The season of the golden statue is upon us, and the heat is increasing in the top categories. Where is the wind blowing this year? One of the most coveted awards, along with the Leading Actress trophy, is that of Best Male Lead.

This year, the battle is between experienced and seasoned performances, all around age 40 and up. At the same time, there are many first-timers, despite their years in the business, with only one of the nominated already having an Oscar to show for it. Nothing is certain until Sunday, February 26, live from Hollywood, but here are the predictions.

Demián Bichir for ‘A Better Life’

American audiences primarily know 48-year-old Demián Bichir from the TV series, Weeds, and as Fidel in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Che’. However, Bichir is a huge name back in his native Mexico, part of a family of celebrated actors, and his presence on this year’s nomination list will be his first. In Chris Weitz’s A Better Life, he plays the gardener, Carlos, who has worked hard to make a life for himself and his estranged son in the States. When his truck is stolen, father and son, albeit virtually strangers, set out to recover it in hopes of a better life.

There were reports of confusion when Bichir’s name was read among the nominees as some believed the choice was made at the expense of the highly acclaimed ‘Shame’s Michael Fassbender. While Weitz’s film was celebrated, it was not widely watched. However, the nod to Bichir is the only one for the movie, and despite the initial surprise, or maybe because of it, it seems unlikely that he will take home the award.

George Clooney for ‘The Descendants’

Already a groomed candidate with seven nominations in his pocket and a win in the Supporting category for ‘Syriana’ in 2006, 50-year-old George Clooney has placed himself firmly in the front. Unlike Bichir, Clooney is ‘Hollywood royalty’, and the story goes that a bet was made between him and fellow Tinsel royal, Brad Pitt, that if one of them got the nomination this year, the other would perform a favor.

Clooney’s was to spend the day with Brad and his partner Angelina Jolie’s pack of kids – which he allegedly loathes. With that deal already sealed, the question is if ‘The George’ will up the ante by making an actor’s Oscar hat trick – winning both Leading and Supporting Actor; something only five other actors have done before him.

Is the part worth it? Many great things have been said about The Descendants, and it is no wonder; the adapted screenplay hit a chord with critics and movie-goers alike, and Clooney’s character, Matt King, is relatable as he struggles to keep the pieces of his reality together. Already winning the Golden Globes this year is a huge plus, which tempts us to believe that the night will be Clooney’s time to shine.

Jean Dujardin for ‘The Artist’

At the tender age of 39, Jean Dujardin is not well-known in the States. Dujardin is funnily enough referred to as the French George Clooney, and the liking is merited after an evening spent in the company of The Artist - the smile says it all!

The Artist, in itself, is an incredible achievement that has reaped rave reviews around the world, with the exception of some disgruntled movie goers on the British Isles, and much of the magic is thanks to Dujardin’s charming, yet heartbreaking performance as the silent movie star, George Valentin, who fades into obscurity as the ‘talkies’ take over.

Not only is his performance a delight, but an immense amount of respect and awe goes into the challenge of performing ‘old school’; the whole cast had to abandon their experience to embrace a performance style of the past. A dark horse in the race, but a secret favorite of this reporter. Will the French finally get a leading man on the podium?

Gary Oldman for ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’

While younger generations connect Gary Oldman with good and helpful franchise characters (Harry Potter, Nolan’s Batman), most of the mature viewers know that Oldman earned his badges as the ‘bad boy’ and other villainous characters. Evidently, the tide has turned for the 53-year-old native Englishman who embodied the anti-Bond character of George Smiley in the adapted espionage drama, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, to such taste that the Academy nod was inevitable.

Even though Oldman has been around for years and is the eldest of this year’s nominees, it is the first time he has been nominated for an Oscar. Sadly, the predictions are that the honorary inclusion in the ranks of the Academy is the only thing he will be getting next Sunday.

