With awards season in full swing and the Academy Award® nominees now announced, we’ve taken a look back at some of the greatest ‘Best Picture’ award winning films from the last 75 years, and have a selection for you to win!

Three lucky Hey U Guys winners can take a stroll down memory lane with seven award-winning DVDs up for grabs – including quintessential Hollywood epics; Gone with the Wind, which won a staggering 10 Academy Awards® in 1940 and Ben Hur, which with 11 Oscars® in 1960, still today holds a joint record for the most Academy Awards® for one film.Casablanca, Amadeus, Dances with Wolves, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Unforgiven also won the prestigious ‘Best Picture’ accolade, alongside a raft of other gongs. There is no better way to immerse yourself in the awards season than with this stellar selection – to be in with a chance of winning this collection of award winning classics, please answer the following question.

Gone with the Wind, Ben Hur, Casablanca, Amadeus, Dances with Wolves, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Unforgiven are all available on Blu-ray™ and DVD now.

To be in with a chance if winning this great prize, simply head to the next page and answer the question presented.

Well no, since you asked. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t deeply flawed.

The Oscars are the high watermark of film recognition. The red carpet trampling, lovvie love-a-thon that is the motion picture awards season starts in earnest with the Golden Globes in early January and extravagantly culminates every year in late February with the Academy Awards in which apparently “everyone is just thrilled to be nominated!” but in actuality hopes are realised, dreams are shattered and the presenters are almost constantly underwhelming. When it comes to the big night though it can all seem like a bit of game. A cynical, industry driven game in which awards are doled out by the sensibility load and Martin Scorsese can win an Oscar through sheer bloody minded persistence (and a superlative body of work of course).

The awards themselves essentially boil down to the artistic whims of a group of voters who are predominantly older, whiter and male-er than your typical movie audience, and your typical movie audience they most definitely aren’t. The 6000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are a venerable bunch of industry professionals who once inducted are placed into their various pigeonholes of expertise. Actors, directors, cinematographers and writers all have their place to name a but a few with the experts in each category having more sway when it comes to the tricky business of voting. In the first round directors nominate the work of directors, writers of writers and so on with each member providing a list of their top five choices. These feed the candidates for the second round of voting to the Academy as a whole who then all submit their top fives in most categories. The exception is of course the be-all and end-all award of Best Picture which everyone votes for.

Oscar voters are people sustained and venerated by their own artistic endeavours and as such they won’t be voting for any hack produced hokum any time soon. Added to this we don’t get many surprises either. We get them plumping for the worthy over the cinematic (think the choice of The Help over Tinker Tailor), the traditional over the innovative (War Horse over Drive), the heroic underdog over the perverted sex-addict (Brad Pitt’s average display in Moneyball over Michael Fassbender’s powerhouse performance in Shame). Way back when in 1989 we got the starkest manifestation of this we could ever wish for with the triumph of the comfortably middle class over the radical and intelligent with Driving Miss Daisy winning best picture over Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing – a film that set the tone of black-centric cinema for a decade to come and wasn’t even nominated. A case like that more clearly than anything shows how the mass appeal of the facile and one-dimensional can almost always triumph over the confrontational and original. This may seem like I am throwing The Help and Driving Miss Daisy together into some sort of race rights for dummies cadre and it kind of seems like I am. But Driving Miss Daisy cleaned up at the Oscars so of course it’s brilliant. Of course it is! Anyone who says otherwise is stupid, or a Hollywood Foreign Press member. So both.

Speaking of which when you compare the Oscars to the Golden Globes our gold plated, statuesque friend comes out smelling of roses. The Golden Globes are the sort of unashamed silly affair that keeps re-hiring a presenter to hilariously lampoon their inadequacies in some sort of devil’s pact for viewers. It’s like someone building a house on a cliff using stone from the cliff face. At some point the Golden Globes, I mean house, ahem, will collapse and all of the viewers will leave and Ricky Gervais will have to find somewhere else to live out the creative death of his career.

What the Golden Globes do have over their more respected counterparts however is timing. If something wins at the Globes it’s often a good indicator for things to come. By the time the Oscars swing round films like The Artist will have won so many awards that they’ll we struggling for something to say other than “OMG OMG OMG OMG the Oscars are the best it’s been my dream blah blah blah” that we’ve heard all before. There’s none of the surprise that there should be for indie flicks like The Artist when they win a huge award as their expectations are already so high come February that a Best Picture victory will seem more like a relief than anything.

So why will I be staying up into the wee hours of the morning waiting to get my Oscar fix for yet another year? Well it’s because they are just so bloody important and despite everything that I’ve said up until this point they still hold the requisite amount of artistic integrity.

More often than not the Oscars get it vaguely right and if they don’t it’s not usually that bad (apart from the Academy’s complete disregard for Senna this year which is ridiculous beyond parody). Yes, last year The Social Network should have walked off with Best Picture never to be refuted but that on the night it went to The King’s Speech wasn’t terrible. The Social Network would’ve been (and had been) a success irrespective of awards attention but The King’s Speech, high on the Oscar buzz it was getting – and Colin Firth’s repeated walk-ons at every awards show imaginable – carried the film through its January and February release period to a humongous (and thoroughly deserved) box-office. That an artfully inclined arthouse flick about a king with a speech impediment made $400 million worldwide is testament to the power of Oscar buzz. Without the Oscars such deserving films would get much less mainstream attention and I think cinema would be poorer for it.

Recently this also proved true for Slumdog Millionaire, The Hurt Locker, 127 Hours, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Brokeback Mountain and the masterful Sideways to name but a few. Oscar buzz is the real force behind the Oscars. What happens on the night happens and will be raked over in movie posters for eons to come but the real relevance of the Academy Awards is in the bridge they build between the artistic medium of film and the mainstream engine of the film industry.

If you love films and hate to see the wrong things getting top recognition come awards night then yes it may seem like the Oscars are losing their relevance, but as an industry force they are nevertheless a force for good. Even if we do have to put up with the occasional give me a bloody Oscar already! film like I Am Sam (featuring the now famous Sean Penn going ‘full retard’ performance) or Seven Pounds (in which Will Smith begs for an Oscar so hard that I’m surprised he didn’t actually grab his nearest box jellyfish and jump into a bathtub for attention come nominations), ultimately they bring (albeit a small selection of) lesser known gems to the masses.

