When it was first announced that Seth MacFarlane would be hosting the upcoming 85th Academy Awards, most expected that the musically-inclined MacFarlane would include some sort of music element in the show. Indeed, ABC announced today that this year’s Oscars will feature a tribute to movie musicals of the past decade.  Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron revealed that they will showcase three movie musicals from the past ten years during the ceremony: Chicago, Dreamgirls, and this year’s Best Picture nominee Les Miserables.

Though I’m admittedly a big fan of movie musicals, I find it odd that the program has restricted the field to films from the past ten years.  There’s so much great matieral to be mined from the 30s, 40s, and 50s that MacFarlane could knock out of the park.  Nevertheless, We don’t know if MacFarlane will be handling the tribute alone, with some help, or if another party altogether will run the showcase.  Could we be in for a Seth/Stewie “They Both Reached for the Gun” rendition?  We’ll find out on February 24th.  Hit the jump to check out trailers for all three films followed by the press release.

This week on The Collision, we turn out attention to the topic of negative film criticism.  We explore Scott Jordan Harris‘ recent editorial railing against critics who have lost sight of actual critique in favor of snarky takedowns, and we consider Jay Rayner‘s piece about how readers love those take downs.  This leads to a discussion about the purpose of criticism, and I’m really proud of this conversation.  We also review Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy, and then provide our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for last week’s episode, and click here to add the podcast to your RSS.  Be sure to follow The Collision on Twitter for updates, and you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore).  Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

I’ve really enjoyed the lists I’ve posted this week and I hope you have too.  I keep notes year-round on everything I feel is worth noting about particular movies so I don’t forget and I can compile it into what (hopefully) makes or an informative read.  However, this list I’ve been dreading.  Unlike the other lists, there’s no real recommendation at work here.  It’s a list designed to highlight mostly beloved and established films.  It’s also difficult to factor in films of 2008 and 2009 because I don’t know their staying power.  Finally, it’s a list that will ultimately please no one because there’s no way I can narrow the hundreds of great films that have come out over the last ten years into twenty that I’ve determined are better than all the rest.  So why am I doing it?  I have my reasons.  They’re not very good ones, but I have them.

The decade is ending, these films left an impact on me, and so I’ll call them out for their greatness and accept that there were plenty of other movies that could have filled in just as easily.

Hit the jump to start the countdown.

The biggest movie of all time (in scope if not yet in grosses) has now led to the biggest weekend of all time at the box office. James Cameron’s 3D Avatar pulled ahead of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes on Saturday, claiming a second weekend at number one with an estimated $75 million from its 3,456 theatres. But there were plenty of good tidings to go around. With estimated ticket sales topping $278 million all-told, the last weekend in December turned out to be both the biggest Christmas on record and the biggest weekend of all time, surpassing that fabled frame of July 18, 2008 when The Dark Knight ruled.

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned but I believe that a musical needs, above all else, good music.  Direction, performances, production design, and choreography (if applicable) are all important, but a musical lives and dies with its songs.  Nine dies and it’s a long, excruciating death as we follow mopish director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) suffering from writer’s block and depending on all the women in his life while providing nothing in return.  Eventually, “Nine” no longer represents Frederico Fellini’s “8 ½ plus music”, but a countdown to how many forgettable numbers you’ll have to endure before the movie ends.