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Paul Sheehan at Gold Derby asks, “Can final 'Harry Potter' break Oscars curse and reap Best Picture bid?” Academy Awards voters just haven't been wild about Harry. The first seven films netted just nine Oscar nominations with no wins. Unlike the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which reaped three successive Best Picture bids as well as multiple directing and writing nods, all of the "Harry Potter" Oscar nominations have been below-the-line. The academy's weekend screening of the picture drew a good-sized crowd who were enthusiastic in their response. However, the recent change in Best Picture voting now requires that all nominees earn at least 5% of the first place votes.

Our dozen Emmy experts predicted the nominees for drama and comedy series, the four regular acting races in each of these genres as well as the best TV movie/miniseries and variety series. These 12 categories had 72 nominees in all. The best among us was Ken Tucker (EW) (photo, right) who correctly predicted 58 of the nominees, including the full slate of drama and comedy series contenders. Daniel Manu (TelevisionWithoutPity) was second with 56, followed by both Gold Derby founder Tom O'Neil and RIck Porter (Zap2It) with 55. Three of our pundits -- Tim Appelo (THR), Michael Ausiello (TV Line) and Gold Derby exec editor Paul Sheehan -- all scored 54. Jill Serjeant (Reuters) came in at 52 while Melanie McFarland (IMDb) scored 50. Rounding out the roster were Chrissy Le Nguyen (Yahoo! TV) with 42, Frazier Moore (AP) at 41 and Matt Mitovich (TV Line) with 40. Many of our experts also predicted the nominees in other categories,...

Our dozen Emmy experts predicted the nominees for drama and comedy series, the four regular acting races in each of these genres as well as the best TV movie/miniseries and variety series. These 12 categories had 72 nominees in all. The best among us was Ken Tucker (EW) (photo, right) who correctly predicted 58 of the nominees, including the full slate of drama and comedy series contenders. Daniel Manu (TelevisionWithoutPity) was second with 56, followed by both Gold Derby founder Tom O'Neil and RIck Porter (Zap2It) with 55. Three of our pundits -- Tim Appelo (THR), Michael Ausiello (TV Line) and Gold Derby exec editor Paul Sheehan -- all scored 54. Jill Serjeant (Reuters) came in at 52 while Melanie McFarland (IMDb) scored 50. Rounding out the roster were Chrissy Le Nguyen (Yahoo! TV) with 42, Frazier Moore (AP) at 41 and Matt Mitovich (TV Line) with 40. Many of our experts also predicted the nominees in other categories,...

Nomination ballots for the 63rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards had to be submitted by Friday June 24 at 5:00 pm Pt. The nominations will be revealed on July 14 at 5:35 am Pt.  Gold Derby surveyed a slew of TV experts for their predictions in the 19 top Emmy races. Our pro pundits are: Michael Ausiello (TV Line), Daniel Manu (Television Without Pity), Melanie McFarland (IMDb), Matt Mitovich (TV Line), Frazier Moore (Associated Press), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby), Jill Serjeant (Reuters), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby) and Ken Tucker (Entertainment Weekly). See all of their predictions here. Vote For: All of your favorites here. Log your predictions for the Emmys. Compete against experts! Make Your Predictions! Our experts are confident about who will hear their names announced as nominees. But who should not bother getting up early that morning? And what shows will be left off the lists of contenders? Many of these people...

To keep up-to-date, click "refresh" or "reload" and new posts will appear at the top of this blog. Entries are by Gold Derby senior editors Daniel Montgomery (Dm) and Matthew Cormier (Mc) as well as executive editor Paul Sheehan (Ps) and editor Tom O'Neil (To). Ps: "B&B" has now won three in a row tying the record of "Santa Barbara" (1988-90) and "General Hospital (1995-97). Best Drama Series “All My Children,” ABC “The Bold and the Beautiful,” CBS “General Hospital,” ABC “The Young and the Restless,” CBS Ps: This was the first Emmy nomination for Wright who has been a daytime staple for more than two decades. Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series Alicia Minshew, “All My Children,” ABC Debbi Morgan, “All My Children,” ABC Colleen Zenk, “As the World Turns,” CBS Susan Flannery, “The Bold and the Beautiful,&r...

To keep up-to-date, click "refresh" or "reload" and new posts will appear at the top of this blog. Entries are by Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan, except where noted. "The Book of Mormon" ended the night with nine Tony Awards. "The Scottsboro Boys" set a new record, losing all 12 of its bids. Two other Kander & Ebb tuners were previously tied for that dubious achievement with 11 losses and 0 wins -- "Chicago" (1976) and "Steel Pier" (1997). Best Musical "The Book of Mormon" – 1/100 "The Scottsboro Boys" – 40/1 "Sister Act" – 66/1 "Catch Me if You Can" – 100/1 Chris Rock, who was spurned for his Broadway debut in "Motherf***er," gave out the final award of the evening. Had he only been that funny in his play, he might have been nominated. Butz also takes home his second Tony, having won this same category bac...