So come February the 26^th 2012 I’ll be sitting down to watch 4 hours worth of film industry back patting, self indulgent montage and lots and lots of hysterical speeches. But I don’t think I’d have it any other way. Oh and Billy Crystal’s back. Which is nice.

Fearing a remake of The Artist and wondering whether Meryl Streep could take Robert Downey Jr in a fight.

I’m brainstorming crazy stuff that Tom Cruise might jump off. For a movie. Obviously. Why? Well, you can bet somebody, somewhere, with a lot more power and influence than me is doing just that. Maybe I can think of something truly awesome and sell it to them. After all, Cruise is pretty dedicated to Doing All His Own Stunts No Matter How Crazy They Seem. Maybe I can shoehorn bungee ropes and the Russian Mafia into the equation – everyone needs a villain.

I’m actually trying to distract myself from another depressing possibility – the seemingly inevitable remake of The Artist. That’s crazy? Oh is it? Really? I fear there’s a rumour drifting through the shadowy corridors of some of the major studios’ development departments that a remake of The Artist is, in fact, A Good Idea, and that scares me. There’s bound to be someone who reckons the French shot a movie that everyone loves but nobody noticed they forgot to film in colour and switch on their microphone.

I can see it now. The frenzied late-night phone call to the jobbing screenwriter who just wants to catch a break as he types into the night on his precious Mac Book Air, brushing mice from his writing desk with a moth-eaten slipper. Yeah, it’s a great idea, the studio executives will purr down the phone, their soothing voices promising the screenwriter his Big Break. We’ll remake The Artist in colour, film it in English and spend a bit of dough on a period setting. Get Clint Eastwood to direct. He loves that kind of thing. Oscar Gold… Trying to point out, well, the point of The Artist, the screenwriter becomes the lone voice in a room full of single-minded development executives.

At which point the nightmare grows worse. It’s the perfect time to suggest to the jobbing screenwriter that Marvel fans don’t like The Iron Lady. Well, that’s not entirely unexpected, you might think. There’s a distinct lack of spandex and super-heroism going on there, and rather a lot of showy Oscar-worthiness and Meryl Streep with big hair.

Suddenly I have a powerful image in my head of Robert Downey Jr looming over Meryl ‘Iron Lady’ Streep in his sculpted metal suit, smirking as she cowers behind her Maggie Thatcher handbag and bouffant hairdo.

But some of the less clued-in studio executives start whispering of a crossover feature – The Iron Lady versus Iron Man. The industry buzz will be that apparently Marvel has botched its Iron Lady origin story and made it light on the kind of action needed to pull in the kids. They’ve set it in her apartment? Where she sees ghosts? And she runs the Government in 1980s Britain? Well, maybe we can do something with the ghost thing…

“…Maggie Thatcher! The fearless leader with a mechanised war machine that defended the Fork Lands from the tyranny of the Argents, a primitive, cave-dwelling race that worships false idols made of silver. And there are ghosts, maybe. Watch Iron Man stomp in stage left and bring on the smack down…!”

It’ll be a plotline hastily recited to an impatient studio boss by an over-imaginative and under-experienced intern fearing for her job and feeling vulnerable after her most recent break-up. Have a go at that script and you’ve got an arrogant, if disarmingly charming billionaire in a metal suit laying the smack down on a frail and confused octogenarian who sees ghosts in her flat.

Suddenly I have a powerful image in my head of Robert Downey Jr looming over Meryl ‘Iron Lady’ Streep in his sculpted metal suit, smirking as she cowers behind her Maggie Thatcher handbag and bouffant hairdo. He glances at Pepper Potts, incredulous: “The miners want me to do what to her??”

But that’ll never happen. I’m being a hopeless pessimist. Right? It’s no good – I need my distraction. Should Tom Cruise jump off Seattle’s Space Needle while being shot at by a goon in a micro-light with a mini-gun? Are they looking for a spec script for Mission: Impossible – Retirement Doctrine? I have a long night ahead…

This morning (LA time) Jennifer Lawrence, star of upcoming movie The Hunger Games will be revealing the nominations live from LA for the 84th Academy Awards aka The Oscars. We’ll update the list below as as we can so keep refreshing (press F5 on your keyboard) the post to see the nominations as they arrive. The nominations begin 13.30 GMT, 08:30 EST and 05:30 PST. You can watch it here live.

It’s pretty much certain that The Artist and The Descendants will do very well and we’re hoping for a good show from British productions including My Week with Marilyn, Shame and The Iron Lady.

The Oscars ceremony themselves take place Sunday, February 26 at the Kodak Theatre with Billy Crystal presenting. We’ll be up all night to bring you the winners as they’re announced

Best Picture

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• War Horse
• Moneyball
• The Tree Of Life
• The Help
• Midnight In Paris
• Hugo
• Extremely Close And Incredibly Close

Best Actor

• Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
• George Clooney (The Descendants)
• Demian Bachir (A Better Life)
• Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
• Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Best Actress

• Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
• Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
• Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)
• Viola Davis (The Help)
• Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

Best Supporting Actor

• Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
• Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
• Nick Nolte (Warrior)
• Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
• Max Von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

Best Supporting Actress

• Berenice Bijou (The Artist)
• Jessica Chastain (The Help)
• Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
• Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
• Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best Director

• Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
• Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
• Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
• Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris)
• Terrence Malick (The Tree Of Life)

Animated Feature

• A Cat In Paris
• Chico & Rita
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss In Boots
• Rango

Art Direction

• The Artist
• Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• Midnight In Paris
• War Horse

Cinematography

• The Artist
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• The Tree Of Life
• War Horse

Costume Design

• Anonymous
• The Artist
• Hugo
• Jane Eyre
• W.E.

