A total of ten Best Picture Nominees will be unveiled on Tuesday. Adam Spunberg offers his own personal top ten films of the year.

Is this an “Avatar” year at the Oscars? Or does a film like “Up in the Air” or “The Hurt Locker” have the goods to upset the James Cameron blockbuster? Christa Youngpeter examines the anatomy of a Best Picture film, as we’re less than a week away from learning the nominees.

Quentin Tarantino won a screenplay Oscar for “Pulp Fiction” in 1995, but his eyes are on a bigger prize. “Inglourious Basterds” is his best shot yet at Best Picture. Is this Tarantino’s year, or is filmmaker too violent and too unusual to win over the Academy? Michaela Zanello reports.

Oscar voters are having trouble coming up with 10 nominees for Best Picture. If they actually watched some movies this year, it wouldn’t be that hard. Phil Wallace offers a critique of Academy members.

“The Hurt Locker” won Best Picture at the Producers Guild Awards, significantly in a 10-nominee race. With “Inglourious Basterds” winning the top SAG award and “Avatar” winning Best Drama at the Golden Globes, Kit Bowen looks at the three frontrunners for Best Picture.

Strong female characters highlight “An Education” and “Coco Before Chanel.” While the British “Education” could be nominated for several Oscars, including Carey Mulligan for Best Actress, the French “Chanel” might be in line for score and costume Oscars. Christa Youngpeter compares the two films.

JJ Abrams took over the Star Trek franchise and made last summer’s film a box office blockbuster. Now, with 10 Oscar nominees for Best Picture, some are saying the movie could boldly go where no Star Trek film has gone before. Mallory Pickard takes a closer look.

James Cameron’s “Avatar” is getting significant Best Picture buzz, and that doesn’t please Colin Campbell. He says rewarding the film would be a mistake for the Academy, much like their decision to give Best Picture to “Titanic” 12 years ago. Campbell says the story just isn’t strong enough.

This Sunday’s Golden Globes feature plenty of normal nominees. And there’s “The Hangover” which managed a Best Picture nomination for a musical or comedy. Is the inclusion of “The Hangover” a farce, or is it a legitimate candidate? Michaela Zanello takes a closer look.

With James Cameron’s “Avatar” in the Oscar hunt, our very own Adam Spunberg began to recall Cameron’s last Oscar, awarded for his 1997 epic “Titanic.” Spunberg starts a three-part series on the film, and says it was much much more than just a Celine Dion song.