Gold Derby rounded up predictions for the nominations in the top eight Tonys races from a dozen awards gurus. There was a four-way tie for first as Thom Geier (Entertainment Weekly), Brian Lipton (TheaterMania.com), Michael Musto (Village Voice), and David Sheward (Back Stage) all got 29 of 33 correct. Right behind with 28 were Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, TheEnvelope/LATimes.com) and Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby) followed by Melissa Bernardo (Entertainment Weekly), Andy Humm (Gay City News, Gay USA) and Wayman Wong (New York Daily News) with 27 and Martin Denton (NYTheatre.com) Blake Ross (Playbill) and Matt Windman (amNewYork) at 26. Special mention must be made of Matt Windman being the only pundit to predict a Best Musical Actor nod for Joshua Henry ("The Scottsboro Boys"). As well, Melissa Bernardo and Michael Musto were the only two to foresee a Best Play Actress bid by Hannah Yelland ("Brief Encounter"). And Blake Ross, David Sheward and Wayman Wong wer.

On the eve of Tony Awards nominees being unveiled, Gold Derby has rounded up predictions from top gurus, including Melissa Bernardo (Entertainment Weekly), Martin Denton (NYTheatre.com), Thom Geier (Entertainment Weekly), Andy Humm (Gay City News, Gay USA), Brian Lipton (TheaterMania.com), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, TheEnvelope/LATimes.com), Blake Ross (Playbill), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), David Sheward (Back Stage), Matt Windman (amNewYork) and Wayman Wong (New York Daily News). Notable snubs: No predix for "Brief Encounter," "Lombardi" or "Ghetto Klown" for Best Play. If these forecasts are correct, "House of Blue Leaves" won't be nominated for Best Play Revival and Robin Williams won't get his shot at the Egot. While Williams has already won the Emmy, Grammy and Oscar, none of our pundits believe he'll be nominated for a Tony for "Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo." There will be ...

How exciting that a woman has actually risen in the ranks at the AMPAS. Says Gold Derby’s Paul Sheehan: Dawn Hudson, long-time head of Film Independent, becomes the...

Beginning with the start of the red carpet coverage at 3 pm Pt/ 6 pm Et and continuing throughout the Oscars ceremony and beyond, be sure to make this live blog part of your viewing experience of the 83rd annual Academy Awards. Before the show begins, turn to our experts for guidance in getting all 24 of the competitive categories correct. During the show, we will be providing both analysis and commentary on the winners and losers. After the show, we will recap all the races, explain the outcomes, and provide insight into the results. Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan is the lead writer of this blog, with contributions from our other editors noted. To keep up-to-date, click "refresh" or "reload." The show concluded with the Staten Island Ps 22 chorus singing 1939 Best Song Winner, "Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz."  They were joined by all the Oscar winners for the final verse.

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: The 26th annual edition of the Independent Spirit Awards were held Saturday in a tent on the wind-swept Santa Monica beach. “Black Swan” was the big winner with four awards while “Winter’s Bone” took two.

Four of the contenders for Best Film, including the winner “Black Swan,” are in contention for the same prize at Sunday’s Oscars.

Oscar frontrunner “The King’s Speech” was eligible only in the category of Best Foreign Film which it won.

All five of the Oscar nominees for Best Actress were in contention here with tomorrow’s frontrunner Natalie Portman winning for “Black Swan.”

James Franco (“127 Hours”), the lone Oscar candidate among the Best Actor nominees, prevailed.

“Winter’s Bone” supporting players John Hawkes and Dale Dickey won those awards. Hawke is in the running at the Oscars as is fellow Spirits nominee Mark Ruffalo (“The Kids Are All Right”).

Darren Aronofsky,...

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: While Lady Antebellum won five of its six Grammy bids including both Record and Song of the Year for “Need You Now,” it lost the big prize — Album of the Year — to Arcade Fire (“The Suburbs”). The country crooners also won Best Country Album, Best Country Song and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group.

The third disc by Arcade Fire (photo, right), a Canadian indie band, also trumped the top-selling album by Eminem, who led going into this year’s Grammys with 10 nominations. However, he managed only two wins: Best Rap Album (“Recovery”) and Best Rap Solo Performance (“Not Afraid”).

