Date Night In: Best 2012 Oscar-Nominated Films

When you have little ones at home, it's often impossible...if not too expensive (after paying for the babysitter, tickets, overpriced soda & popcorn) to get to the movies with your hubby, partner or paramour. So, most parents opt for renting movies OnDemand or via Netflix instead. I take this as a wonderful opportunity for a romantic date night in! So, put the kiddies to bed, get a bottle of red wine, order in some Thai food or pizza (or make a fabulous meal), get some popcorn, Junior Mints and Twizzlers, and snuggle up to your sweetie! Here are my picks for best 2012 Oscar-nominted films to rent for your next "Date Night In!"

"My Week with Marilyn"
Michelle Williams was absolutely effervescent in her portrayal as the vulnerable and gorgeous icon Marilyn Monroe and was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. I really loved this film, an intimate look at Marilyn behind the scenes while she was filming the "The Prince and The Showgirl" in England with Sir Lawrence Olivier. Her friendship with the young production assistant shows how Marilyn craved having innocent fun and needed to escape her often troubled personal life. It's a good date movie that both men and women would enjoy...it has history, romance...and of course, Marilyn!

"Bridesmaids"
Saturday Night Live actress Kristen Wiig was nominated for an Academy Award for writing the comedy hit "Bridesmaids," and Melissa McCarthy for her role as the sassy and hilarious sister-in-law, and I say, Bravo! If your main squeeze loved "The Hangover: I or II" (or any comedies starring Paul Rudd/Jason Segel/Leslie Mann, et al), this is the perfect comedy to rent on date night! I laughed Out Loud at the theater when I saw it with my girlfriends, and when it came out on cable, my husband (and my in-laws who were in town) rented it one night and we all died laughing. The airplane scene is one of the funniest I've seen in years, not to mention the "bridal salon bathroom debacle" and the Parisisan bridal shower destruction scene. A must-see for a funny date night in!

"Midnight in Paris"
If you love Paris and everything Parisian (like i do!), you'll enjoy Woody Allen's film, nominated for Best Picture and winner of Best Screenplay. It's not a full-out comedy, but more of a dream-like drama, as Owen Wilson, a struggling writer engaged to a rather uptight woman, somehow goes back in time every midnight (suspension of disbelief, folks) to Paris in the Golden Age to rub elbows (and more) with his literary heroes and realizes what he really wants to do with his life. The film takes you back to the Cafe Society of the 1920s to meet those creative geniuses alive during that time, including Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Rent this movie on your next date night. I wouldn't say it's Allen's best film by any stretch, but it's worth renting with your paramour one night while enjoying some wine & cheese, steak frites and creme brûlée.

"The Descendents" - George Clooney & his on-screen daughters play a believable dysfunctional family in this deep, yet depressing film about a mother in a coma who has had an affair and a big decision his character, Matt King, has to make about some historic land his family owns on the island of Kaui. All set against the beautiful backdrop of Hawaii, it's a story of a struggling Dad trying to keep his family together while coming to terms with some seriously heavy issues. Luckily, there is some well-placed comic relief, delivered mostly by his independent and precocious daughters and a funny, stoner-type teenager named Sid. This is wonderful film I enjoyed for the heavier material, realistic humor and good plot twists.

"The Help" - I loved the strength and tenacity of the characters in this "story-within-a-story"about a young  well-to-do writer aiming to expose the truth behind the difficult life on both sides of "The Help" in Jackson, Mississippi's Deep South. It's a very heartfelt and honest film with some perfectly timed comic relief. All of the ladies nominated for Oscars in this inspiring film are excellent...Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer (Oscar Winner for Best Supporting Actress) and Jessica Chastain. This is more of a "chic flick" than a date night film (think, Ladies Book Club), although you might be able to persuade your guy to watch for the infamous Chocolate Pie scene.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
If you read the books, then you know how intensely good Stieg Larsson's "Dragon Tattoo Trilogy" really is. We rented the Swedish-produced trilogy of these thrilling yet terribly disturbing films last year in one weekend (which I highly recommend renting BEFORE seeing the American version). We were drawn in by the intricately-crafted plot lines, intensely troubled and twisted characters, historical references to Nazi Germany and modern day computer-hacking technology. In the American version, newcomer Rooney Mara was nominated for her role as Lisbeth Salander...and her transformation into the film's cyber-punk heroine was remarkable, and she played this tortured role with grace and intensity as she gets revenge against her vicious attacker and helps to solve a decades-old murder mystery alongside Daniel Craig's character, controversial journalist Mikael Bloomkvist. Definitely not a "feel good" movie (to put it lightly!), but a film so good, you have to just gather up the courage to get through the brutal scenes committed against Lisbeth to see it.

Other 2012 Oscar-winning films which I have yet to see, but looking forward to renting once they are available are  "The Artist"- Best Actor, Best Film  and "A Separation" - Best Foreign Language Film.

If you missed any of last year's 2011 Oscar nominees (which had some of the best film made in a long time)...I highly recommend renting all of these ASAP!

2011 Best Picture Nominees:

"Black Swan" 

"The Fighter" 

"Inception"

"The Kids Are All Right"

"The King's Speech" 

"127 Hours" 

"The Social Network" 

"Toy Story 3"

"True Grit" 

"Winter's Bone"