The Top Films of 2009, if Film Critics Ran the Oscars

The Hurt Locker (8.5)
Up in the Air (6)
Inglourious Basterds (3.5)
Avatar (1)
Up (1)
Hunger (.5)
Nine (.5)

On Oscar night, Avatar's one vote may loom a lot bigger than The Hurt Locker's 8.5. Bigelow's war movie was warmly reviewed but sparsely attended; it opened six months ago and earned just $12.7 million. If it won, which would be great, it'd be the lowest-grossing movie in memory to take the top Oscar. At the moment, Up in the Air is the favorite, with Avatar as a wild card. How the two pictures fare at the box office may have some influence on the final vote. The hundreds of critics who voted for these preliminary awards will have no say in the winners. We've done our bit. Now you do yours, and go see some good movies.

See the top 10 movies of 2009.