Another artist with a Best Album bid was Lady Gaga who prevailed in three of her six races: Best Pop Album (“The Fame Monster”), Best Female Pop Vocal (“Bad Romance”) and Best Short Form Video (“Bad Romance”). Katy Perry, who also contended for...

Filed under: Features, Oscar News, Awards

By Paul Sheehan, Gold Derby Executive Editor

On Sunday, 'The King's Speech' was crowned both Best Picture and Best British Film by the voters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This marked the first time one film has won both of those races since the domestic prize was reintroduced in 1992. BAFTA bestowed seven awards in all on the stirring biopic about the efforts of King George VI to overcome a crippling stammer and deliver a rousing address to his empire on the eve of World War II.

Heading into the BAFTAs, 'The King's Speech' was the front-runner at the Oscars with a leading 12 nominations. The film had already won over both the producers and actors guilds, and helmer Tom Hooper took the bellwether Directors Guild Award as well.

However, 'The King's Speech' won just half of its 14 BAFTA bids.

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: Only 10 awards were handed out during the three-hour plus CBS telecast of the 53rd annual Grammy Awards from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Winners in the other 98 races were announced in a pre-telecast ceremony.

Album Of The Year

The Suburbs — Arcade Fire

Recovery — Eminem

Need You Now — Lady Antebellum

The Fame Monster — Lady Gaga

Teenage Dream — Katy Perry

Record Of The Year

“Nothin’ On You” — B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars

“Love The Way You Lie” — Eminem Featuring Rihanna

“…. You” — Cee Lo Green

“Empire State Of Mind” — Jay-z & Alicia Keys

“Need You Now” — Lady Antebellum

Best New Artist

Justin Bieber

Drake

Florence & The Machine

Mumford & Sons

Esperanza Spalding

Song Of The Year

“Beg Steal Or Borrow” — Ray Lamontagne, songwriter (Ray Lamontagne And The Pariah Dogs)

“… You” — Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Cee Lo Green)

“The House That Built Me” –Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin,...

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: Among the seven prizes claimed by “The King’s Speech” at the 64th annual edition of the BAFTAs were Best Picture and Best British Picture. No film had managed to pull off that double play since the latter award was re-introduced in 1992.

The most recent British film to take the top award was “Slumdog Millionaire” two years ago. However, it lost the best of British race to the documentary “Man of Wire” which followed in the footsteps of Phillippe Petit’s 1974 walk between the two World Trade Center towers.

For two decades from its inception in 1947, BAFTA bestowed both Best Picture and Best British Picture. Home-grown fare was eligible to compete in the wide-open category as well and at least one British film a year contended. In 1948, the Best Picture winner was the British made “Hamlet” (which also took the top Oscar). However, it lost...

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: While Natalie Portman has awards history on her side, could the “Black Swan” star still lose the Best Actress race at the Oscars to Annette Bening?

Portman prevailed in the two major contests that pitted them against each other — the Bfca and SAG — while both of them won Golden Globes. However, neither woman has won an Academy Award.

The “Kids Are All Right” co-star certainly has raised her profile in the last weeks of the campaign, just as the expectant Portman takes a break. Last month, Bening was feted by the Santa Barbara filmfest and dropped by “The Tonight Show” to joke with Jay Leno about being married to the most promising newcomer of 1962, Warren Beatty. And on Wednesday, she is set to appear on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

On Monday, Bening was the belle of the nominees luncheon, sitting saucily on the lap...

When Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan and I hooked up with Jeffrey Wells for a video slugfest at the Hollywood Museum, the Hollywood-Elsewhere wag equated Oscar voters' love for "The King's Speech" to an alcoholic having a relapse. "It's back to the booze and slurping," he says now that voters are seemingly about to pick a "huggy bear, comfy blanket" movie for Best Picture after years of embracing hip fare like "The Hurt Locker" and "No Country for Old Men." Also view our video chat about  possible Oscar upsets this year.

By Tom O’Neil

HollywoodNews.com: When Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan and I hooked up with Jeffrey Wells for a video slugfest at the Hollywood Museum, the Hollywood-Elsewhere wag equated Oscar voters’ love for “The King’s Speech” to an alcoholic having a relapse.

“It’s back to the booze and slurping,” he says now that voters are seemingly about to pick a “huggy bear, comfy blanket” movie for Best Picture after years of embracing hip fare like “The Hurt Locker” and “No Country for Old Men.” Also view our video chat about possible Oscar upsets this year.

