The Contenders III RT/Metacritic Chart

Film	RT %	Avg. Rating	COTC %	COTC Rating	# of fresh reviews	# of rotten reviews	Metacritic Avg.	Metacritic 100s
Atonement	100%	7.9/10			20	0
American Gangster	100%	8.0/10			6	0
Charlie Wilson's War
There Will Be Blood
Youth Without Youth
No Country for Old Men	95%	7.9/10	83%	7.0/10	21	1
Away From Her	96%	8.1/10	100%	8.2/10	117	5	88	5
Hairspray	93%	7.8/10	98%	8.1/10	169	13	81	6
Once	97%	8.3/10	100%	8.4/10	111	3	88	8
Control	90%	7.4/10	82%	6.9/10	46	5	78	1
Eastern Promises	89%	7.7/10	88%	7.5/10	131	16	82	2
Gone Baby Gone	91%	7.5/10	100%	7.4/10	51	5
Michael Clayton	90%	7.6/10	94%	7.8/10	136	14	82	3
Sweeney Todd
Juno	100%	7.8/10			8	0
The Savages	100%	8.0/10			8	0
Waitress	88%	7.3/10	96%	7.6/10	122	16	75	2
In the Valley of Elah	68%	6.9/10	73%	7.1/10	84	40	65	3
Lions for Lambs

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Hairspray's Matacritic score is 81 and it has 6 100's.

Good job, Shack.

Nice job, Shack. I don't know if I have the energy for those kind of charts, so thanks for doing it.

Thanks... The 76/0 was the 80s Hairspray, I was clicking through too fast.

Oh and should we sticky

In the next two days by the way Reservation Road, The Walker, and Rails and Ties will all be seen for the first time at tiff, should get a good look at their prospects

I think Reservation Road has already been screened at least once. Reviews have been mixed.

Don't think it has at Toronto yet though, at least not according to their schedule and the fact that Berardinelli/the other reviewers haven't gotten to it yet

Why does nobody ever mention Ratatouille

It has a better shot than half of the films you are listing.

A few others worth mentioning (with reviews at RT if any):

Into the Wild - 83%/7.2 with 6
The Kingdom - 83%/7.7 with 6
Michael Clayton - 67%/6.1 with 9
Sleuth - 60%/6.3 with 5
Margot at the Wedding - 50% with 4
I'm Not There - 50% with 4
Redacted - 50% with 4
Nanking - 100%/7.8 with 5 (not going to be a contender, but could be a foreign/indie fave)
The Kite Runner

Not many high averages (>=8.0) so far.

There's also Control, the Joy Division biopic movie, 7-1 so far (88%). I think the movie is too british/arty and the academy probably won't go for JD on the same level as someone like Cash, but acting is a possibility

I'll do a full first-post update later today, but just wanted to throw in Atonement is 19-0 now and Eastern Promises has a whack of reviews with 40 fresh and 8 rotten, should be a solid bet to stick around still. Probably will end up like AHOV, it got 86% because a select number were turned off by Croenenberg, but it still ended up at the top for the critic's lists round-up. Only 1 100 so far, but 83 score overall, Violence has 81 and 5 100s.

Reservation Road's reviews have been very mediocre thusfar, barring a miracle there will be no reason to add it to the list.

I updated the first post. I'll do that for now, no need to clutter the thread.

Biggest updates:
Eastern Promises is rolling in the reviews and is doing solid if unspectacular. 84%, 59 and 11, 2 100s at Metacritic.
In the Valley of Elah is 65% with 34/18, 3 100s at MC is a plus however. Crash had 5.
Across the Universe is at 48% now with 21/23, I'll take it off the list soon.
Atonement is still 19-0 as above mentioned. Mysteriously no MC, the lack of COTC probably has a lot to do with that too.
Rendition is on the meter with 40%. Not the most promising start, but no need to count it out yet.

Updated again. Haven't been doing it much lately because the year is in that slow period we always get after the festivals, but here's what there is

Eastern Promises is up to 88%, 82 at MC and 2 100s. Pretty level with AHOV.

In the Valley of Elah is 68%, and it's numbers pretty much reflect that, except the 3 100s.

The Assasination of Jesse James is currently at 72%, I'll update that again later tonight. 3 100s is a plus but I don't see much momentum being gained for it.

Oh and I took out Across the Universe. It was rotten with 50+ reviews in.

Michael Clayton is at 85%

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/michael_clayton/

Looking pretty decent for it, Clooney and Wilkinson are still in game, though for that the RT score would need to at least hold up where it is now.


Rendition is back up to 44%, but it still ain't going nowhere.

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/rendition/


Lust, Caution isn't ging far either because with its rating, it needed better reviews to make a splash. 70% just isn't going to cut it:

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/lust_caution/


Margot at the Wedding - 50%. An acting nom at best.

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/margot_at_the_wedding/

I'll be gone till the 12th, so I'll have to do a big update when I get back then. Shouldn't miss THAT much though.

I know this might sound silly but with all of these contenders failing left and right, can something like Away From Her get extra attention and score nods not only to its actors and screenplay, but also the big two: Picture and Director? (Sarah Polley just won the Directors Guild of Canada!)


I really need to see this btw.

I think it has a better shot at director than picture...but hmm....

The reviews are more than good enough, it's the box office that pretty much kills any chance it might have. Same thing with Once. It is doing pretty well with DVD rentals for a movie of it's kind but I don't know if it will be enough. I don't know if I need to actually say it but I would love it if it did happen Though a nomination for Sarah Polley (for directing, she'll probably get a nomination for the screenplay) would be satisfying enough.

Still I expect one of the two (or Hairspray) to make a comeback at the end of the year with precursors/critics. Hairspray has the best shot probably. It has the reviews AND will probably be the biggest box office hit among best picture contenders. That is the one film I definitely think people are underestimating.

I think the potential surprise or small film nominee by far and away is Juno. Actually Im predicting Juno to get in, thats how strong the reactions have been.

Atonement has now 20 fresh. And its box office run in the UK is quite good. In the 4th weekend still less than a 50% drop from the opening weekend. Nearly 9 Million Pound so far

Gone Baby Gone now has 5 reviews on RT, all positives although no super raves. Probably worth tracking at this point.

Just wanted to say, Im able to access a computer but still on vacation, sorry for the lack of updates. When I got home to mine in a few days Ill do a huge catchup one.

Shack, I'd add Control to the tracking. It's at 94% at RT.