases, but I sure did like a lot. Titles like "Certified Copy," "Melancholia," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin" showcased crisp and intelligent European cinema as good as anything else in the past several years. Commercial American films such as "Contagion," "Hugo" and "Moneyball" paired sharp screenplays with excellent visuals. Independent cinema shined too, with films like "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "Take Shelter" and "Sahkanaga" standing out. One film, however, stands heads and tails above the rest.

After years of doing this, one usually develops a sense of how strong or weak the year in film is pretty early on. But once you start going back and compiling a list of accolades, each year seems strong in it's own right. Check out my top twenty films of 2011 after the jump.

"The Tree of Life" dominates first ever Georgia Film Critics Awards

"The Tree of Life" won 6 awards out of 8 nominations.

You can now add Georgia to the list of states and cities around the country that boast their own film critics groups and award presentations. The Georgia Film Critics Association released their slate of nominees for their inaugural awards last week and just this evening announced the winners. Although both "The Tree of Life" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" led the way with eight nominations each, the former received the lion's share of prizes with a total of six. "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" was awarded Best Ensemble. "War Horse" won Best Score out of six nominations and both "Moneyball" and "Certified Copy" took home two awards each.

Brad Pitt won both Best Actor (for "Moneyball") and Best Supporting Actor (for "The Tree of Life"), while Juliette Binoche won Best Actress (for "Certified Copy") and newcomer Jessica Chastain was awarded prizes for Best Supporting Actress (for "The Tree of Life") and Breakthrough. Chastain bested fellow "The Tree of Life" star Hunter McCracken, British actor Tom Hiddleston ("Midnight in Paris," "Thor" & "War Horse"), as well as actors-turned-filmmakers Josh Radnor ("Happythankyoumoreplease") and Richard Ayoade ("Submarine") in the Breakthrough category.

Other awards went to "The Adventures of Tintin," "Midnight in Paris," "The Muppets," the Georgia-made "Sahkanaga" and racing documentary "Senna."

See the full list of winners and nominees after the jump.