8) French Roast, Fabrice O. Joubert, director (Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films)
This SIGGRAPH winner has its fans. It's funny and the CG is gorgeous. Follows a man who drinks coffee after coffee at a café because he has lost his wallet. There's also a bank robber in there too. Critics think the story is too obvious and the pacing too slow.

9) Variete, Roelof van den Bergh, director (il Luster Productions)
il Luster Productions has won awards all around the world for their work, but has never picked up an Oscar nomination. Is it their time? It might be a tough road for this one where a plate balancer balances all the elements of his life from girlfriend to friends to children atop plates.

10) Logorama, Francois Alaux, Herve de Crecy & Ludovic Houplain, directors (Autour de Minuit)
[Correction] Buzz is so unreliable. When originally writing this article I wrongly refered to this film as mo-cap and that I doubted that it would be the first mo-cap film to reach the final five. Logorama is a CG film and not mo-cap. When I was putting together the list that was what I was told from Academy members. The filmmakers later put a comment on this article setting the record straight and wondering why technique should matter. It shouldn't, but sometimes it does. Prejudices still exist that influence the way voters vote, whether the prejudice is based on facts or not. Since writing this piece I've had a chance to talk to more Academy members and some of the same members I talked to before and the word on Logorama has changed. The chances are looking much better for this savage satire.

* As is the case with any year in the Best Animated Short category, predictions chosen by expert panels and randomly picking names from a hat have the same accuracy.

Rick DeMott is the director of content for Animation World Network, VFXWorld and AWNtv. Additionally, he's the creator of the movie review site, Rick's Flicks Picks, which was recently named one of the 100 best movie blogs by The Daily Reviewer. He has written for TV series, such as Discovery Kids' Growing Up Creepie and Cartoon Network's Pet Alien, the animation history book Animation Art, and the humor, absurdist and surrealist website Unloosen. Previously, he held various production and management positions in the entertainment industry.