Yesterday, I talked about the women I am almost 2000% positive will win an Academy Award before their (hopefully timely) demises. Today, I’m weeding through the men I’m willing to make bets on will waltz away with that bald statue sometime in the future.

Note: Much like the ladies list, I also shied away from the men that I was ABSOLUTELY positive will win one of these things, so Liam Neeson, Robert Downey, Jr., Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, I salute you; but you guys are not on this list.

Christian Bale: Of the men on my list, I feel like Bale is the absolute lock. Why? Considering his Method-style acting and extreme measures taken for a role (hello, can of tuna and apple diet for Machinist) a la Daniel Day-Lewis, Bale is a total shoo-in for an Oscar. The only thing he needs to work on is getting rid of his Russell Crowe-like antics. Once Crowe stopped throwing things and shouting at people, he finally nabbed a statue. Take note, Bale. Take note.

Leonardo DiCaprio: Leo is probably almost a shoo-in as well, considering his collaborations with both Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. But homeboy wasn’t even nominated for Titanic when he was thought of nothing more than a pretty boy, so perhaps that stigma could hurt him. I’m thinking one day when he plays a super whacked out role he’ll snag an award.

Ryan Gosling: For me Ryan Gosling is the Laura Linney of men in that he tends towards the awesome roles in the small, indie movies. If he should ever branch out and star in something a little more grandiose—like a biopic—he’ll definitely up his chances for grabbing a statue. But Gosling definitely has the range to win one day.

Peter Sarsgaard: Out of all the men on this list, Sarsgaard is perhaps the biggest toss-up, but I’m gonna step out on a limb here. With his knack of playing odd, quirky characters, I’m not sure Sarsgaard has much of a chance to walk away with a Best Actor Academy Award. Instead I think his greatest chances lie within the Supporting Actor category, and he should definitely keep pushing for intense smaller roles. Look at Christoph Waltz, Peter. That could have been you!

Jude Law: Okay, so Law has been nominated twice before, so that wouldn’t make him much of a surprise if he actually one of these damned things. But considering his recent decline of truly exceptional roles—umm, remember The Holiday?—it’s no wonder he hasn’t cinched an Oscar yet. He needs to die more in his films or have a dying kid. I bet that would do it.

What about you, folks? Which actors/actresses do you think WILL DEFINITELY win an Academy Award before they die? Also, make sure to tune in Monday when we report this year’s Oscar winners!

--Darcie Duttweiler

With the Oscars literally right around the corner, I got to thinking about all the amazing actresses of our day who are incredibly talented but have never won a golden statue. Below is a list of the ladies who WILL win an Oscar before their demise—or hey, even Heath Ledger won one after his death, so we can extend the deadlines just a little.

Note: I tried to steer clear of the super obvious ladies. Come back tomorrow for the fellas who will nab an Academy Award before their deaths!

Laura Linney: Laura Linney’s problem is probably the fact that she picks movies that are so small and independent that the voting Academy has never heard of the film, let alone seen the damned thing. If she eventually wants to win a statue, she might want to go for something a little bit showier. The Oscars are not about subtlety (cough cough if Sandra Bullock wins cough).

Naomi Watts: Naomi Watts seems to only pick Oscar bait movies, but homegirl can’t seem to win one of those things. It’s seriously not for lack of trying on her part. Perhaps being BFFs with Nicole Kidman is missing one perk.

Julianne Moore: Having been nominated a gazillion times, Julianne Moore has left the ceremony empty-handed every time. She just has some shitty luck. She lost to Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential, Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry, and even losing twice in one night to Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Maggie Gyllenhaal: This may be the first year Gyllenahaal has been nominated for an Oscar, but she has been nominated for a slew of other awards for years. I even thought she had an Oscar nom already before I realized this was her first—that’s how talented she is. Plus she picks lead roles that are gritty and raw, which the Academy loves. And she doesn’t shy away from nudity either.

Scarlett Johansson: I’m going out on a limb with this one considering that the typical bombshell beauty doesn’t tend to win Oscars (see Marilyn Monroe), and because Johansson has steered towards some poopy movies as of late. But Johansson definitely has the acting chops to procure herself a trophy one day. Perhaps she can pull a Charlize and uglify herself a bit.