Documentary Feature

• Hell And Back Again
• If A Tree Falls Short: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
• Pina
• Undefeated

Documentary Short

• The Barber Of Birmingham: Foot Soldier Of The Civil Rights Movement
• God Is The Bigger Elvis
• Incident In New Baghdad
• Saving Face
• The Tsunami And The Cherry Blossom

Editing

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Moneyball

Foreign Language Film

• Bullhead
• Footnote
• In Darkness
• Monsieur Lazhar
• A Separation

Music (Score)

• The Adventures Of Tintin
• The Artist
• Hugo
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• War Horse

Music (Song)

• The Muppets
• Rio

Short Film (animated)

• Dimanche/Sunday
• The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr Morris Lessmore
• La Luna
• A Morning Stroll
• Wild Life

Short Film (live action)

• Pentecost
• Raju
• The Shore
• Time Freak
• Tuba Atlantic

Today at 13.30 GMT, Jennifer Lawrence, star of the new movie, The Hunger Games will be announcing the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards live from LA. We’ll also be updating the list of nominations as they happen here.

You can watch the nominations as they happen live below:

We’re expecting big things from The Artist and The Descendents but stay tuned to find out who will be in with a chance of winning the most coveted statue in the movie industry.

It’s been a hectic few days for the for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the 84th Academy Awards lost producer Brett Ratner and host Eddie Murphy all within 24 hours.

Confirmation of Ratner’s replacement is here, however, and amid conversations of who should stand in as host is all over the internet, with The Muppets taking lead as front-runners for the spot.

Alas it was not to be as Billy Crystal has just been confirmed as the host of the 84th Academy Awards.

Filmmaker Ratner announced his resignation as Oscar producer on Tuesday after recent controversies involving racy comments and the use of an anti-gay slur. Murphy then followed with an announcement of his withdrawal the next day.

Fortunately it wasn’t long until Academy President Tom Sherak announced that Brian Grazer has been secured as Ratner’s replacement and in the half an hour Crystal tweeted the following,

Crystal returns to the stage for the ninth time and, while it’s not The Muppets, it provides some stability for the ceremony.

Grazner, whose current projects include the soon-to-be-released J. Edgar and the just released Tower Heist (starring Murphy and directed by Ratner), said that, “It’s very gratifying to be part of a show that honors excellence in the medium to which I have devoted so much of my career.”

Sherak commented that, “Brian Grazer is a renowned filmmaker who over the past 25 years has produced a diverse and extraordinary body of work,” and continued: “He will certainly bring his tremendous talent, creativity and relationships to the Oscars.”

The biggest names to be circulated amongst film fanatics over the last twenty four hours included the return of James Franco and Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris, Ben Stiller, Ricky Gervais, and Hugh Jackman.

But what seemed to be a favourite option was for The Muppets to host the show, and they quickly became the front-runners as the people’s choice overnight.

Their Twitter account @MuppetsOscars pulled over 11,000 follows, though Variety were quick to deny any chance of it, reporting that any hope of The Muppets hosting was slim. Not that their say has stopped the release of The Muppets promotional poster (above).

The Awards show is still expected to air on February 26, 2012.

Back in May, we got the terrific first look at Woody Harrelson in his next upcoming film, Rampart, along with the official full synopsis, and right from the get-go it looked and sounded brilliant.

Earlier this month, we then got the first three clips from the film, just after it had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where it was very much well received.

Now comes the fantastic news that Millennium Entertainment have acquired the US rights to the film for $2m., Deadline report, and they have their eye on taking a shot at the Oscars early next year. They are currently planning on releasing the film in twenty cities across America, and since the Academy’s rules for eligibility state that the film must have at least a week-long run, specifically in Los Angeles County, within the calendar year (Rule 2.2 c., d., and f.), we can be pretty sure that at the very least, LA will be lucky enough to see Rampart before the end of the year.

“The last of the renegade cops, LAPD officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work” and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.”

Millennium are planning on campaigning for Harrelson on the Best Actor front for the Academy Awards, and for writer-director Oren Moverman for both Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Since famed American crime author James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) co-wrote the script with Moverman, this would be the writer’s first nomination if he and Moverman do get a nod for Best Screenplay.

Neither Harrelson nor Moverman are rookies when it comes to the awards. Both received tremendous praise for their work together on 2009’s The Messenger, which earned Harrelson a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Moverman a Best Screenplay nomination with his co-writer, Allesandro Camon.

Having not yet seen Rampart, I of course can’t say for sure how Oscar-worthy the film is. But everything about it suggests it deserves a shot at the awards. With an Oscar-nominated writer-director with a twice-nominated leading man, and a terrific support cast that includes Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Brie Larson, Ice Cube, and Robin Wright, there’s really no way that this film won’t be incredible. There’s no word yet on when the release date will be, either here or in the States, but Deadline do note that the majority of the film’s international rights have been sold already, so let’s all keep our fingers tightly crossed that the UK is included, and that Rampart will get a release here before the end of the year too. I cannot wait.

With the news recently announced that Eddie Murphy will be hosting the Academy Awards next year, it seems only right that our host for the British Academy of Film and Television Awards would be announced too.

And the British Academy has now announced that the beloved Stephen Fry will returning to take the hosting duties next year, on Sunday 12^th February, two weeks prior to the American awards.

Fry is no stranger to the awards ceremony, having had the job six times in the past, between 2001 and 2006:

“I had a marvellous time presenting the Film Awards for the first six years of the century. Hard as it may be for some characteristically sceptical Britons to believe, the BAFTAs have real kudos, reputation and cachet all over the world of film-making and I, old as I am, never cease to be shamelessly glamorised by the sight of so many legendary names who come every year as nominees and presenters.

“The adorable Jonathan Ross has done a magnificent job since I last hung up my bow-tie and boxed my patent leather pumps, and I am honoured and pleased to return to the lectern and host what I am sure will be an evening of squeals, surreally weird acceptance speeches and genuinely exciting surprises and pleasures.”

