In order to make sure that Lincoln gets roughly 49 nominations the Academy has to leave a few great movies off the nominee list each year. A bunch of great films came out in 2012 that didn’t get their day in the Oscar sun. These are movies that — while they weren’t TRUE ART — are damn enjoyable all the same. These are the movies we saw on Memorial Day that made us forget our mindless day jobs, excruciating finals and inadequate significant others. They deserve some recognition, too. Without further adieu here are the best movies (that weren’t nominated for an Oscar) of 2012.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxbfnj_celeste-and-jesse-forever_shortfilms

Celeste and Jesse Forever via VideoDetective

Celeste and Jesse Forever was a fresh, original take on the romantic comedy formula. The movie is refreshingly (and sometimes painfully) honest on what it’s like to get over someone. Rashida Jones not only starred in but also wrote the movie. It’s hilarious and heart-breaking all at once.

The Cabin In The Woods via ClevverMovies

The Cabin In The Woods is the best subversive horror movie since Scream. It was made by Buffy’s Joss Whedon. It’s hilarious, campy and scary all at the same time.

The Expendables 2 via ClevverMovies

Here is a list of reasons while The Expendables 2 is worth seeing.

1. Chuck Norris is in it and he makes at LEAST five Chuck Norris jokes.

2. The opening sequence is set in North Korea and has at LEAST one river boat explosion.

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger wedges himself into one of those tiny European smart cars and somehow drives through a public place while simultaneously shooting a massive machine gun at terrorists.

4. Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Jet Li are also in it. That should make up for Sylvester Stallone’s face.

Safety Not Guaranteed via PureCine

Safety Not Guaranteed (starring Mark Duplass of The League) is an amazing piece of character driven sci-fi realism which is NOT something you see a lot of (although I’m pretty sure Pitbull thinks Men In Black III is a documentary). It’s genuine, sincere, touching, magical, dark and funny.

The Dictator via ClevverMovies

The Dictator was hands down the most underrated movie of the year. The trailer does this movie no justice since most of the comedy in The Dictator is R-rated. I came in with low expectations because unlike Borat and Bruno the movie was scripted. It was great, though. Sasha Baron Cohen and Anna Faris are both hysterical in it.

Men In Black III via tvnportal

Did you realize that before Men In Black III Will Smith had not been in a movie since 2008. That’s more than FOUR YEARS. FOUR YEARS without Will Smith. And you know what the movie he made in 2008 was? Seven Pounds. That’s not a real Will Smith movie. That’s not Independence Day. That’s not Bad Boys. That means the last real Will Smith movie was I Am Legend in 2007, which was almost six years ago. That is unacceptable. Men In Black III was the Will Smith movie we all needed. It was funny, light, action-packed and part of it was set in the ’60s. So, it was basically Men In Black meets Mad Men. Perfect.

Looper via Teaser-Trailer

Don’t act like ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS didn’t tell you this movie was amazing last fall. You know it’s amazing. Rent it already.

There you go. This is your required viewing for President’s Day weekend. Now you can antagonize your pretentious friends by saying: “You know, I think I liked The Expendables 2 better than Amour.” It’ll be so much fun.

***

WRITTEN BY: Kate – Managing Editor of Dailymotion’s Sexy/Redband, Auto, Animals, Travel, and Lifestyle Channels.