Unleashed -- Disastrous year for Oscar nominees, Part 2

It's becoming apparent that the Oscars are falling to the level of the Grammys, an awards show famous for prompting viewers to ask, "Why am I watching the Grammys?"

This has been another disappointing year of Oscar nominees.

There are nine nominees for Best Picture this year, and only four of them were on my list of best titles of 2011. The Academy and I agree on "Hugo," "War Horse," "Tree of Life" and "The Artist." But I don't see how the Academy can justify rounding out the list with "The Descendants," "The Help," "Moneyball," "Midnight in Paris" and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" (which has received poor reviews coast to coast).

I am not the only one opposed to their choices. Other film critics have expressed their displeasure in some of these films and have openly criticized the Academy. Many films on the list are not even mentioned in other annual lists by famous reviewers such as Roger Ebert. In terms of directing, how is it that a winner of Best Director at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival (Nicolas Winding Refn for "Drive") was not even nominated for an Oscar? That snub continues a trend that illustrates the Academy's narrow scope; no Cannes Best Director has been nominated since 2007 (Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"). I find that absurd.

Not all is hopeless, though. With the exception of Michael Fassbender's groundbreaking performance in "Shame" going unrecognized, the Academy did an acceptable job with selecting nominations for acting, something it has failed at in the past.

The argument could be made that 2011 was simply a rough year for the film industry, but all in all, the Academy has made some poor choices this year.

* Alec Regimbal is a junior at West Valley High School and a member of Yakima Herald-Republic's Unleashed journalism program for high school students.