So, Erik Childress, who runs the Oscar Eye, puts films on his list that he’s seen – so he isn’t make blind predictions, which probably explains why his first five for Best Picture look like this:
1. The Dark Knight – Top grosser of the year and embraced by critics as a bona fide masterpiece of any genre.
2. WALL•E – There will be a lot of justified support to not just ghettoize this into the Animated category.
3. Slumdog Millionaire – Fox Searchlight did it for Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. They have another winner on their hands.
4. Changeling – Three of Clint Eastwood’s last four films have been nominated for Best Picture but this one isn’t nearly as good.
5. Rachel Getting Married – Demme’s best film since Something Wild. Period.