I don’t think I know anyone who has anything but nice things to say about Fry, and I’m really looking forward to his presence at the awards next year. Amanda Berry, BAFTA’s CEO, had this to say about the announcement:

“I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Stephen back to host the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2012. Since he stepped down from hosting in 2006, Stephen has continued to build an enviable broadcast repertoire, making a string of BAFTA-nominated documentaries and entertainment programmes as well as lending his voice to BAFTA-winning video games, and we will be seeing him shortly in upcoming films ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ and ‘The Hobbit’. He has also hosted the Academy’s Britannia Awards in Los Angeles, all the while wholeheartedly embracing the Twitter phenomenon and amassing over 3 million followers.

“Stephen’s love of cinema, his keen sense of fun and his characteristic panache will be a huge draw for the biggest film night of 2012.

“Jonathan’s five-year reign as master of ceremonies coincided with a period of growth for the Film Awards, including a move to the Royal Opera House and increasing international awareness of them. Jonathan’s contribution was an essential part of this, and we sincerely thank him for it.”

Sincerely good news in my books, as I’m sure it is in most people’s books. We can next look forward to seeing Fry in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which is due out just before Christmas this year on 16^th December, and should be utterly fantastic. And then just less than two months later, we’ll have the pleasure of inviting him into homes for the evening to host the BAFTAs.

The rumours started over the weekend that the wildly popular, albeit perhaps slightly in years gone by, Eddie Murphy would be hosting the Oscars next year, taking over from James Franco and Anne Hathaway’s turn back at the end of February this year.

Deadline are now reporting that Murphy has officially agreed to take the hosting duties for the 84^th Academy Awards next year, to be held on Sunday, 26th February, 2012.

I must confess that I am still sadly yet to ever have had the chance to see an Oscar ceremony broadcast to date, lacking the television capabilities beyond terrestrial channels that would allow me access to the awards. But the Oscars are something that are watched by millions the world over, and they are far and away the most prestigious awards granted in the film industry.

Some incredible films are predicted to be going to the Oscars next year, including the likes of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Luc Besson’s The Lady; We Need To Talk About Kevin; and many, many more brilliant films. I personally can’t wait to see how the awards turn out, and having Murphy hosting the ceremony sounds like a pretty solid choice to me.

Though many might think he’s passed his prime, Murphy’s upcoming performance in Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist alongside Ben Stiller and Casey Affleck is said to be ingenious, marking a return to the height of his long and brilliant comedy career. Ratner is one of the producers for next year’s Academy Awards, and it was he that suggested Murphy to the Academy for the role of hosting, having worked with him on Tower Heist, and clearly building a relationship with him, knowing how good a choice he would be.

According to one unnamed insider,

“Nobody knows movies better or is a bigger cinephile than Eddie. Not Brett. Not even Quentin Tarantino. Eddie can quote scenes from every single movie word for word. He can bring all that experience to hosting. Plus he has Saturday Night Live experience before a live crowd. And worldwide the biggest crossover comedians are Will Smith and Eddie Murphy.”

Though the rumours received a slightly mixed response over the weekend, I’m definitely warming to the idea now that it’s been confirmed. I love Murphy in so many different films, and I fully expect him to be a brilliant host for next year’s Awards. I only hope that I’ll finally be able to see it live with everybody else.

Fans of last year’s warped family drama and art house hit, Dogtooth, (if you haven’t seen this incredible film yet, you need to rectify that ASAP) will be happy to learn that not only has director Yorgos Lanthimos finished his new film, but it’s due to premiere (in competition) at this year’s Venice Film Festival which begins at the end of the month.

Here’s the synopsis for Alps, a film which Lanthimos claims is “darker and funnier” than his debut, and “goes to each extreme a little bit more”:

A Nurse, a Paramedic, a Gymnast and her Coach have formed a service for hire. They stand in for dead people by appointment, hired by the relatives, friends, or colleagues of the deceased. The company is called Alps while their leader, the Paramedic, calls himself Mont Blanc. Although the Alps members operate under a discipline regime demanded by their leader, the Nurse doesn’t… From the director of the Oscar-nominated DOGTOOTH

You may recall that Dogtooth won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year’s Oscars, so it’s fair to say that Alps has entered the highly anticipated category for lovers of extreme European cinema. Check out the first images from the film, below.

Via The Playlist.

Obviously there has been somewhat of a lull since the onslaught of awards ceremonies earlier in the year and the relevant companies have had enough time to sort out press releases for next years awards ceremonies and it seems they have chosen today to share them with us!

We’ve just received information from BAFTA HQ that the 2012 event will take place on Sunday 12th February 2012 with the nominations being revealed Tuesday 17th January.

Just like last year, that puts the BAFTAs two week ahead of the 2012 Academy Awards which Deadline tell us will take place February 26, 2012 with the key dates for the 84th Oscars ceremony below. Question is, what will we see at them? Thoughts below please!

• Thursday, December 1, 2011: Official Screen Credits forms due
• Tuesday, December 27, 2011: Nominations ballots mailed
• Friday, January 13, 2012: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT
• Tuesday, January 24, 2012: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater
• Wednesday, February 1, 2012: Final ballots mailed
• Monday, February 6, 2012: Nominees Luncheon
• Saturday, February 11, 2012: Scientific and Technical Awards presentation
• Tuesday, February 21, 2012: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT
• Sunday, February 26, 2012: 84th Academy Awards presentation

Last night was, once again, the biggest night in the movie industry.  It was Oscar’s 83rd year and it was once again a bit of a snooze-fest.  Every year I sit down to watch this thing hoping and praying it’ll be better than the previous year.  Every year I’m left with the same feeling.  Maybe it’ll be better next year. 

I don’t know what the solution is because it’s impossible to please everyone.  This year they obviously tried to appeal to the younger generations by having Anne Hathaway and James Franco host.  I’ll give them points for trying, but in the end it all fell a bit flat.  It’s a shame really.  But c’est la vie, there’s always next year.

The highlights for me consisted of:

Christian Bale’s beard.  And seeming to forget his wife’s name.  Say what you want about the guy being an ass or whatever.  The man grows a FANTASTIC beard.  Not a lot of guys can say that.  I still do a double take when I hear him use his natural accent too.  I always forget about it.  I sat there in stunned silence when he was trying to thank his wife too.  Then I imagined what he felt.  How horrifying.  At least he didn’t forget to thank her completely.

