The Aviator, which leads the pack with 11 nominations, including one for celebrated director Martin Scorsese, who has not yet won an Academy Award, is an exciting, entertaining picture that follows the captivating course of enterprising billionaire Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for Best Actor) from his expensive, exacting excursions into filmmaking in the 1920s, to his innovations in the field of aviation, which brought him into battle with Congress in the 1940s.

This is a handsomely-made period picture which puts nearly all of Scorsese’s noted filmmaking gifts on display, including his famed rapport with actors (his second teaming with DiCaprio, after 2002’s Gangs of New York, brings about some of the actor’s best work, not to mention the spot-on characterization he garners from Cate Blanchett, who is fantastic as the iconic, stately Kate Hepburn), and his facility for viscerally jolting moments (although The Aviator is not a violent film, one of the film’s crash sequences is so powerful that you’ll likely feel tossed about in your very stationary seat).

Akin to Ray, another Oscar-nominated biopic, The Aviator is not an exhaustive biography by any means, but by focusing on this particular 20-year window of Hughes’ life (and avoiding the more extreme eccentricities of his later life), the film successfully expresses the triumphs within the ultimate tragedies of this complicated figure.

On the other hand, Finding Neverland, which is based on a stage play by Allan Knee, uses tragedy, instead of glossing over it, to ultimately express the triumph of the human spirit through the power of imagination and the gift of sharing one’s experiences. Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie (Oscar-nominated Johnny Depp), struggling to find inspiration for his next play, strikes a chord with the four sons of the recently widowed Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet).

Still affected by the loss of their father (especially young Peter, played magnificently by Freddie Highmore), the boys gravitate to the youthful, playful spirit of Barrie, who himself is reeling from a marriage that is growing increasingly frigid and lifeless. He is stirred by the family’s resiliency and finds the inspiration for his legendary tale about refusing to grow up.

Directed by Marc Forster, Finding Neverland is a touchingly-told story that boasts a number of fine performances and also displays a surprisingly graceful sensibility, which is a pleasant departure for Forster, who last gave us the emotionally raw, gritty Monster’s Ball three years ago. Here, he not only shows a lighter touch, but he infuses the film with a fanciful air that lends even more power to its emotional themes.

Overall, The Aviator, rated PG-13 (for thematic elements, sexuality, language and an intense crash sequence), and Finding Neverland, rated PG (for its thematic elements and brief language), are definitely films that merit your time.

While The Aviator might be the more dynamic and glossy of the two, Finding Neverland is perhaps more lyrical and emotionally involving. Both are worthy of their Oscar nominations.