It's a big day. After weeks and months of campaigning, backbiting and (this year especially, it seems) increasingly dirty tricks, Oscar nomination ballots are due tonight, marking the end of the nomination process (with the announcement to follow next Thursday).
All being well, Academy members have been working their way through the pile of screeners (or even better, checking the movies out in theaters), and have hopefully come to a decision based simply on what they like most. But it's also easy, with the countless precursor awards and Oscar blogs establishing a narrative early, for them to go with the flow.
So in the few hours left until voting closes, we wanted to highlight a few films, performance or filmmakers in the top categories who we think deserve recognition from Oscar voters but who aren't necessarily the usual suspects. We've tried to stay clear of those who are likely to or who have a decent shot at be nominated, so if your favorites are missing, that may be because...