Brad Pitt for ‘Moneyball’

So far, Brad Pitt’s career at the Academy Awards has been scattered and less eventful than you would have thought, considering his status in Hollywood. When he made the bet with George Clooney, his odds were statistically lower – curiously amusing to consider now that Moneyball is the movie that got him the nomination.

The role of Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who takes a chance on a numbers game in order to win the League, is a powerful tale of grandeur against the odds. It has been awhile since baseball filled the main plot line of a big-name movie, and critics have applauded the production team for reigniting the on-screen excitement for the game.

Some hint that the fuss over ‘The George’ might blindside observers and allow the 48-year-old father-of-six to channel his character’s underdog qualities, but as it stands, Pitt will enjoy the show and settle for the party.

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Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, January 24) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence.

Sherak and Lawrence, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her lead performance in “Winter’s Bone,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 Award categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,783 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards:

Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
• George Clooney in “The Descendants”
• Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
• Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
• Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
• Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
• Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
• Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
• Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
• Viola Davis in “The Help”
• Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
• Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
• Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
• Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
• Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
• Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
• Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

• “A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• “Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
• “Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

• “The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
• “Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
• “War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

• “The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
• “Hugo” Robert Richardson
• “The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
• “War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

• “Anonymous” Lisy Christl
• “The Artist” Mark Bridges
• “Hugo” Sandy Powell
• “Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
• “W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing

• “The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Alexander Payne
• “Hugo” Martin Scorsese
• “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
• “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

• “Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• “Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• “God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• “Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione
• “Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

• “The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Kevin Tent
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
• “Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

• “Bullhead” Belgium
• “Footnote” Israel
• “In Darkness” Poland
• “Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
• “A Separation” Iran

Makeup

• “Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

• “The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
• “The Artist” Ludovic Bource
• “Hugo” Howard Shore
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
• “War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

• “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
• “Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture

• “The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
• “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
• “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
• “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
• “War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
• “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
• “La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
• “A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• “Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

• “Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
• “Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• “The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
• “Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• “Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

• “Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
• “Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• “War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• “Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
• “Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• “War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

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
• “Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
• “Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
• “The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• “Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
• “Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• “Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
• “Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
• “A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

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When the world’s worst babysitter takes three of the world’s worst kids on an unforgettable overnight adventure through the streets of New York City, it’s anyone’s guess as to who is going to make it home in one piece. Jonah Hill is The Sitter, a new level of twisted and debauched storytelling from the director of Pineapple Express.

Subversive. Vulgar. Envelope-pushing. And that’s just the first few minutes of the comedy The Sitter, which, after those unforgettable 200 seconds or so, proceeds to go to even more extreme lengths of verbal scatology, plus assorted drug runs, bar fights, and episodes of grand larceny.

Its cast of characters includes a drug kingpin, his fast-talking associate, a sexually selfish, coke-seeking woman, a trio of really, really effed–up kids, and a debased college dropout who earns his rep as the babysitter from hell only minutes after arriving on the scene.

Interwoven with The Sitter’s raunchy fun are quieter and gentler comedic moments that sneak up to connect with audiences in unexpected ways. The heart, soul and titular anti-hero of The Sitter is Jonah Hill, who emerged as a formidable and original comedic voice in the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad, and who more recently was hailed for his dramatic performances in the acclaimed independent film Cyrus, and opposite Brad Pitt in the critical and box-office hit Moneyball.

Hill’s on-screen character, Noah, is not your typical entertain-the-kids-no-matter-how-boring-it-is kind of sitter. Not even close. He’s reluctant to take the sitting gig; he’d rather, well, be doing anything else, especially if it involves slacking. “Noah is more of the ‘sit on the sofa, eat a burrito, and do-whatever-I-say-or-I’ll-kill-you’ type of babysitter,” says Hill.

Hill, who also serves as an executive producer on The Sitter, worked closely with his director, David Gordon Green to ensure that the film had maximum comedic and emotional impact. “The humor in The Sitter is rowdy and bawdy, but it has a heart of gold at its core,” says Green, whose blockbuster comedy Pineapple Express, expertly merged the yin and yang of raunchiness and heart.

