Handy little chart documenting the top critically acclaimed and box office movies of 2011 thus far. I don’t buy into the idea that box office can can propel a film to an Oscar anymore. In the old Hollywood system, motion picture popularity came from original films also quite revered by critics, with some obvious exceptions. In the past decade the disparity between box office success and critical response has mostly to do with studios lessening their output of original material (or total films in general) while focusing on financially safe properties with built-in fan bases.

I’m not sure how much this chart really helps us Oscar-wise but it a nice way to put contemporary money intake vs. critical acclaim into perspective.

See the chart after the jump.