Oscar nominations are in, and this "critic" raves...meh

I'm rather underwhelmed with this year's list of Oscar nominations for Best Picture. While I've only seen three of the films, the only one of those that I truly liked was "Midnight in Paris." And the others have been either completely uninteresting to me or have not gotten stellar reviews. I should pass the rest of my judgement when I've actually seen the other films (especially with "The Help," since I know the least about it) but that's not happening any time soon as theater prices refuse to go down.

Since "Hugo" and "The Artist" have gotten the most nominations, chances are they'll win over the other films. I'm personally rooting for "Midnight in Paris" but I wouldn't mind if The Artist won, particularly since it's such a throwback film and looks to be really well done.

vs.

(Insert overly dramatic voice) WHO WILL WIN?????

I saw "Hugo" and frankly, I was not as impressed as I would have liked. Don't get me wrong, the special effects were absolutely fantastic, and it's so far the only movie I was glad to see specifically in 3D. But the story line still needed a lot of work and isn't enough for a "Best Picture" win for me. Perhaps "The Artist" will persuade me in looks as well as in storytelling. And "Extremely Loud" looks to be an interesting story at least, which in my book is the bulk of the burden of winning Best Picture. Everything else looks to be like a good story, but not a great one. And isn't that what winning Best Picture is all about? Having the best of everything? That includes a great story.