Sunday night's 83rd Annual Academy Awards proved to be relatively entertaining. With a number of wonderful musical performances and compelling tributes, to the honoring of some worthy films, this year’s Academy Awards rightfully earned better ratings than in recent years.

Director Michael Gondry’s The Green Hornet is a prime example of what happens when a director has a lot of money with which to work but minimal substance on which to stand. While it’s evident that effort was involved in making the film, particularly as it pertains to the action scenes, it is an overall disappointment.

The 2010 remake of the John Wayne classic True Grit is now the highest-grossing Coen Brothers film to date, and for good reason. The surprising hit, comprised of a number of talented performances, stays true to the original story, so full of wit and adventure. As a result, True Grit ended 2010 by topping the box office charts at number one, surpassing even Little Fockers.

The Fighter is based on the true story of professional boxer “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). It tells the tale of Ward’s relationship with his half-brother Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale), and how the brothers helped to put their city of Lowell, Massachusetts, on the map, though not always in the best way. The movie is exciting and gripping, but explicit language, heavy drug use, and violence orient the film to a specific type of audience.

Part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is incredibly entertaining and exciting, but far too mature for younger audiences. The film really proves that the characters (as well as the actors) have grown up, and as they age, the external and internal pressures increase dramatically.

Megamind is a fun tale of a struggle between good and evil, unique in that the most important clash is between Megamind and Megamind. When confronted by Metroman (the good guy), Megamind relished his role as the villain. Once Megamind found himself in a greatly different position, however, he had to decide if the path he was to choose would be the road less traveled.

Conviction tells the real-life story of a single mother named Betty Ann Waters, who tended bar while acquiring her GED, bachelor’s degree, and then her law degree, all so that she could represent her brother Kenny, wrongly convicted of murder. Both the film and the true story are accounts of incredible loyalty, courage, and determination.

Hereafter effectively brings spirituality to real-life events, ranging from the now-historic 2004 Indonesian tsunami to the terrorist attacks of a London train station. It highlights the very question nearly every person asks, particularly during the most trying times: What happens after death? Hereafter ventures a guess that will help audiences remember their faith.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is by far one of the better films to be produced in recent years. But viewers beware — the film's melodramatics have a lasting, haunting effect. Yet is has the unique ability to add levity to some heavy, hard-hitting material, making its title a perfect fit.

Watching Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is analogous to viewing James Cameron’s 1997 hit, The Titanic. Both films generate the same sense of impending doom, rendering moviegoers with a feeling of helplessness as they sit and watch a tragedy befall that potentially could have been avoided. Where Wall Street differs from The Titanic, however, is in the realization that the disaster is continuing to unfold today. Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps encapsulates the 2008 market crash and depicts the adage “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Audiences may be surprised that the film does not trash the George W. Bush administration, considering Stone's directorship.