Out of the nine titles nominated for Best Picture for 2012 Oscars, The Model Cinema has screened four. This includes The Artist and The Descendants which are being screened 22 – 29 February. Other contenders include Terence Malick’s The Tree of Life and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which were both popular with The Model audiences.

Midnight in Paris is a light-hearted witty escapade, with Allen’s alter-ego, Owen Wilson journeying through time to the Paris of Picasso, Hemmingway and Salvador Dali and hooking up with one of Picasso’s muses, played by an enigmatic Marion Cotillard. The Tree of Life, a beautiful and poignant film, divided Model audiences, but for the sheer beauty of the cinematography and scope of the director’s vision, Malick deserves much praise and encouragement to carry on with this ambitious vision and superb film-craft.

Who will get the coveted Best Picture? The Artist has been clearing the boards at the recent award ceremonies, with its seven Baftas, even winning Best Screenplay! When picking up the screenplay award, The Artist’s director, Michel Hazanavicius, said: “I’m very surprised, because so many people thought there was no script, because there was no dialogue, so English people are very clever. Congratulations to you.” Critics now say that The Artist has gone from underdog to Rottweiler, but what about Payne’s comedy on a mid-life crisis, The Descendants, with George Clooney trying to keep things together in cloudy Hawaii… it could be the dark horse in this race.

Both The Artist and The Descendants are opening at The Model in the coming days.