GRAVITY Attracts 10 Oscar Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress!

Alfonso Cuaron has orbited Oscar before, most notably with 2007's CHILDREN OF MEN where he received nods for writing and editing but he didn't manage to land them. That all is set to change once more as his magnificent force of GRAVITY pulled in audiences around the world and is being lauded as one of the best of year officially now.

GRAVITY has made $675 million worldwide and counting and if you haven't seen it yet do yourself a favor and check it out while it's still in theaters! It's a must see on the big screen and in 3D.

So how is GRAVITY being recognized? 10 nominations! Here they are:
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Alfonso Cuaron)
- Best Actress (Sandra Bullock)
- Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki)
- Best Original Score (Steven Price)

- Best Production Design
- Best Film Editing

- Best Visual Effects
- Best Sound Editing
- Best Sound Mixing

My sincerest hope is that GRAVITY sweeps. Yes there are important movies this year that have also gotten nods, but GRAVITY I think is a masterpiece and a defining moment in cinematic history. Further I think that the movie brings together the world's audiences in such a unique way that it almost HAS to win Oscar. And not just for visual effects which is all but a sure thing for the movie.

For all of our GRAVITY coverage, click here. The 86th Oscars air on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollwood, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards: Which Movies Are Up For O3DARS?

I've stripped away the 2D nominations to highlight which S3D features have been nominated. Clearly there are some huge disappointments in the announcement, not the least of which is the complete snub of THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN save for John William's score.

On the other hand, Martin Scorsese's HUGO is getting the recognition it deserves being nominated in 11 different categories - that, my friends, is tops this year.

If you want to the complete list of all nominees, check out the list at the official website.

Here are the various categories for which 3D movies have been nominated for Oscar:

Best Picture:
HUGO

Best Director:
Martin Scorsese, HUGO

Animated Feature Film:
KUNG FU PANDA 2
PUSS IN BOOTS

Cinematography:
HUGO, Robert Richardson

Writing:
HUGO, Screenplay by John Logan

Art Direction:
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2: Stuart Craig - Production Design; Stephenie McMillan - Set Decoration
HUGO: Dante Ferretti - Production Design; Francesca Lo Schiavo - Set Decoration

Costume Design:
HUGO, Sandy Powell

Documentary Feature:
PINA

Film Editing:
HUGO, Thelma Schoonmaker

Makeup:
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2: Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Losa Tomblin

Music:
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, John Williams

Sound Editing:
HUGO: Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON: Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

Sound Mixing:
HUGO: Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

Visual Effects:
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2: Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
HUGO: Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON: Dan Glass, Brad Friedman, Douglas Trumbull and Michael Fink

The 84th Academy Awards will air February 26 with host Billy Crystal.

Personally, my bet is that HUGO will clean up. Further I'll go out on a limb and call PUSS IN BOOTS (animation), HARRY POTTER (makeup) and TRANSFORMERS (sound editing, mixing and visual effects) victorious.

What's your guess for Oscar awards this year?

Half Of Oscar's VFX Nominations Are S3D Films...

This year's crop of nominations for best visual effects from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has 3D very well represented. In fact half of the nods have been given to S3D movies!

Here is the list of nominations for Oscar in VFX:

- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (3D)
- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 (3D)
- HUGO (3D)
- PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (3D)
- TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (3D)
- MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL
- REAL STEEL
- RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
- THE TREE OF LIFE
- X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

Academy members in VFX will be able to watch 10 minute clips of all these movies on January 19 where they will select the final five movies to compete for the actual Oscar. These five final nominations will be announced on January 24 for the big Oscar show on February 26, which is a big day in itself as it's yours truly's birthday. :-)

Could we have an all 3D final for VFX Oscar? It's possible of course, but PLANET OF THE APES, REAL STEEL and X-MEN look pretty darn good.

So which one do you think will win? For me, it's TRANSFORMERS. Let's face it, the whole movie is one big Michael Bay dissertation on effects. And for what it is, it doesn't get much better. Some of those 3D scenes had my mouth agape!