My pick for Best Picture this year is overwhelmingly There Will Be Blood - everything about it is amazing, the performances, the direction, the music, the cinematography and even the social commentary on religion and greed.

Even though it’s not my preferred Oscar winner, Atonement has a lot to offer as a piece about class and the dangers of prejudice:

With lush photography and a beautiful cast, Joe Wright’s Oscar nominated Atonement is being advertised as an epic romance, and while romance does weave itself in and out of the plot, it doesn’t really get to the heart of the film.

From the opening shot, a long line of animal figurines representing all of the jungle and the natural order of things, it’s clear that instead of love, this is a movie about class. For in England, the natural order of things, no matter how unnatural it may seem, is their rigid class system.

For more on Atonement, check out the full length article over at OpenLeft.com

And to help bridge cultural divides here in the US.