What is Academy Idol?
Few parts of The Awards Circuit are more democratic, or more popular for that matter, than Academy Idol, a hallmark of Oscar season at the site. For the uninitiated, quite simply, this contest is our integration of American Idol style voting with the big Oscar hopefuls for the year. Once the field is selected in the fall, week by week, they compete against each other in categories like Directors, Cinematography, and so on…culminating in films being eliminated each week. How does that happen? Well, YOU, the reader get to vote and push your favorite candidate forward in the contest.
| BOTTOM TWO | ||
| Looper | Django Unchained | |
| BOTTOM THREE | ||
| Moonrise Kingdom | The Master | Lincoln |
| The Master (2) | Lincoln (2) | The Cabin in the Woods |
| The Cabin in the Woods (2) | Lincoln (3) | The Sessions |
| The Sessions (2) | Amour | Zero Dark Thirty |
| Lincoln (4) | Les Miserables | Argo |
| BOTTOM TWO | ||
| Les Miserables (2) | Silver Linings Playbook | |
| BOTTOM THREE | ||
| Argo (2) | Silver Linings Playbook (2) | Amour (2) |
| FINAL FOUR | ||
| Silver Linings Playbook (3) | ||
| FINAL THREE | ||
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | ||
| FINALE | ||
| Amour (3) | Zero Dark Thirty (1) | |
WRECK-IT RALPH
MAGIC MIKE
THE IMPOSSIBLE
PROMISED LAND
LIFE OF PI
FLIGHT
ANNA KARENINA
HITCHCOCK
CLOUD ATLAS
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
THE AVENGERS
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
SKYFALL
| Bottom Three | ||
| War Horse | Moneyball | Girl with the Dragon Tattoo |
| Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2) | Moneyball (2) | Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy |
| Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2) | Moneyball (3) | Martha Marcy May Marlene |
| Moneyball (4) | The Tree of Life | Martha Marcy May Marlene (2) |
| The Descendants | 50/50 | Midnight in Paris |
| 50/50 (2) | The Tree of Life (2) | The Artist |
| The Tree of Life (3) | Martha Marcy May Marlene (3) | Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II |
| Final Six | ||
| Martha Marcy May Marlene (4) | ||
| Bottom Two | ||
| Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II (2) | The Artist (2) | |
| Final Four | ||
| Midnight in Paris (2) | ||
| Final Three | ||
| The Artist (3) | ||
| Finale | ||
| Drive | Shame | |
WILD CARDS – (The Ides of March, Melancholia, Bridesmaids)
(ORIGINALS) – A Separation, Young Adult, Rango, J. Edgar
(ADAPTEDS) – We Bought a Zoo, A Dangerous Method, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help
| Bottom Three | ||
| Another Year | The Fighter | The King’s Speech |
| The Fighter (2) | The King’s Speech (2) | Rabbit Hole |
| Winter’s Bone | 127 Hours | The Kids Are All Right |
| Rabbit Hole (2) | 127 Hours (2) | The Kids Are All Right (2) |
| The King’s Speech (3) | The Kids Are All Right (3) | Toy Story 3 |
| The Kids Are All Right (4) | 127 Hours (3) | How to Train Your Dragon |
| Bottom Two | ||
| Toy Story 3 (2) | Inception | |
| Final Four | ||
| Inception (2) | ||
| Final Three | ||
| Black Swan | ||
| How to Train Your Dragon (2) | The Social Network | |
TOP 17 – Shutter Island, The Town, True Grit, Animal Kingdom, The Tourist
TOP 20 - Get Low, Secretariat, The Way Back* (A tie between True Grit & Winter’s Bone moved them to Top 17)
TOP 24 – Made in Dagenham, Waiting for Superman, TRON: Legacy, Fair Game
| Bottom Three | ||
| Nine | Precious | Avatar |
| The Cove | Precious (2) | Up in the Air |
| In the Loop | Avatar (2) | District 9 |
| District 9 (2) | A Serious Man | Inglourious Basterds |
| Avatar (3) | Up in the Air (2) | Precious (3) |
| Up in the Air (3) | A Serious Man (2) | Where the Wild Things Are |
| Precious (4) | Where the Wild Things Are (2) | A Serious Man (3) |
| Bottom Two | ||
| Where the Wild Things Are (3) | Up | |
| The Hurt Locker | Up (2) | |
| Final Three | ||
| Up (3) | ||
| A Serious Man (4) | Inglourious Basterds (1) | |
TOP 36 (GROUP 1) – Watchmen, The Road, The Messenger, The Hangover, Brothers, The White Ribbon
TOP 36 (GROUP 2) – Invictus, Coraline, Public Enemies, Paranormal Activity, Trucker
TOP 36 (GROUP 3) – The Lovely Bones, Star Trek, Zombieland, A Single Man, Bright Star, Capitalism: A Love Story, Crazy Heart, The Last Station
WILD CARD PICKS - Adventureland, 500 Days of Summer (Joey), In the Loop, Un Prophete (Keith Lucas), Moon, An Education (Myles Hughes), Avatar, Precious (Clayton)
| Bottom Three | ||
| Rachel Getting Married | The Reader | Australia |
| Australia (2) | Changeling | The Wrestler |
| Changeling (2) | Doubt | The Reader (2) |
| The Reader (3) | Slumdog Millionaire | Revolutionary Road |
| Doubt (2) | Revolutionary Road (2) | Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| Slumdog Millionaire (2) | Revolutionary Road (3) | Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2) |
| Curious Case of Benjamin Button (3) | Revolutionary Road (4) | Milk |
| Bottom Two | ||
| Milk (2) | Wall-E | |
| Revolutionary Road (5) | Wall-E (2) | |
| Final Three | ||
| The Wrestler (2) | ||
| The Dark Knight | Wall-E (2) | |
TOP 16 – Frost/Nixon, Iron Man, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Visitor
TOP 20 – Gommorah, Defiance, Happy Go Lucky, Pineapple Express
TOP 24 – Appaloosa, Gran Torino, I’ve Loved You So Long, The Duchess
| Bottom Three | ||
| American Gangster | I’m Not There | Eastern Promises |
| I’m Not There (2) | Eastern Promises (2) | Knocked Up |
| Gone Baby Gone | Eastern Promises (3) | There Will Be Blood |
| Ratatouille | Eastern Promises (4) | Knocked Up (2) |
| Hairspray | Eastern Promises (5) | Juno |
| Eastern Promises (6) | Juno (2) | Knocked Up (3) |
| No Country for Old Men | Knocked Up (4) | Juno (3) |
| Bottom Two | ||
| Atonement | Sweeney Todd | |
| Sweeney Todd (2) | Juno (4) | |
| Final Three | ||
| Juno (5) | ||
| Knocked Up (5) | There Will Be Blood (1) | |
TOP 16 – Michael Clayton, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson’s War
Top 20 – Once, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, 3:10 to Yuma, Lust, Caution
Top 24 – The Savages, Into the Wild, In the Valley of Elah, The Great Debaters