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By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: The American Cinema Editors have named two awards champs — three-time Emmy winner Michael Brown and three-time Oscar champ Michael Kahn — as recipients of this year’s lifetime achievement awards. The honors will be bestowed on the two men at the 61st annual edition of the Eddies on Feb. 19 at the Beverly Hilton. In making the announcement, the Ace Board of Directors cited the extensive credits of the two men.

Michael Brown, A.C.E., received his first editing credit on “Green Acres” in 1967. Getting his feet wet in sitcoms was a great foundation for a career that skewed slowly to the more serious side of television in shows like “Banyon” and “The Streets of San Francisco” (1972). After editing his first Mow — the pilot for Mtm Enterprises’ “Three for the Road” (1975) — he began editing pilots, TV movies and mini-series along with a few theatrical features. Michael...

While powwowing at the Hollywood Museum, Gold Derby's executive editor Paul Sheehan and I dish with Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere) on the possibility of Oscar upsets. Jeff shoots down the Hailee Steinfeld ("True Grit") trial balloon being floated by Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily), Kris Tapley (In Contention) and Anne Thompson (Indiewire). What about the Oscar hopes of Geoffrey Rush ("The King's Speech") and Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right")? Here are the latest predictions of experts polled by Gold Derby. Here are the racetrack odds based on those predix.

For our experts, the TV actors proved to be much less predictable than those on the movie side. Only two of our 19 pundits foresaw Betty White ("Hot in Cleveland") for Best TV Comedy Actress, while not one of them predicted Alec Baldwin would five-peat for Best TV Comedy Actor. Conversely, almost all of our pundits agreed that Colin Firth ("The King's Speech"), Natalie Portman ("Black Swan") and "The Fighter" supporting players Christian Bale and Melissa Leo would take home the Actor. Congratulations to Sasha Stone (Awards Daily) for squashing the competition. Out of 15 categories, Stone got 13 correct -- missing only Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife") for Best TV Drama Actress and, of course, Alec Baldwin. See all of their individual picks here. 13 correct -- Sasha Stone (Awards Daily) 12 correct -- Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby) 11 correct -- Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Michael Musto (Vi...

Filed under: Hot Topic, Oscar News, Awards, Columns

By Paul Sheehan, executive editor of Gold Derby

Just 10 days ago, 'The King's Speech' looked like it would have to abdicate its hope of reigning on Oscar night. It had won no major Best Picture awards. 'The Social Network' was undefeated, from the National Board of Review through the film-critics awards and on to the Golden Globes. And now 'The King's Speech' is considered the front-runner. What happened?

'The King's Speech' staged a palace coup at the guild awards, winning Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild on Sunday night, Best Director at the Directors Guild of America on Saturday night and Best Picture at the Producers Guild of America last week. How did it pull off this sweep?

The answer has to do with the nature of the two types of awards. Virtually all of the trophies...

Now that Academy Award nominations are out, here's a fresh batch of Oscar predictions from these top experts: Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com), Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Erik Davis (Cinematical), Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com), Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Kevin Lewin (WENN), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope), Kevin Polowy (NextMovie), Steve Pond (The Odds, The Wrap), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Kris Tapley (In Contention),  Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere), Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today). Check back with this post soon as we add more. Click Here to see the racetrack odds based upon these predictions. Click Here to see how our pundits fared predicting nominations. (Congrats to Steve Pond for leading the way!) Best Picture "Black Swan" "The Fighter" "Inception" -- Simanton "...

By Paul Sheehan – GoldDerby

HollywoodNews.com: Of this year’s 20 Screen Actor Guild nominees, 17 are now Oscar contenders. The only ones to miss out were SAG Actor nominee Robert Duvall (“Get Low”), SAG Female Actor nominee Hilary Swank (“Conviction”) and SAG Female Supporting Actor nominee Mila Kunis (“Black Swan”).

Last year, 19 of the 20 SAG acting nominees contended at the Academy Awards. SAG supporting actress contender Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”) was replaced on the Oscars ballot by Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”).

In 2008, 18 of the 19 SAG acting nominees repeated at the Academy Awards. As double SAG nominee Kate Winslet was bumped up by the Oscars from supporting to lead for “The Reader,” she was denied a lead nod for “Revolutionary Road.” However, that film’s Michael Shannon managed to knock SAG nominee Dev Patel of “Slumdog Millionaire” out of the supporting race.

In 2007, 15 of the 20 SAG nominees went on to compete at...

By Paul Sheehan

hollywoodnews.com: The Producers Guild of America named “The King’s Speech” as the Best Picture of 2010, ending the sweep of precursor awards by “The Social Network.” A dozen of our pundits expected that film about Facebook to win this kudo as well. Like the Academy Awards, the PGA champ is decided using a preferential system of ballot counting.

