Oscars 2011: What to expect - Daily News & Analysis

With the Oscars round the corner, the season of arguments has begun with people picking their personal favourites to win. The arguments will continue after the incredibly classy awards ceremony, about how the Oscars have been unfair (or fair), who should have won (or should not), but not before the incredibly classy awards ceremony.

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards, or Oscars 2011 as they are fondly called, will be hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. While Franco has been nominated this year for best actor in a leading role for 127 Hours, Hathaway is no newbie on the Oscar stage.

The Oscars promise a few familiar faces and some surprises in the line-up for award presenters. Rumour has it that Oprah Winfrey, Robert Downey Jr, Sandra Bullock, Hugh Jackman and Tom Hanks will be giving away the golden statuettes.

The line-up of nominees this year is quite interesting with The King's Speech, which tugs at your heartstrings, Black Swan, which gives you red eyes, 127 Hours, which makes you look within, and more.

While people are laying their bets on The Social Network and The King's Speech, one doesn't really know. Critics have discounted 127 Hours from the race saying it isn't Oscar material, but then the same was said of The Hurt Locker last year and we know what happened!

AR Rahman's nomination in two categories for 127 Hours is definitely an exciting point!

Black Swan's cinematography made it a scary psychological horror while Inception was shot upside down, in midair, under anti-gravity and so much more. We'll see similar competition in the writing category (original) between The King's Speech, which choked up everyone right from the first scene, and Inception, which was a complete original with its out-of-the-box storyline.

For visual effects, while Harry, Ron and Hermione's duels with the deatheaters were a thrill to watch, Johnny Depp was unrecognisable along with Alice and the others in Alice in Wonderland.

And now for entertainment tonight! Again, the academy does like to keep these things secret, but we know for sure about Rahman performing 'If I Rise' from 127 Hours along with Dido and Rolo Armstrong. Randy Newman will be performing his Oscar-nominated piece 'We Belong Together' from Toy Story 3 and Gwyneth Paltrow will be performing the Oscar-nominated 'Coming Home'.

But we wonder if Hathaway, who was randomly picked up in what looked like an impromptu move by Hugh Jackman for a surprise performance, will go after Jackman for payback during the show.

While the awards, performances and presenters make the Oscars, the annual event is also about the beautiful people dressing in their best designer wear to walk the red carpet. All in all, the Oscars are a treat to the eye, mind and the film-buff's soul. Who are you betting on this year?