1-24-12: Another year has gone by and I have been lax in my updating of this site, but today the 2011 Oscar nominations were announced with big surprises and some glaring snubs. The biggest snub I've seen thus far is Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tin Tin, which failed to capture a Best Animated Feature Oscar nod where it was most certainly due. Even Pixar's Cars 2 wasn't nominated; Pixar ALWAYS earns a nod in this catagory.

The funniest film of the year, Bridesmaids, like The Hangover a coupl years ago, was not nominated for Best Picture, affirming the Academy's distaste for comedy. However, the film was given token nods for Supporting Actress (Melissa McCarthy) and Original Screenplay.

This year, the nominees for Best Picture could ahve been anywhere from 5 to 10, and they went with a total of nine. The brillient silent film The Artist, the odds-on favourite to win, came out with 10 nominations, one short of the Martin Scorsese pic Hugo.

Steven Spielberg earned another nod for Best Picture, as his War Horse earned a further five noms, all in technical catagories. Moneyball, the story of the 2001-2002 Okland Athletics, earned six nominations including nods for Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, and adapted screenplay, among others.

Woody Allen scored his 22nd and 23rd nominations for Midnight in Paris. The film earned a total of four nominations but non for its brilliant cast of characters.

George Clooney was nominated again, this time twice! Once for writing the political drama The Ides of March, which came up mostly empty handed, and another nod for acting in The Descendants, which also earned nods for Editing, Adapted Screenplay, Direction and Picture.

The Help, a film set in segregated Mississippi in the early 1960's eanred a nod for Picture, as well as three acting nominations - but that's it. Too bad, it's a great film.

The Tree of Life earned three nods, including Direction and cinematography. But the biggest surprise this year was the inclusion of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, the post-9/11 drama in which a young boy search for a lock that fits a key his deceased father left him. The film earned a nod for supporting actor Max Von Sydow, a veteran of man foreign language films and and a nominee in 1988. The film had virtually no steam comming in, but surprised many with its nomination.

Other films gaining several nominations include The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo (5), including a nod for Rooney Mara; Transformers: Dark of the Moon (3); Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (3) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 2 (3).

The Artist is the film to beat this year; it is a silent film in every sense of the wrod, and nod to good ol' days of Hollywood. Critics and audiences love it, and it earned a majority of the Golden Globe awards. But watch out for Hugo.

In the acting catagories, it seems a sure thing for The Artist's Jean Dujardin will win Best Actor, but Don't count out George Clooney for The Descendants. In the Best Actress catagory, Glenn Close has her sixth nomination and first since 1989. She was nominated five times (1983, '84, '85, '88 & '89) but never won (She was utterly outstanding in Fatal Attraction). This time around, Close plays a woman disguised as a man in order to earn a living. Her competition is stiff: Meryl Streep (with her still record 17th nomination) was incredible in The Iron Lady, playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Many felt Streep was due her third Oscar for Julie & Julia a couple years ago for playing late chef Julia Child to great accliam, but no such luck. She could possibly do it this year, having already won the Golden Globe.

Viola Davis (and I am SERIOUSLY NOT being racist here or ANYTHING) has the black card working for her and the fact she gave a darn good performance in The Help.

For Supporting Actor, it looks like a toss-up between Max Von Sydow and Christopher Plummer, both exceptional, long-time veteran actors. My bet is on Max Von Sydow FTW.

In the Supporting Actress catagory, Melissa McCarthy, Like Jonah Hill in the Supporting Actor catagory, should just be happy to be nominated. Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer (The Help) will split their votes and give the Award to Bérénice Bejo for The Artist.

Here, without further ado, is OscarMovs picks for the 2012 Academy Awards:

Picture: The Artist
Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Supporting Actor: Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Supporting Actress: Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Original Screeplay: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants

11-23-11: Wow! Another movie review done! This time, I've reviewed the brand new Muppet movie, The Muppets. If you're a fan of The Muppet Show, you'll LOVE this film. One of the funniest films in years.

11-05-11: I have finished another movie review. One of the worst movies ever made, Manos: The Hands of Fate will either have you totally confused, laughing your ass off or disgusted. Either way, read my review and don't waste your time watching the film!