Aaron Sorkin’s acceptance speech.  Sure it was long, but he thanked loads of people and didn’t give a damn that the orchestra was trying to play him off.  I always find it funny when people do that.  I imagine it’s their way of giving the producers the finger and I say good on ‘em.

Robert Downey Jr. & Jude Law.  Maybe those two should host next year.  They play off of each other so well, have chemistry and are loads of fun to watch.  It’s what made Sherlock Holmes so good.  Listen up Academy….they’re gold.  RDJ is incredibly easy on the eyes, and a lot of women (not me so much) think the same thing about Jude Law so you get the female audience.  RDJ also exudes “cool” so the guy factor will watch just because of that.  It’s a win-win.

Kirk Douglas.  This is equal parts of happy and sad.  It breaks my heart to see Kirk Douglas these days.  Much like seeing Dick Clarke.  But I’ll give it to Kirk….he was great.  He was funny and charming and a sight to behold.  He was hard to understand at times, but he still commands respect.  Melissa Leo is a lucky woman to have gotten her award from such a legend.

I know acceptance speeches are a necessary evil and each winner deserves the right to get up there and thank everyone on the planet, but I have such a hard time sitting through them.  I did however like the speech given by David Seidler for his Best Original Screenplay win.

I also kind of like that the guy behind Nine Inch Nails won an Oscar.  That’s pretty cool.  I was rooting for Hans Zimmer because I adore the Inception soundtrack, but I’m happy for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.  The score to The Social Network was great and their award was well deserved.  I was hoping he’d bust out in a medley of NIN stuff during his speech though.  Sadly, he didn’t.

The rest of the show however was stilted and seemed somewhat forced.  Roomie said that to her, it seemed like Anne Hathaway did a big huge bag of blow, and James Franco smoked a big joint.  She was hyper and he wasn’t.  Hell, he was even non-existent though the second hour.  He was probably back stage  mackin’ on cupcakes.

The annual In Memoriam piece was better than last year.  Although I prefer last year’s performance by Queen Latifah.  They screwed up last year however by focusing more on the performer with shots of the dearly departed going on in the background.  This year we got Celine Dion.  But they actually focused on the dead and not on the living dead.

There was also no mention of Corey Haim in this years montage either.  Last year we went through the same scandal with Farrah Fawcett.  I’m sure the Academy will say the same thing they said last year, “we didn’t have enough time to include everyone.”  It’s really a shame too because they all deserve some recognition.  But on the flip side, the telecast was already too long so I can see their point.  It wouldn’t have been a big deal to throw in a picture of him and give him two seconds though.

The Best Song performances are always hard for me to watch.  I just get bored.  Thankfully they’ve done away with the awful dance numbers, but can these be the next to go?

The auto-tune section was dreadful as well.  Turning non-musicals into musicals by doing this was just as irritating as turning a non-3D movie into a 3D movie and it wasn’t necessary.  Stop going for the quick laugh and for the love of God, stop using footage from the Twilight movies.

I think that about covers my feelings on this year’s show.  Like I said, I don’t know what the solution is but they need to do something to at least make the show entertaining.  Either that or cut out all the peripheral stuff, do a marathon award presenting session and get the show done in about an hour and half, two max.   Maybe they need to include the countdown clock from 24.  That way people know how much longer they have to wait.  I’m just sayin’…..it’s just an idea.

This post was original content of  www.ReelGoddess.com and is posted here with permission.  C’mon over and see me some time!

You can also follow me on Twitter at @baddladd.

Last night, Jon and I stayed up till the wee small hours of Monday morning to bring the 83rd Academy Awards to you live as it happened. You can see the fruits of Jon’s labour right here as he provided a commentary while I was on Twitter conversing with anyone else who happened to be watching the extremely drawn our commercial ridden ABC broadcast!

I thought it might be worth bringing you a summary of who won what which you can see below.

So the main winners were:

• The Kings Speech won four awards including Best Picture
• The Social Network won three
• Inception won four awards which were all technical
• Black Swan only brought home one award for Best Actress (Natalie Portman)
• Toy Story 3 won two awards
• True Grit came away empty handed

Best Picture

• “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

Best Director

• “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper

Music (Original Song)

• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Film Editing

• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Visual Effects

• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Documentary (Feature)

• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

Short Film (Live Action)

• “God of Love” Luke Matheny

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood

Makeup

• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Sound Editing

• “Inception” Richard King

Sound Mixing

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

Music (Original Score)

• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”

Foreign Language Film

• “In a Better World” Denmark

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Best Animated Feature

• Toy Story 3

Short Film (Animated)

• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Cinematography

• “Inception” Wally Pfister

As Vulture point out, James Franco weren’t brought into the Oscar ceremony for their comic abilities but to try to appeal to a younger demographic. With that in mind, they opened the ceremony with this rather fantastic opening sketch where the pair travelled into each of the movies nominated for Best Picture including Inception, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, The Fighter and True Grit but seemed to miss out Toy Story 3.They did however go Back to the Future so all is forgiven!

Thanks to Vulture, you can see it below!

The show has now started and we’re going to be up all night watching the 83rd Annual Academy Awards and we’d love for you to join us to. So get a cup of tea, put your feet up and watch the ceremony unfold right here!

Keep up to date with all the winners as they happen right here!

Who do you want to win? Let us know in the comments section below…

It’s Oscar time as the 83rd Academy Awards are about to start in Los Angeles and though the whispers on the wind blowing through Hollywood are telling us that these are the most easily predicted Oscars in years I’m still holding out for one or two surprises.

Our man Ian Gilchrist offered his views on the big awards and whatever happens in the event the world and his dog will be liveblogging and twitter is almost certain to groan worryingly under the weight of the #oscar discussion, we’ll be doing our bit and updating this page with the winners as they are announced, but why not join in the fun and head on out to Twittersville and follow along with @heyuguysblog. Seriously, those cool kids? It’s where they are.

So, while the red carpet is cleansed of paparazzi and our attention is drawn inside, keep your eyes on HeyUGuys for the awards as they happen.