The next test for both these films will be the SAG Awards where they vie for Best Ensemble against three of their PGA rivals — “Black Swan,” “The Fighter” and “The Kids Are All Right.” Those awards from and for actors were where eventual Oscar champs “Shakespeare in Love” (1998) and “Crash” (2005) first trumped the frontrunning “Saving Private Ryan” and “Brokeback Mountain” respectively.

And like “Shakespeare in Love,” “The King’s Speech” could well lead with the most Oscar nominations this year which has been a proven bellwether for predicting...

Our team of Academy Awards experts is ready for the announcement of nominations next Tuesday. Now they've updated their Oscar predictions. Below are their forecasts on who'll win the top races. See the breakdown of nominee predictions category per category here. Our Oscar seers: Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com), Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Lane Brown (New York Magazine Vulture), Carlos de Abreu (Hollywood News), Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com), Erik Davis (Cinematical), Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Joseph Kapsch (Zap2It) Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Kevin Lewin (WENN), Guy Lodge (InContention), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, L.A. Times The Envelope), Kevin Polowy (NextMovie), Steve Pond (TheWrap), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily), Anne Thompson (Thompson on Hollywood, Indie Wire), Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters), Chuck Walton (Fandango), Jeff Wells (Holly...

Our two dozen pro pundits predicted the 14 film races at the Golden Globes and both Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com) and Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily) foresaw 12 of the winners. Thelma was the only one of us to get Foreign Language Film right with her prescient pick of "In a Better World." And Sasha was one of only two to foresee Paul Giamatti ("Barney's Version") winning Comedy/Musical Actor; the other was Guy Lodge (In Contention). Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Steve Pond (The Odds, The Wrap), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb) all scored 11 correct. Coming in with 10 right were Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com),  Tariq Khan (Fox News), Peter Knegt (Indie Wire), Guy Lodge (In Contention), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope), Nathaniel Rogers (Film Experience), Kris Tapley (In Contention), Jeff Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere) and Susan Wloszczyna (USA To...

Fifteen of our two dozen pundits also predicted the 11 TV races which proved to be much more unpredictable than the film categories. Only Keith Simanton (IMDb) foresaw the Best TV Drama Actress win by Katey Sagal ("Sons of Anarchy") while just four of our panel -- Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Erik Davis (Cinematical), Guy Lodge (In Contention) and Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters) predicted "Carlos" to win Best TV Movie/Miniseries. Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope) topped the TV roster with eight right while Joseph Kapsch (Zap2It)  got seven correct. With six each were Erik Davis (Cinematical), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters) and Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today). Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Guy Lodge (In Contention), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Chuck Walton (Fandango) and Jeff Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere) all got five right while Lane ...

By Paul Sheehan at Goldderby.com

Hollywoodnews.com: The 68th annual edition of the Golden Globe Awards air live on NBC Sunday at 5 pm Pt/ 8 pm Et. We have the rundown for the presentation of awards over the three-hour kudofest hosted by Ricky Gervais for the second year running.

Our experts and editors have weighed in with their predictions. And we have calcuated racetrack odds for 10 of the movie races and eight of the TV categories.

Hit “Reload” to stay up-to-date as we keep score, provide background on each race, and offer instant analysis of what these wins (and losses) mean for the Oscars.

Paul Sheehan: That last zinger by Gervais — “Thank you to God for making me an atheist” — will certainly get certain segments of the blogosphere humming.

Best Drama Picture

“The Social Network” – 6/5

“The King’s Speech” – 7/5

“The Fighter” – 6/1

“Black Swan” – 12/1

“Inception” – 50/1

Michael Douglas won Best Drama...

The 68th annual edition of the Golden Globe Awards air live on NBC Sunday at 5 pm Pt/ 8 pm Et. We have the rundown for the presentation of awards over the three-hour kudofest hosted by Ricky Gervais for the second year running. Our experts and editors have weighed in with their predictions. And we have calcuated racetrack odds for 10 of the movie races and eight of the TV categories. Hit "Reload" to stay up-to-date as we keep score, provide background on each race, and offer instant analysis of what these wins (and losses) mean for the Oscars. Paul Sheehan: That last zinger by Gervais -- "Thank you to God for making me an atheist" -- will certainly get certain segments of the blogosphere humming. Best Drama Picture "The Social Network" – 6/5 "The King's Speech" – 7/5 "The Fighter" – 6/1 "Black Swan" – 12/1 "Inception" – 50/1 Michael Douglas won...

By Gold Derby News Desk

hollywoodnews.com: The Golden Globes will be doled out this Sunday. We assembled expert predictions from two dozen top awards pundits. They forecast all the races and expect a fierce battle between “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network” for Best Drama Picture. However, they think three of the four top acting races are virtual locks as is Best Director.

