In case you were wondering how the best picture nominees look as ranked by Rotten Tomatoes ...

By Top Critics:

The Artist: 100%

Moneyball: 97%

Midnight in Paris: 95%

Hugo: 92%

The Descendants: 90%

The Tree of Life: 88%

War Horse: 82%

The Help: 68%

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: 51%

By all critics:

The Artist: 97%

Hugo: 94%

Moneyball: 94%

Midnight in Paris: 93%

The Descendants: 90%

The Tree of Life: 84%

War Horse: 76%

The Help:76%

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: 46%

What surprised me? Not the less-than-spectacular numbers for “Tree of Life,” which I expected, since I know some critics didn't like it or didn't have patience for it or it wasn't what they want in a movie.

I'm a bit surprised that “The Descendants” wasn't higher. Fifth of the nine nominees? Behind “Midnight in Paris”?

I'm even more surprised that “War Horse” didn't tank. Top critics gave it 82%. Maybe we need to redefine “top.”

But I'm most surprised that “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” wound up with the kind of low numbers I thought “War Horse” would have. “Extremely” is considered rotten in both rankings. Has any best picture nominee ever had such low RT ratings? Even “The Blind Side,” which also starred Sandra Bullock, went 62%/66%.

**

After a quick search, I discovered “The Reader” went 56%/62% in 2008. So there is rotten precendent, just not as rotten. The connection, of course, is that both films were directed by Stephen Daldry.

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