Award Season

Other than the claim by the Stonecutters in an episode of 'The Simpsons' that they rig the Oscars there is a more concrete method of speculating as to who will receive Oscar nominations in the next few weeks than joining a secret organisation. The Oscar nomination system works that professionals nominate their peers so that actors nominate actors, directors nominate directors and so forth before they vote as a group for the ultimate winners. So looking at the nominations of the respective guilds - Directors, Actors, Writers - is a key indicator of who will receive Academy Award nominations. Members of each category can vote for Best Picture so equally the movies that appear most frequently in the Guild nominations are likely to be those contending for the top prize in March. To date the strongest players in all categories are 'Borat', 'The Devil Wears Prada', 'The Departed', 'The Queen', 'Little Miss Sunshine' (already released), 'The Last King of Scotland' (released today the 12th), 'Babel', 'Dreamgirls', 'Blood Diamond' and 'Notes on a Scandal' (yet to be released).