LIVEBLOG HAPPENS NOW: Hit refresh to see the latest updates at the top…

What a night for Tom Hooper’s film – I doubt he ever saw this in his future when he took the project on, but to win Film, Director and Actor is a huge coup for a British Independent film.

Best Picture

• “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter’s Bone” Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

It had to be didn’t it? Colin Firth was arguably better in Tom Ford’s A Single Man, but this is his night and good for him. Arise Sir Colin.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

It was always going to be Natalie Portman’s night – and good for her. Her work on Black Swan was stunning.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Best actress next… Jeff Bridges is on to present it and the world abides.

Holy crap. Tom Hooper won it.

Directing

• “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper

• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best Director…

Fingers Crossed for Fincher.

The In Memoriam montage missed out Corey Haim.

We’re getting close now to the final awards… Still think it’ll be The King’s Speech and Fincher for the top two.

I’ve heard We Belong Together more times than I can count thanks to my son falling in love with Toy Story 3 – and EVERY TIME the film is genius.

Music (Original Song)

• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

They are playing songs now which is fun. Want Black Swan to win more – Twitter friends telling me Portman is a dead cert for Actress meaning the film wont go home empty handed but I’d like to see the film rewarded on a technical level.

Film Editing

• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King’s Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris

Visual Effects

• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

• “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Billy Crystal reminds us why he’s great. Sherlock and Watson 2.0 on now…

Damn – missed out on a Banksy moment…. Unless Oprah is Banksy.

Documentary (Feature)

• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Best speech goes to the kid who wished he had cut his hair.

A pair of shorts now…

Short Film (Live Action)

• “God of Love” Luke Matheny

• “The Confession” Tanel Toom
• “The Crush” Michael Creagh
• “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
• “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

• “Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
• “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
• “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King’s Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Cate Blanchett gives the Best Slap award to…

Makeup

• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

• “Barney’s Version” Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

Technical awards for Inception tonight and everyone is thanking Christopher Nolan – they probably know that it won’t win Best Director or Best Film as well…

More sound awards..

Sound Editing goes to

• “Inception” Richard King

• “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

ScarJo and Matt MoCa present…

Sound Mixing to

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

• “The King’s Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

It’s a strange and wonderful world when Trent Reznor is on stage accepting an Oscar. Wonderful score though – truly amazing. John Powell’s music for HTTYD has a load of love out there too.

Music (Original Score)

• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

• “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
• “Inception” Hans Zimmer
• “The King’s Speech” Alexandre Desplat
• “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are here, and the Star Wars theme is playing.

Now there’s corporate nonsense. Make the tea now.

So nice to see Christian Bale giving a decent speech and confounding those who just want to make fun of him. Or his beard. Or Both.

‘Bloody hell! Love it. Bit of cockney on stage in Hollywood and a reference to his rant on the Terminator set. Nice.

Big fan of Jeremy Renner in The Town but this was always going to be Bale’s (k)night.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”

• John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Oh hey! It’s Reese Witherspoon, who never, ever looks flustered. She’s a class act. Or a robot.

A humble speech there.

Foreign Language Film

• “In a Better World” Denmark

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

I like Helen Mirren speaking French… now it’s Foreign Language Film – big love for Dogtooth…

Russell Brand and Helen Mirren, together in the The Tempest and now here on stage…

What. The. Melissa Leo…

So far, so good I’d say. Great to see Toy Story 3 getting its award. Now Anne Hathaway appears to be looking to sing.

Least surprising award for Aaron Sorkin – now the man’s an Oscar winner which makes me very happy indeed. The Social and Network and The King’s Speech getting one each there, even on points after the first round. (Incepting the idea of The Fighter into your mind…)

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
• Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter’s Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

So far Melissa Leo’s speech is the highlight – just to be clear right now – that is not newsworthy, and no-one should be fined. It’s a word. Let’s be adults.

Barely a surprise there, but Lee Unkrich’s film really, really deserves it. And it won’t win Best Picture and I’m wondering if a film as good as TS3 can’t win the Best Picture award for an animated film then what can?

Best Animated Feature

• Toy Story 3

Short Film (Animated)

• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let’s Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Duboi

Kirk Douglas on stage, making a pass at Anne Hathway. Clearly demonstrating he is in no way senile.

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Tom Hanks on stage… Do the rap from Big Tom! Or Dragnet! Just rap!

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” – Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception” = Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King’s Speech” – Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit” – Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Cinematography

• “Inception” Wally Pfister

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “The King’s Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Blimey…. Thought Deakins had it….What does the man have to do?

It begins….

The stars are arriving and we’re up all night to interact with all those of you watching along with us! Here’s the red carpet to kick off the evening’s proceedings!

You can keep track of all our Oscar coverage right here and leep track of the winners as they’re announced here.

Internal industry politics and sentiment are always a decisive factor in the Oscar beauty contest, and must always be accounted for (despite the assertions by many that Mickey Rourke would win for The Wrestler a few years ago, I was certain he wouldn’t as he pissed a lot of people off in the early years of his stardom). After a stretch of some years in which darker films have received a lot of accolades (The Hurt Locker, No Country For Old Men, and The Departed), my guess is that the AMPAS voters will go lighter, making for a more predictable Academy Awards shows.

With no further blather then (keeping my speech SHORT!), here’s how I think it will play out on Sunday evening for the top awards (note that these are my predictions, not a consensus of the HeyUGuys contributors):

Writing (Original Screenplay): One would hope the Academy voters would be generous enough to give it to Christopher Nolan’s challenging and demanding script for Inception, but I think that the film is too cerebral (and thus confusing) for many of them. I admire Inception, and what it represents (a studio spending a huge amount of money on an art house heist movie), but don’t love it as it felt it was too coldly mechanical much of the time. I think this is one of several major awards that are going to go to The King’s Speech.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Aaron Sorkin’s superb script for The Social Network, an adaptation of Ben Mezzrich’s ‘The Accidental Billionaires’, is a shoe in; if it wasn’t in the running I would think the Coen’s sublime adaptation of Charles Portis’ ‘True Grit’ would grab the brass ring (‘Fill your hand you son-of-a-bitch!’).