Our notable panel includes: Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com), Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Lane Brown (New York Vulture), Erik Davis (Cinematical), Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com) Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Joseph Kapsch (Zap2It), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Peter Knegt (Indie Wire), Guy Lodge (In Contention), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O’Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope), Steve Pond (The Odds, The Wrap), Nathaniel Rogers (Film Experience), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily), Kris Tapley (In...

By Paul Sheehan

On Friday evening, the 16th annual edition of the Critics’ Choice Awards took place in Hollywood. Were the winners practicing their Academy Awards acceptance speeches when they took to the stage at the Palladium?

Certainly Best Actor champ Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) will need to find new way to say “thank you” as he is expected to win most of the other precursor awards on his way to the podium at the Kodak Theater. However, Best Actress winner Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”) remains locked in a close race with Annette Bening (“The Kids Are All Right”). Both are expected to prevail in their respective categories at the Golden Globes Sunday so we will have to wait for the SAG Awards for a rematch.

The HFPA kudos could crown “The King’s Speech” as Best Drama Picture. Will that be a mere bump in the road...

The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. hands out it awards on Friday and our experts expect "The Social Network" to win Best Picture and for its helmer David Fincher to prevail as well. And all of them predict Colin Firth ("The King's Speech") and Christian Bale ("The Fighter") to take their respective acting prizes and for "Toy Story 3" to win Best Animated Feature. Beyond that, they see battles in both of the actress races and for many of the technical awards as well. We assembled expert predictions from these notable pundits: Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com), Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com) Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Guy Lodge (In Contention), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Anne Thompson (Indiewire), Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters), Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today). To see the full list of nominee...

The Golden Globes will be doled out this Sunday. We assembled expert predictions from two dozen top awards pundits. They forecast all the races and expect a fierce battle between "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" for Best Drama Picture. However, they think three of the four top acting races are virtual locks as is Best Director. Our notable panel includes: Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com), Tim Appelo (Hollywood Reporter), Lane Brown (New York Vulture), Erik Davis (Cinematical), Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com) Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Joseph Kapsch (Zap2It), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Peter Knegt (Indie Wire), Guy Lodge (In Contention), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope), Steve Pond (The Odds, The Wrap), Nathaniel Rogers (Film Experience), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily), Kris Tapley (In Contention), Anne Thompso...

By Paul Sheehan

hollywoodnews.com: While the Academy Awards tease us with lists of pre-nomination semifinalists in only certain categories — such as foreign film and some of the technical ones — the BAFTAs produce long lists in almost all categories with 15 films in the running in most of the 17 races. The final five nominees in each will be announced Jan. 18 (one week before nominations for the Oscars are unveiled) with the awards fest on Feb. 13 (two weeks before the Academy Awards ceremony).

The 6,000 plus members of BAFTA culled these long lists from 207 eligible films. Leading with 15 mentions apiece are “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech.” “Inception” and “Made in Dagenham” folllow with 14 while “The Social Network” has 13. “Alice in Wonderland,” “Shutter Island,” “The Fighter” and “True Grit” all merited 12 mentions apiece, and “127 Hours,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “The Town” each have 11. All of these, with the exception of “Alice in Wonderland,...

Entertainment Weekly: Dave Karger speaks with Julia Roberts after a special screening of “Biutiful” at CAA that she hosted for industry insiders to help call attention to the performance of her “Eat Pray Love” co-star Javier Bardem. (Robert Forster, Kyle MacLachlan, and Bardem’s pregnant wife Penelope Cruz were among the attendees.) Roberts explains, “I think the movie hasn’t gotten the exposure. You don’t know where it is. It’s like this hidden little jewel… I just have a great appreciation for what he went through to show us all this.”

Deadline Hollywood: Mike Fleming interviews producer-extraordinaire Scott Rudin, who this week became the first producer to receive PGA Award nominations for two features in the same year (for “The Social Network” and “True Grit”), and who will also be receiving the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the PGA Awards ceremony. Rudin credits his “great [producing] partners on...

By Paul Sheehan GoldDerby.com

Every year since 1989, the National Film Registry — a branch of the Library of Congress — selects 25 motion pictures to preserve for posterity. This year, as usual, most of its choices aren’t the ones deemed the best of their day by Hollywood — that is, they’re not past Oscars contenders.

Indeed, as with last year, 19 of this year’s entries were eligible for Oscars but again there are only nine nominated films among those named to the registry. And just four of these won Academy Awards: “All the President’s Men” (1995); “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) ; “The Exorcist” (1973); and “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (1945).

