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The first wave of critics awards are over and we now have a clearer picture of what will be nominated and what won’t. Of course, a lot can still change with the guilds weighing in during the month of January, but that doesn’t alter the fact that several actors/actresses/films have more or less locked their positions on the Oscar ballot. Below we break down all the main categories for this year’s Academy Awards.

2011 Oscar Nominations Preview:

Best Picture:

Who’s in:

The Social…
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The Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. The biggest surprise was probably the exclusion of The Coen brothers’ True Grit, which failed to secure a Best Picture or Best Director nomination. The fact that The King’s Speech got the most nominations (7) helps its chances, but goliath The Social Network is right on its heels. Oscar Frenzy correctly predicted four of the five Best Picture drama nominees. Here is the complete list below.

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Alice in Wonderland…
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The Broadcast Film Critics Association announced their nominations today. Black Swan surprised many by garnering the most total nods (12). In the Best Picture category, Oscar Frenzy correctly predicted 9 out of 10, missing only 127 Hours. The ten nominated films are as follows:

True Grit
The Social Network
127 Hours
The Fighter
Winter’s Bone
Black Swan
Toy Story 3
The Town
Inception
The King’s Speech…
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Yessir, we have definitely got ourselves a consensus. The Social Network can’t be stopped. It takes Best Picture and Director from the NYFCC. It’s been a long, long time since one film has captured the National Board of Review, LAFCA, and NYFCC. Neither Brokeback Mountain nor Slumdog Millionaire pulled this off. There looks to be little stopping this little “Facebook movie” from taking the Oscar. Meanwhile, Annette Bening’s Oscar chances got a lot better, as she wins her first major Best Actress award of the season.

Awards:

Best Picture: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social…
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On Tuesday morning, bright and early, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with announce their nominations. For Best Picture, the HFPA always divides films into two categories, drama, and musical/comedy. Because only five films are nominated, these are the first major nominations to come up which will really narrow the field. Here are our predictions for Best Picture drama.

The Social Network
Inception
True Grit
Black Swan
The Fighter…
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The Broadcast Films Critics Awards announce their nominations on Monday. This is a prestigious group whose nominations for Best Picture usually overlap significantly with Oscar. In past years, the BFCAs will usually include all five Best Picture nominees. Last year, with the nominees stretched to ten, the BFCAs nailed eight correct. The winner will be unveiled in January in a live ceremony. Here are our predictions for their top ten films of the year.

Top ten films:

Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit
The Social Network
Winter’s Bone
The Kids Are All Right
Toy Story 3
The Fighter…
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Well, we might have a streamroller on our hands. The Social Network follows up its National Board of Review win by capturing the top prize from the Los Angeles Film Critics. If Network wins New York on Monday, there may be no stopping it at all for Oscar’s Best Picture. Here are the winners from today.

Best Picture: The Social Network
Best Director: (tie) David Fincher, “The Social Network,” Olivier Assayas, “Carlos”
Best Actor: Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
Best Actress: Kim Hye-Ja, “Mother”
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup, “Un Prophet”
Best Supporting Actress: Jackie Weaver, “Animal Kingdom”…
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The NYFCC tends to align with Oscar a bit more closely than the LA Film Critics. They announce their awards this Sunday. Past winners include Milk, United 93, and Mulholland Drive. While many are predicting The Social Network to triumph again, we’re keeping a close eye on Winter’s Bone, the type of small, critically acclaimed film that often gets New York’s attention. The acting categories often overlap with Los Angeles. We have a feeling this year will be no different, with two clear frontrunners emerging in the Best Actor and Supporting Actor categories after this weekend. Here are our predictions…
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The LAFCA will announce their awards over the weekends. Among the major critics, the LA Film Critics have considerable influence because they directly follow the National Board of Review. When the LAFCA award the same Best Picture as the National Board of Review, that film often becomes very difficult to beat, as Slumdog Millionaire proved two years ago. However, LA can also completely change up the race. Last year, they went in a different direction as NBR and picked The Hurt Locker. This started a trend which eventually resulted in The Hurt Locker triumphing on Oscar night. Past LAFCA winners…
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