Actress in a Supporting Role: It’s Melissa Leo’s to lose. She is nominated for her turn as a vile matriarch in The Fighter, but Leo’s statuette will also be the Academy’s acknowledgment of all great work she has done previously (including her Best Actress nominated turn in 2009′s Frozen River). Jacki Weaver delivers a performance of almost Shakespearean majesty as another evil mutha in Animal Kingdom, and I’d vote for her, but I don’t think many actual voters will have watched this very downbeat Australian crime drama; if they have cued up their screeners she could be a dark horse surprise however, as she is truly amazing.

Actor in a Supporting Role: I would absolutely love to see John Hawkes win for his hillbilly hard-ass Teardrop in Winter’s Bone; his chilling roadside standoff with lawman Garrett Dillahunt, conducted entirely via a wing mirror, is one of the most heart-stoppingly intense scenes I watched in the past year. However, I think sentimentality will rule the day here as well, and Geoffrey Rush will win for The King’s Speech. And I think Andrew Garfield should have been nominated for The Social Network rather than Mark Ruffalo for the lightweight The Kids Are All Right.

Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman for The Black Swan. The Academy often favors performances that involve a lot of overt heavy lifting, and her fragile ballerina who suffers a mental breakdown is the heaviest by far of the nominated performances in this category. My vote is for Jennifer Lawrence as the determined teenage detective Bree in Winter’s Bone, but alas, it’s not to be.

Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth for The King’s Speech, of course; Firth’s emotionally strangled upper class Englishman, his stock in trade, is unstoppable this year. I wish Jesse Eisenberg would nab it for his riveting portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in the best American film of 2010, but he won’t. Javier Bardem was tremendous and heartbreaking in Biutiful, but this isn’t a heartbreaking and downbeat year for Oscar.

Directing: David Fincher for The Social Network. The Academy will acknowledge Fincher, arguably the greatest director of his generation, for his work on this masterful film and his influential earlier works like Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac.

Foreign Language Film: Bardem’s excellent work will be acknowledged here: Biutiful will take it.

Documentary Feature: Banksy’s the man: Exit Through the Gift Shop. The lefties could surprise me though; Matt Damon may rally the troops and Inside Job could take it, but I’m doubtful.

Animated Feature Film: Three words (ok, two words and a number): Toy Story 3.

Best Picture: The King’s Speech. I enjoyed this film as much as anyone else, but never shook off the feeling that I was watching a BBC drama that had been elevated to the level of a theatrical feature. There’s really nothing much that’s cinematic about it, unlike Inception orThe Black Swan or The Social Network or the lovely to look at True Grit (here’s hoping Roger Deakins nabs the Cinematography award).  But, as America struggles to find its way forward and out of its social, political and economic morass, a film about overcoming severe personal adversity, starring a stuttering royal and his eccentric ‘advisor’ set in the quaint England of the not too distant past, is just the sort of feel good fare that voters will embrace as an escapist antidote.

Feel free to return to this article on Monday and thumb your nose at me for every one I got wrong…if I do get any wrong. As for me, the Oscars are on far too late but I’ll be up early Monday morning with my tea and toast to watch a recording of the show before I look at email or any broadcast television.

With the 2011 Academy Awards mere days away, another season of Hollywood back-slapping is nearing a close. Whilse some would argue that there is all still to play for, it seems fairly safe to suggest that Colin Firth and Natalie Portman can perhaps consider clearing a little space on the mantelpiece.

Though it has happened before, it is quite rare for any truly shocking frontrunners to appear at this late stage. However, it can also be argued that perhaps the films and types of performances to be nominated for this year’s Oscars were obvious months before the season even kicked off. The Academy can certainly not be described as ‘bold’ when it comes to nominating particular roles for Oscars, and it certainly does not take an expert to spot what features attract their attention.

Perhaps winning an Oscar really is much more than the performance. Maybe following some key steps is all that is needed to catch the attention of the Academy.

1. Be overdue

The word ‘overdue’ is now one that gets bandied about annually during the awards season. It seems there is a strong trend to ensure that actors who have slogged away for a number of years and proven their worth must be recognised once it is deemed to be their ‘time’. This was certainly the murmur going round in 2010, with many feeling that 5-times Oscar nominated Jeff Bridges finally deserved to win in recognition of his fine career.

Whilst it is nice to see gifted actors getting the accolades, this trend is one that has begun to blight the awards season, with trophies perhaps going to those who should have had them long ago rather than who delivered the best performance. The use of an Oscar as a consolation for previous outrageous losses is most certainly a frustrating trend. Even Judi Dench herself looked slightly embarrassed when she accepted her Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, perhaps well aware that it was a partial apology for being overlooked for her more worthy role in Mrs. Brown.

This trend could maybe this year prove favourable for Annette Bening, up for her fourth nomination after three previous losses, two of which were memorably won by Hilary Swank. There is a good chance that Bening will once again be overlooked this year, but her overdue factor could result in a surprise loss for favourite Natalie Portman.

2. Be a real person

Over the last decade, 5 Best Actor Oscar wins and 6 Best Actress Oscar wins have been for the portrayal of real people. The number of actors nominated for the portrayal of real people is significantly greater; of the 50 performances nominated in the Best Actor category over the last decade, 19 were for playing real people.

From Edith Piaf to Virginia Woolfe to Idi Amin, securing a role in a biopic is a sure-fire way to attract awards. Perhaps it is the feeling that playing a real person is maybe more challenging, with the actor required to make an effort to copy mannerisms, body movements and accents. There is also the feeling that these roles require more work and dedication, owing to the fact that audience members and critics are able to compare the actor to the real person and judge the performance on the basis of the level of accuracy.

Biopics are currently hugely popular and without doubt are judged by the academy as roles that deserve rewarding. This certainly boosts the chances of hot favourite Colin Firth whose portrayal of King George VI has been winning multiple accolades. With the attention given to biopics, it is not surprising to see so many future productions planned, with films about Freddie Mercury, Liberace and Kurt Cobain all waiting in the wings.

