Academy Award Nominee Zero Dark Thirty

The Oscar should go to Zero Dark Thirty. This film details the long relentless manhunt of a CIA beauty (Jessica Chastain) on the trail of Osama Bin Laden. The tension steadily builds and never lets up. From black site interrogations scattered around the globe and across the years to the black ops assault on a Pakistani compound in the dead of a nail-biting, history-making night, the gravity of this subject matter provides its own weight. There is little need for the kind of suspense gimmicks frequently employed in director Ben Affleck's prize-competing thriller Argo.

Deep Roots and Heavenward Growth

The Tree of Life isn't exactly a movie but more of a visual poem. Director Terrence Malick meditates on the nature of human existence with the help of flashing images and disembodied whispers. The setting is Texas. This is a land where folks debate whether life comes from loving, purposeful creation or ruthless, impersonal evolution. The film suggests our tree is rooted in both. Our spirits are miraculous gifts, but we're still tiny specks in the universe.

Sean Penn is a Houston architect in a world of steel and glass. News of a family tragedy shakes his foundation. He is forced to remember that humans design awesome structures but have little control over the cosmos in which we set them. The Tree of Life begins with a quote from the Jewish scriptures about God asking tragedy-struck Job, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?"