Oscars 2015: Ranking The Best Picture Nominees From Worst To Best

8. American Sniper

It's a bizarre loophole in the Academy shortlisting, a film that showed in a smattering of screens late in the year, but only goes on general release after the nominations, can still be a contender, and it's one that lends American Sniper some additional momentum - whereas many of the other films were out of cinemas by the time the nominations rolled around (two are even already available on DVD), this is at the forefront of audience's minds. Sniper is certainly the weakest of the Best Picture nominees, an intriguing true life story totally lacking in any sense of originality. Bradley Cooper runs through the life story of deadliest sniper in US history, Chris Kyle, with an all-American stoicism, but none of the depth present in similar recent movies (it vaguely touches on themes from both of Kathryn Bigelow's modern warfare efforts, The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty) is there. The footage of Kyle's funeral, shown over the end credits, packs more of an emotional punch and greater gets across the extent of Kyle's Legend than anything in the dramatisation, which is telling, especially as the film was in pre-production before his untimely death - without that unexpected event, the movie could have easily slipped by, making little impact. The Academy seems to love American Sniper, giving it six nominations, but that's not really in any way surprising; it's directed by a two-time Oscar winner, stars an emerging Academy favourite and deals with the war in Iraq. Simply mentioning 9/11 or its decade-spanning aftermath is a new shortcut to Oscar attention - just look as Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. And as the movie's version of Chris Kyle is motivated to go to war by 9/11 (aha, parallels), this effect is only accentuated.