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2011 Oscar Countdown! See our picks @ bottom!

Photo by Davidlohr Bueso

Oscar season is upon us again! James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host the for the 83rd annual Academy Awards. According to Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer who are producers of the telecast Franco and Hathaway were picked because "they personify the next generation of Hollywood icons – fresh, exciting and multi-talented." The duo will be the youngest stars to ever nab the job. As for the hosts, one fascinating subplot is that both of them could be nominated on the night.

Franco is considered a sure thing to get a Best Actor nod for his portrayal of Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours and Hathaway may get a second nomination (her first was for Rachel Getting Married in 2008) for Love and Other Drugs. NewsFeed is pretty much certain that no Oscar host has ever won the gold statue in the same year as taking charge of the broadcast. But it's always worth remembering that no matter how compelling the possibility of awarding yourself an Oscar may be (or at least linking to somebody announcing that you're the winner), it's the quality of the movies and performances that will draw us in on the night, especially if bragging rights are at stake when it comes to the office Oscar pool.

In a Pool?

If you're involved in an Oscar pool and need some help determining the best movies of 2010, see Julie's Pre-Oscar Picks & Pans (below) for Julie and Team's straight dirt on many of the nominated flicks. If you do well in your office Oscar Pool you may want to consider expanding your horizons. Many news outlets, theatre chains and Oscar sponsors have their own Oscar contests with great prizes. Previous winners have found themselves with free movies for a year, trips to the Oscar red carpet cheering section and other fantastic movie-related prizes.

Hosting a Party?

Throwing an Oscar party to dish about the gowns, plastic surgery and, oh yeah, the movies? Round up your friends by sending a personalized invitation through Evite, which has a special Oscar 2011 party invitation ready for your personal details.

Obsessed?

For such must-haves as the Oscar Countdown machine, online Oscar pools, printable ballots, video trailers from this year's nominated films, and dish, dish, dish (for instance, find out which movie the New York Times calls 'the most overrated movie of the year'), visit:

Nominees

A full list of Oscar nominees is below.

2011 Oscar Nominations by Film

Best Picture

Black Swan - Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin
The Fighter - Relativity Media Production, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg
Inception - Warner Brothers UK Services Production, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right - Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Ceiline Rattray
The King's Speech - See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin
127 Hours - An Hours Production, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson
The Social Network - Columbia Pictures Productions, Scott Rundin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Cean Chaffin
Toy Story 3 - Pixar Productions, Darla K. Anderson
True Grit - Paramount Pictures, Scott Rundin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Winter's Bone - Winter's Bone Production, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin

Best Actor In A Leading Role

Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

Best Actress In A Leading Role

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best Acress In A Supporting Role

Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Animated Feature Film

How to Train Your Dragon - A DreamWorks Animation Production Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
The Illusionist - A Django Films Production Sylvain Chomet
Toy Story 3 - A Pixar Production Lee Unkrich

allice in wonderland poster

Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland - A Walt Disney Pictures Production Robert Stromberg (Production Design); Karen O'Hara (Set Decoration)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Stuart Craig (Production Design); Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
Inception - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design); Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Eve Stewart (Production Design); Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Jess Gonchor (Production Design); Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

Cinematography

Black Swan - A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production Matthew Libatique
Inception - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Wally Pfister
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Danny Cohen
The Social Network - A Columbia Pictures Production Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Roger Deakins

Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland - A Walt Disney Pictures Production Colleen Atwood
I Am Love - A First Sun and Mikado Production Antonella Cannarozzi
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Jenny Beavan
The Tempest - A Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films Production Sandy Powell
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Mary Zophres

Directing

Black Swan - A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter - A Relativity Media Production David O. Russell
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Tom Hooper
The Social Network - A Columbia Pictures Production David Fincher
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary Feature

Exit through the Gift Shop - A Paranoid Pictures Production Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Gasland - A Gasland Production Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job - A Representational Pictures Production Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo - An Outpost Films Production Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land - An Almega Projects and O2 Filmes Production Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Photo by Thomas Anderson

Documentary Short Subject

Killing in the Name - A Moxie Firecracker Films Production Jed Rothstein
Poster Girl - A Portrayal Films Production Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block
Strangers No More - A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up - A Sun Come Up Production Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
The Warriors of Qiugang - A Thomas Lennon Films Production Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Film Editing

Black Swan - A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter - A Relativity Media Production Pamela Martin
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Tariq Anwar
127 Hours - An Hours Production Jon Harris
The Social Network - A Columbia Pictures Production Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

Biutiful - A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production Mexico
Dogtooth - A Boo Production Greece
In a Better World - A Zentropa Productoin Denmark
Incendies - A Micro-Scope Production Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) - A Tassili Films Production Algeria

Makeup

Barney's Version - A Serendipity Point Films Production Adrien Morot
The Way Back - An Exclusive Films Production Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman - A Universal Pictures Production Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

How to Train Your Dragon - A DreamWorks Animation Production John Powell
Inception - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours - An Hours Production A.R. Rahman
The Social Network - A Columbia Pictures Production Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)

Country Strong - A Material Pictures Production "Coming Home" Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
Tangled - A Walt Disney Pictures Production "I See the Light" Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Glenn Slater
127 Hours - An Hours Production "If I Rise" Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
Toy Story 3 - A Pixar Production "We Belong Together" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)

Day & Night Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Confession - A National Film and Television School Production Tanel Toom
The Crush - A Purdy Pictures Production Michael Creagh
God of Love - A Luke Matheny Production Luke Matheny
Na Wewe - Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143 - A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

Inception -A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Richard King
Toy Story 3 - A Pixar Production Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Tron: Legacy - Walt Disney Pictures Production Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable - A 20th Century Fox Production Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

Inception - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
Salt - A Columbia Pictures Production Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
The Social Network - A Columbia Pictures Production Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland - A Walt Disney Pictures Production Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter - A Dombey Street Production Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell
Inception - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2 - A Marvel Studios Production Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

127 Hours - An Hours Production Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network - A Columbia Pictures Production Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 - A Pixar Production Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit - A Paramount Pictures Production Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter's Bone - Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Another Year Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter - A Relativity Media Production Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception - A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right - An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech - A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Screenplay by David Seidler

Julie's Picks

Best Picture: Social Network

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Actress in a Suppoting Role: Melissa Leo

Steph & Claire's Picks Respectively

Best Picture: The King's Speech & Black Swan

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth & Jeff Bridges

Actor in a Supporting Role: Geoffrey Rush & Christian Bale

Actress in a Leading Role: Nicole Kidman & Natalie Portman

Actress in a Supporting Role: Helena Bonham Carter & Jackie Weaver

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