Below is a list of how the current Oscar ponies fare with critics' ratings. The percentage number is the film's "Cream of the Crop" score at RottenTomatoes.com (not its over-all score). Italicized numbers are from Metacritic.com: the first is its critics' tally (then, in parenthesis, is the site's users' scores). The roman-font number at the end of each line is the score it receives from members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which bestows the Critics Choice Awards.

Just for fun, I threw in "Jackass Number Two" to see where it lands compared to major Oscar players.

What I find fascinating are some of the injustices that clearly jump out — like the ranking of "Infamous" — which is being dismissed by many Oscarologists just because of last year's "Capote" — over other strong contenders like "Babel" and "World Trade Center."

Also intriguing is the reality check provided by Metacritic.com users who don't necessarily follow film critics' groupthink when told to, actually breaking from the wolfpacks with scores somewhat lower for "The Queen," "Half Nelson," "United 93," "World Trade Center" and "Marie-Antoinette."

Movies that get notably higher rank by site users over stingy or closed-minded film critics: "Running with Scissors," "Babel," "Infamous," "Deliver Us from Evil, "Driving Lessons," "The Prestige," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Monster House," "Over the Hedge," and, of course, "Jackass Number Two."

"The Queen" — 100%, 91 (6.4), 95
"51 Birch Street" — 100%, 79
"Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing" — 100%, 74, 85
"Half Nelson" — 94%, 85 (7.5)
"The Departed" — 93%, 85 (8.3), 91
"United 93" — 92%, 90 (7.7), 95
"Last King of Scotland" — 92%, 74 (7.9), 88
"Little Children" — 91%, 76 (9.1), 95
"Little Miss Sunshine" — 90%, 80 (8.1), 94
"The Illustionist" — 88%, 68 (8.5), 81
"Deliver Us from Evil" — 84%, 86 (9.6)
"The Devil Wears Prada" — 84%, 63 (7.5), 83
"Quinceanera" — 83%, 72 (7.8)
"Volver" — 80%, 85, 91
"Flags of Our Fathers" — 78%, 78 (7.3), 93
"Cars" — 78%, 73 (6.8), 89
"Thank You for Smoking" — 77%, 71 (7.8), 83
"Catch a Fire" — 75%, 62 (6.5), 80
"Infamous" — 74% 68 (8.7) , 80
"World Trade Center" — 74%, 66 (4.9), 88
"Superman Returns" — 73%, 72 (6.6), 89
"Babel" — 71%, 71 (8.6), 94
"A Prairie Home Companion" — 71%, 75 (6.3), 85
"Monster House" — 67%, 68 (7.6), 80
"Over the Hedge" — 63%, 67 (8.3), 81
"Mission: Impossible 3" — 62%, 66 (6.7), 81
"Hollywoodland" — 61%, 62 (5.5), 81
"Jackass Number Two" — 59%, 66 (7.1)"
Ant Bully" — 59% 59 (5.1) , 78
"Driving Lessons" — 57%, 59 (10), 71
"The Prestige" — 54%, 66 (8.4), 83
"Marie-Antoinette" — 49%, 65 (4.7), 75
"Running with Scissors" — 32%, 52 (7.1), 71

Photo: The L.A. Times said of "The Queen" in its review: "In a commanding performance that is as compelling as it is unexpected, Mirren has turned 'The Queen' into something you never imagined it could be: a crackling dramatic story that's intelligent, thoughtful and moving."
(Photo: Miramax)