Best Picture Nominees 2011

Inception
Whose dreams does Christopher Nolan have to invade to get some Oscar respect? His Batman threnody The Dark Knight wowed the critics and earned $1 billion worldwide, but neither the film nor its director was nominated (a slight that spurred the Academy to expand the Best Picture category from five to 10 last year). Inception, a more audacious creation on a vaster canvas, picked up eight nominations, mostly in the craft categories, but Nolan as director again felt the cold silence. No film since 1989's Driving Miss Daisy has won Best Picture without its director's being nominated, and Inception won't break that streak. The Academy just isn't Nolan's demographic.

• Oscars 2011: Who Will Win and Who Got Snubbed