2. The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan's third and final chapter in his Oscar-winning Dark Knight trilogy sees Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) isolated within the confines of Wayne Manor, injured and beaten after his encounter with the Joker. But Gotham is about to meet its most challenging and dangerous foe yet: Bane (Tom Hardy), a muscular, masked terrorist who intends to destroy the city and complete the agenda of his former master.
Why It Deserves To Be Nominated: Who else but Christopher Nolan could have transformed the Batman franchise into brilliant set of movies we see before us? And his third entry in the dark and broody saga arguably gave audiences the most tension-clad three hours of the entire summer, not to mention a leading man (and a supporting cast) at the top of their game. The Dark Knight Rises might not be as a cleanly cut as its predecessor, but it's a hugely dramatic Batman outing filled with all the pathos and seriousness of a Best Picture nominee. Write it off as a mere "popcorn" flick if you must, but Nolan made Rises relevant, what with its allusions to last year's Occupy Wall Street movement, and an ambitious scope that attempts to encompass an entire city's plight into the narrative framework. All that aside, The Dark Knight was snubbed back in 2008, and the Academy would do right to honor Nolan's achievements by granting this film a Best Picture nod.
Why It Doesn't Deserve To Be Nominated: The Dark Knight Rises could potentially be viewed as an overwritten, messy and misguided attempt at making The Dark Knight even darker and failing miserably in doing so. The Dark Knight Rises is generally quite a bleak and downbeat film, and despite its wink-wink ending, it doesn't exactly feel like a picture that would fit right in the other potential Best Picture nominees. Though Christopher Nolan apparently chucked everything at the wall for this final entry (and it shows - the thing nearly explodes under the weight of all those characters), it's arguably incoherent, tone-confused and far too ridiculous to be taken seriously. And Bane is ridiculously easy to make fun of. "For you!" What do you think? Which movie deserves to be nominated for Best Picture? Skyfall or The Dark Knight Rises? Both? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.