3. Transform your body

The Academy love nothing more than seeing an actor prove their dedication to their craft by transforming their appearance. For the beautiful women of Hollywood, this usually comes in the form of making themselves ugly. Nicole Kidman’s false nose, Charlize Theron’s 30lb’s weight gain and Marion Cotillard’s wrinkled face and shaven hairline all resulted in Oscar wins. The Academy like to credit beautiful women whose career often depends on their looks and reward them for being ‘brave’ enough to ugly up their faces and expand out of their size zero dresses.

Male performers are generally credited more for extreme transformations of their body. Robert De Niro famously trained for his Oscar winning performance in Raging Bull before piling on an astonishing 60lb’s for the final part of the film. Adrien Brody lost 31lb’s for his role in The Pianist, resulting in the film’s final scenes being filmed first over fears for Brody’s health and to allow him to begin regaining weight as quickly as possible. Christian Bale, already famous for his weight loss and gaining roles, looks set to scoop this year’s Best Supporting Actor trophy, catching the eye of the Academy by losing a third of his body weight for The Fighter. Transforming the body symbolises dedication and effort and is most certainly a way to win the hearts of the Academy.

4. Learn a new skill

Natalie Portman’s year long slog to learn the art of ballet dancing looks likely to win her the ultimate accolade, with her being the current favourite for Best Actress. Once again, the quality of an actor’s performance is generally boosted when the Academy sees evidence that they have had to learn a new skill. In recent years, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp and Reese Witherspoon amongst others have learned to sing and scored nominations for appearing in musicals. Holly Hunter learned to play the instrument for her lead role in The Piano and Joaquin Phoenix had to play the guitar convincingly for his portrayal of Johnny Cash. Both F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce were required to learn how to conduct an orchestra for their roles in the multi-award winning Amadeus. There is a huge amount of critical acclaim to be gained for actors who are willing to step out of their comfort zone and risk ridicule as they showcase their singing, dancing and instrument playing ability. Taking such a risk is a certainly the way to attract Oscar buzz.

5. Play a character with a mental illness or disability.

The Academy just love characters who are blighted by some form of disability. Schizophrenia, blindness, HIV, deafness, cerebral palsy and autism are just some of the conditions that have attracted Oscar nominations and wins over the years. This once again bodes well for the nominees of 2011, with Colin Firth’s stuttering and Natalie Portman’s mental breakdown further reinforcing their chances.

It is often the preparation that goes into these roles that impresses the critics so much. Dustin Hoffman spent a year working with young autistic men and their families in order to prepare for his role in Rain Man. Method actor extraordinaire Daniel Day-Lewis refused to come out of character when playing the autistic Christy Brown in My Left Foot, remaining in his wheelchair between takes and eventually breaking two ribs after assuming a hunched posture for so long. The extra work and preparation required for a character with a disability is very often on the receiving end of accolades.

6. Be from the UK or US

It’s a sad fact that the Academy is notoriously short-sighted when it comes to recognising films from across the world. The vast majority of actors and films nominated are still those that originate from America and the UK, with European and World cinema very much overlooked. In 2006, Penelope Cruz became the first Spanish actress ever to be nominated in the Best Actress category. Also in 2006, Pan’s Labyrinth won the first ever Oscar for Mexico in any category. To date, only eight films not in the English language have been nominated in the Best Film category. The list of countries which have never received any Oscars is simply enormous. This trend is perhaps exacerbated by the existence of the frustratingly limited Best Foreign Language Film category, designed to acknowledge the entire annual output of world cinema in only five nominations. As unfair as it seems, a film or performance not in English has a drastically reduced chance of recognition.

7. Do a drama

The Academy like to reward dramas and the number of films from other genres that get rewarded are shockingly low. Whilst this trend is occasionally broken in the case of Lord of The Rings or Chicago, it is generally fair to say that comedies, musicals, science fiction, fantasy, animation and horror are rarely the recipient of Oscars. To date, no science fiction or animated film has ever won in the Best Picture category. The only horror film to win Best Picture was Silence of the Lambs in 1991, although the extent to which that is horror as opposed to drama is debatable. Comedic performances that receive Oscar recognition are generally confined to the supporting categories, such as Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda or Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost. It is extremely rare for leading comedy performances to be nominated. This year’s Oscar nominated films include one animation, one western, one sci-fi adventure and seven dramas. Drama is most certainly the route to take in order to win at the Academy Awards.

8. Deal with ‘real’ issues

The Oscars are often used to acknowledge films that deal with real issues that affect the world and people’s lives. The list of Oscar winning performances and films from over the years tackle such issues as racism, homophobia, sexism, political activism, human rights, injustice and bigotry. It is not difficult to see why so many comedies, animations and musicals fail to get recognised as they are not considered as ‘serious’ enough compared to the more issue-based dramas. The most recent Best Picture winner was The Hurt Locker, looking at the lives of a bomb disposal squad in Iraq. Compared to James Cameron’s CGI world of Avatar, or Quentin Tarantino’s fantasy version of Nazi Germany, it is easy to see why a film of this nature is deemed more worthy of serious consideration.

The Oscars are notoriously predictable in terms of the films and actors they choose to recognise. However, this is arguably a shame as a huge number of worthy performances and films do not stand a chance of receiving the top prizes. When pitched against the many overdue actors and those giving politically charged performances, many extremely memorable roles are completely overlooked. Perhaps the most bizarre new trend was in 2010, when some critics argued that Sandra Bullock deserved her Best Actress Oscar on the strength of the amount of money she had taken for the box office over the course of her career. If this is the new direction the Oscars are taking, Robert Pattinson better start practising his speech.

I would want to be nominated for an Oscar just sop that I could go along to this invite only do. All I have to do is create a masterpiece and then maybe I’ll get to get!

Yesterday, 152 of the men and women who have been nominated for an Academy Award at the 2011 ceremony were invited along to a lunch where they could meet and mingle with their counterparts. Get ready for a rather long list but some of those present included:

Jeff Bridges, Annette Bening, Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Javier Barden, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Wahlberg, Lee Unkrich, Christopher Nolan, Aaron Sorkin… the list goes on and on!

This photo comes from The Sun but if you want to see a whole hose of others, head over to Getty where you can see preview versions.

Man I wish I was there!