Adam Spunberg offers a thorough examination of the Best Actor award and says that George Clooney deserves the Oscar for “Up in the Air.”

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.

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.

Back in April, Adam Spunberg looked at strong early films like “State of Play” and “Sunshine Cleaning,” and asked how they’d fare in awards season. So far, not so good. Jeremy Martin looks at the history of early-year films, and sees why movies like “Sugar,” “In the Loop,” and “Moon” may not be nominated.

The 2000s were fascinating decade for the Oscars. It saw long overdue filmmakers win Best Picture (Martin Scorsese, the Coen brothers), surprises (Crash, Adrien Brody), and disappointments (Annette Bening, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy). Kit Bowen takes a look back at a decade of Oscars.

Matching the Oscars, the Producers Guild of America increased its best picture nominee list to 10 this year. Today’s nominees included James Cameron (right) for “Avatar,” “Up in the Air,” “Inglourious Basterds,” and surprisingly, “Star Trek.” Kit Bowen offers her analysis of the PGA picks.

Two films featuring aliens could be nominated for Best Picture in “District 9″ and “Avatar.” Both action movies have surprising similarities despite a dramatic difference in production costs. Christa Youngpeter examines both movies and analyzes their Oscar chances.

The new movie “Crazy Heart” has a performance from Jeff Bridges that might enough for him to win his first Oscar. T-Bone Burnett might also be in line for an Oscar for composing the music. But Kit Bowen says the movie is a retread and doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

While the Academy separates screenplay Oscars into two awards for adapted and original, the Golden Globes does no such thing, offering only five writing nominations. Jeremy Martin find this unfortunate, especially since the Globes are famous for splitting other major categories into drama and comedy.

When the Golden Globe nominees were announced last weekend, the Coen Brothers film “A Serious Man” was left out. Lead actor Michael Stuhlbarg did garner a nomination for Best Actor though. Jeremy Martin reviews the film and discusses whether or not the snubbing is valid.