--Darcie Duttweiler

Yes, folks, with the completion of the British Academy of Film and Telelvision Arts this weekend we are another step closer to the pinnacle of of award season: the Oscars. So, who one? Well, Kathryn Bigelow's war drama picked up 6 trophies, including Best Film, Director AND Screenplay, while Bigelow's ex, James Cameron, only picked up a pair for technical awards. 

Most awards were fairly straightforward with the Best Acting categories being the only exceptions. With home turf advantage, two Brits, Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan, took home the trophies over their Yank front-runners. 

Check out the full list after the jump!

--Darcie Duttweiler

Avatar and The Hurt Locker appear to be heirs to the eventual best picture crown as the film with the most nominations typically takes home the prize and each scored with this mornings nominations by picking up nine a piece.  Quentin Tarantino didn't fare so poorly either with eight nominations for his Inglourious Basterds, while Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and Up in the Air each snatched up six. Meryl Streep also extended her record for nominations by picking one up for Julie & Julia, making it her 16th nomination. Check out the full list of nominations after the jump and see who surprised you the most.

--Greg MacLennan

Kathryn Bigelow had a big win for The Hurt Locker as the first woman director to win a Directors Guild of America award. Which leads us to ask: Is James Cameron's Avatar slipping in its Oscar chances? Perhaps--especially if this weekend's awards mean anything. And they usually do.

Why? Because, according to Roger Ebert, only six times in 60 years has the DGA winner NOT won the Academy Award for Best Picture. And an overwhelming 58 out of the last 60 DGA winners also won the golden statue for Best Director.

Lest we forget how the fickle the Academy is though--remember Crash''s unfortunate win at the 2006 Oscars over Brokeback Mountain? Ang Lee won the DGA that year, so it's still anyone's game--but possibly less Cameron's, who only has the Golden Globes under his belt.

Drop by tomorrow for the Oscar noms!

--Darcie Duttweiler

How boring is this awards season stacking up to be now? I would say now that really the only tight race is for Best Picture, with Avatar  taking the Globe last week, and Inglourious Basterds snagging the SAG this past weekend. Even the Hurt Locker got in on the action at the Producers Guild Awards. But almost every other award seems to be a total lock for the rest of the season. Don't believe me? Check out the full list of winners from the Screen Actors Guild Awards below.

--Darcie Duttweiler

Ensemble Cast: Inglourious Basterds
Male Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Female Actor in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Mo’Nique, Precious
Stunt Ensemble: Star Trek

Who else is sooo unexcited that Sandra Bullock will probably be walking away with an Oscar for a sappy football flick? Barf.

Things got a little Avatarded this morning with the announcement of the The British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations. Avatar and The Hurt Locker tied with 8 nominations each. District 9 has seven nominations, while Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Up in the Air have six nominations each.They will be doing battle with indie Precious and the British made An Education for best picture. Check out the full list of nominees after the jump. You think this will shake up the Oscar noms at all?

--Greg MacLennan

The Golden Globes are always said to be Hollywood's best awards show because everyone gets plastered at tables, making speeches more off the cuff and jokes peppier, instead of sitting in uncomfortable theater chairs, unable to mingle with odd pairings (Julia Roberts sitting next to Sir Paul McCartney? Random!). Anyhoo, last night's Golden Globes was pretty fun--Gervais was on top of his game (unless your Mel Gibson, but whatever) and the speeches were (mostly) fun/touching. 

But with all the funnery, there were a couple of surprises--not so much for the supporting categories as those seem to be a lock for now until the end of the awards season. For me, the big surprises included Sandra Bullock's win for Best Dramatic Actress, RDj's win over Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Comedic Actor, and (though I guessed it would happen) Jason Reitman's win over Quentin Tarantino for Best Screenplay. 

Check out the list of the winners below the jump!

--Darcie Duttweiler

The ASC have announced their list for oustanding achievement in cinematography for 2009 and here are the nominees:

• Barry Ackroyd, BSC for The Hurt Locker
• Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS for Nine
• Christian Berger, AAC for The White Ribbon
• Mauro Fiore, ASC for Avatar
• Robert Richardson, ASC for Inglourious Basterds

The winner will be announced during the ASC Awards celebration here at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel on February 27.