None of these new entries took home the academy’s top honor. Even with 550 films dating up to 1996 now on the registry, 26 of the first 70 Best Picture champs remain missing: “Broadway Melody” (1929), “Cimarron” (1930), “Cavalcade” (1933), “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935),…

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By Paul Sheehan at GoldDerby

hollywoodnews.com: Our panel of pundits have winnowed the possible contenders in the Best Supporting Actor race down to just a handful of possibilities. On this, the diamond anniversary of this category at the Oscars, it is worth looking back at what sorts of roles have won this award over the first 74 years to predict who could prevail this year.

Among the winning archetypes of the past: Leading Man Slumming (George Clooney in “Syriana,” Jack Nicholson in “Terms of Endearment); Character Actor (Christoph Waltz in “Inglorious Basterds,” Chris Cooper in “Adaptation”); Mid-Life Crisis (Tim Robbins in “Mystic River,” Jason Robards in “Julia”), Young Buck (Timothy Hutton in “Ordinary People”); Grumpy Old Man (Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine,” two-time champ Melvyn Douglas in “Being There” and “Hud”); and Spry Ole Devil (Morgan Freeman in “Million Dollar Baby,” oldest ever-winner George Burns in “The Sunshine Boys...

By Paul Sheehan at GoldDerby

hollywoodnews.com: Just how many of the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees will go on to contend at the Oscars? The 2100 SAG members who sit on the nominating committee have proven to be remarkably prescient at predicting which performances will find favor with the 1205 voters in the acting branch of the academy.

Last year, a staggering 19 of the 20 SAG nominees also reaped Oscar bids. The only difference of opinion came in the Supporting Actress race: SAG went with Diane Kruger (“Inglorious Basterds”) while Oscar nominators were more impressed by late-entry Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”). All four of the SAG champs — leads Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”) and Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”) and supporting players Mo’Nique (“Precious”) and Christoph Waltz (“Inglorious Basterds”) — also prevailed at the Oscars.

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Nominations for the 17h Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced Thursday morning. Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan and two of our top editors -- Chris Beachum and Rob Licuria -- expect many of the same names to be heard as in Tuesday's nominations for the Golden Globes. While they agree on four of the TV races, there is enough difference of opinion among them on the film front that there will be some surprises and disappointments, at least for our pundits. Best Ensemble "The Fighter" - Licuria, Sheehan "Inception" - Beachum, Licuria "The Kids Are All Right" - Beachum, Sheehan "The King's Speech" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan "The Social Network" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan "The Town" - Beachum, Sheehan "True Grit" - Licuria Best Actor Jeff Bridges, "True Grit" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan Leonardo DiCaprio, "Inception" - Licuria Robert Duva...

Nominations for the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced Thursday morning. Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan and two of our top editors -- Chris Beachum and Rob Licuria -- may disagree about the film contenders but they agree on the nominees for three of the TV races, including both of the comedy acting categories. Best Comedy Ensemble "The Big Bang Theory"  - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan "Community" - Sheehan "Glee" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan "Modern Family" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan "Nurse Jackie" - Licuria "The Office" - Beachum "30 Rock" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan   Best Comedy Actor Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan Ty Burrell, "Modern Family" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan Steve Carell, "The Office" - Beachum, Licuria, Sheehan Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory" - Beachum, Licuria, Shee...

"It s a duet between two people … it's a duet between the past and the present," Michelle Williams describes "Blue Valentine" to Gold Derby Executive Editor Paul Sheehan. "It's the beginning and quite possibly the end of something playing at the same time, which is often how I think it happens in our imaginations in our heads when something is on its way out. You start reliving its birth and wondering how you could possibly have traveled from this place of incredible innocence and expectation to the situation you now find yourself in." brightcove.createExperiences();...

While "The King's Speech" is the top choice of our panel of pundits to win Best Picture at the Oscars, David Fincher, the helmer of second-place "The Social Network," is the clear frontrunner for Best Director. Of our 16 experts who weighed in on this race, 10 of them predict Fincher to win his first Oscar on Feb. 27. "The King's Speech" director Hooper is the top choice of only three of the experts while Darren Aronosky ("Black Swan") picks up two votes and Christopher Nolan ("Inception") one. Gold Derby received predictions for this category from: Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, Thelmadams.com), Lane Brown (New York Magazine Vulture), Scott Feinberg (ScottFeinberg.com), Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Kevin Lewin (WENN), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, L.A. Times The Envelope), Steve Pond (TheWrap), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby), Keith ...

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: Billy Crystal stands second only to Bob Hope (18) in the number of times he hosted the Oscars with eight turns as emcee under his belt. He was Emmy-nominated in the now-defunct category of individual performance in a variety special for all but his first appearance on the awardscast, winning in 1991 and 1998.

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Our four pundits -- Gold Derby forum moderators Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and David Schnelwar -- and Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan agree on four of the five nominees for Female Pop Vocal Performance at this year's Grammys: Sara Bareilles ("King of Anything"), Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance"), Katy Perry ("Teenage Dreams") and Pink ("Glitter in the Air"). Says David, "This category is usually the most competitive to win. And this year there is stiff competition just to receive a nomination. 'Bad Romance' is expected to be nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, therefore it is expected for Lady Gaga to be nominated in this category. Katy Perry was nominated in this category for the past two years and is likely to return this year for her No. 1 hit 'Teenage Dream.' Sheryl Crow has not won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance since 1994 for 'All I Wanna Do.

Our four pundits -- Gold Derby forum moderators Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and David Schnelwar -- and Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan agree on just two of the five nominees for Pop Album at this year's Grammys: "The Fame Monster" (Lady Gaga and "Teenage Dreams" (Katy Perry). Darrin says, "Gaga, the biggest pop star of the year, will obviously get in here. Veterans James Taylor, Carole King and Sheryl Crow are also safe bets. Past Best New Artist winners Maroon 5 are past nominees here and their album is freshest in voters mind so I’ll predict them, too. Katy Perry will get the 'young pop star' slot, but watch out for Susan Boyle, whose album sold like hotcakes, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Jack Johnson or any of the other younger contenders." And David writes, "I am pretty confident this will be the lineup. Sheryl Crow's and Sarah McLachlan...

Our four pundits -- Gold Derby forum moderators Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and David Schnelwar -- and Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan agree on just two of the five nominees for Best New Artist at this year's Grammys: Canadian teen idols Justin Bieber and Drake. British indie band Florence and the Machine is on three of their lists as is American rapper Ke$ha. Nominations will be announced during a CBS prime-time special on Wednesday. The 53rd annual Grammy Awards take place on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles with the top awards, including this one, handed out during the CBS portion of the event. This Grammy is one of just four in the General Field along with Album, Record and Song and New Artist. Last year's winner was the Zac Brown Band. New Artist Darrin Dortch Rob Licuria David Schnelwar Paul Sheehan 1. 2. ...

Our four pundits -- Gold Derby forum moderators Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and David Schnelwar -- and Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan concur on just one of the five nominees for Song of the Year at this year's Grammys: "Need You Now" (Lady Antebellum) "Recovery" (Eminem) and "The Suburbs" (Arcade Fire). Three of the four think that "The Fame Monster" (Lady Gaga) will contend while while different trios believe "Live at the Troubadour" (James Taylor & Carole King),and "Soldier of Love" (Sade) will make the final cut.  Nominations will be announced during a CBS prime-time special on Wednesday. The 53rd annual Grammy Awards take place on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles with the top awards, including this one, handed out during the CBS portion of the event. This Grammy -- one of just four in the General Field along with Album, Record and New Artist -- goes to the composers.

Our four pundits -- Gold Derby forum moderators Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and David Schnelwar -- and Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan agree on just two of the five nominees for Male Pop Vocal Performance at this year's Grammys: Michael Buble ("Haven't Met You Yet") and Jason Mayer ("Half of My Heart"). Beyond that newcomer Bruno Mars ("Just the Way You Are") and vet James Taylor ("Carolina on My Mind") each make three of their lists. Says Darrin: "Grammy voters Love veterans in this category. James Taylor and Seal are multiple nominees and winners here so I'm not betting against them this year. Taylor is coming off of a successful live album with Carole King and Seal was just nominated in this category last year. Buble and Mayer, a four-time winner here, are the frontrunners for the win and will surely get nodded. Newcomer Bruno Mars just had a No.

Our four pundits -- Gold Derby forum moderators Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and David Schnelwar -- and Gold Derby executive editor Paul Sheehan agree on three of the five nominees for Record of the Year at this year's Grammys: "Bad Romance" (Lady Gaga), "Empire State of Mind (Jay-z & Alicia Keys) and "Need You Now" (Lady Antebellum). Three of the four think that "California Gurls" (Katy Perry) will earn a bid while a different trio believe "Love the Way You Lie" (Eminem & Rihanna) will contend as well. Nominations will be announced during a CBS prime-time special on Wednesday. The 53rd annual Grammy Awards take place on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles with the top awards, including this one, handed out during the CBS portion of the event. This Grammy -- one of just four in the General Field along with Album, Song and New Artist -- goes to the performer, producer, engineer...