“David has a great sense of humor,” says Hill,” “but getting to know him, I realized that we also shared a desire to bring some unexpected texture, details and layers to the film.”

The Sitter began life as a simple idea imagined by screenwriters Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. “We thought it’d be fun to watch Jonah Hill, screaming and cursing at the kids he was babysitting,” says Gatewood. “But then the challenge was, how do we make a movie around that idea,” adds Tanaka.

“We envisioned The Sitter as more than a funny idea or sketch; we wanted to come up with characters that have arcs, and where things fall apart and somehow must be put back together.” Along with screenwriters Gatewood and Tanaka, Hill, Green and producer Michael De Luca worked tirelessly to flesh out the story and characters, starting with the Sitter himself.

“Noah is at a crossroads in his life,” Hill explains. “He’s been kicked out of school, he’s dating a woman who doesn’t treat him very well, and all he wants to do is hang out on his mom’s sofa and watch TV. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do with his life.” Adds De Luca: “Noah is stuck. He’s not moving forward with his life and he’s regretting some of his past choices.”

Noah’s choices in the present are, unsurprisingly, extremely limited. It says a lot that Noah’s best option is a quick babysitting stint, which he very reluctantly agrees to, and then only to help out his mom, who’s eyeing a blind date with a surgeon (set up by the parents of the kids Noah is to watch). “Noah just wants to get the babysitting gig over with, so he can go back to watching TV at his mom’s place,” Hill explains.

But once Noah becomes The Sitter, there’s no going back to his former life – whatever that was. In the comfortable suburban New York home where Noah is to be spending the evening babysitting, lurk three youngsters – his would-be charges – that Noah will immediately, and justifiably, characterize as “freaks.”

The eldest, Slater (Max Records), 13, is riddled with anxiety and identity issues, for which he takes a disciplined regimen of pills. Even with the meds, Slater is poised to freak out at a moment’s notice. “I loved the character’s conflicted and surprisingly subtle nature,” says Green, “and Max, who impressed me with his work in [Spike Jonze’s 2009 feature film] Where the Wild Things Are, brings out all of Slater’s inner turmoil and dimensions.

Then there’s Blithe (newcomer Landry Bender), 9, who enjoys playing dress-up…in pink palettes and slathered with her mom’s makeup. Noah’s first encounter with the mini-“celebutante” is unpleasant: Blithe twice sprays him in the mouth with a bottle of floral perfume. “She’s insane!” says Hill of the character. “Blithe represents a segment of our culture whose entire world revolves around partying. But, being nine years old, she has no understanding of what ‘partying’ and celebrity culture even mean.”

The terrible troika is completed by ten-year-old Rodrigò (Kevin Hernandez), a defiant and explosion-happy mini-thug the family adopted in Mexico. Rodrigo is not happy unless he’s blowing s*it up…literally; as Noah and the kids begin their misbegotten odyssey Rodrigò’s cherry bombs victimize several toilets across New York City. And his theft of a priceless item from the lair of an eccentric drug kingpin triggers an endless series of problems for the besieged Sitter.

Still, the filmmakers had no problem seeing the hardened youngster’s softer side. “Rodrigò pretends to be a badass because he’s been bounced around foster homes, and thinks his time with his latest family will be limited. But he really wants to be a part of the family,” says Hill. Adds Green: “Kevin brings a lot of fun to a character marked by tension and alienation.”

As the confrontations, arguments, fights, explosions, dive bar visits, and instances of grand larceny escalate, Noah finds himself actually relating to the kids. “Noah realizes each of them has problems and issues, and he actually begins to understand and help them work through those issues,” says Hill.

Offers De Luca: “All the characters are working the wrong angle. They’re all on the wrong path and thinking they want what they don’t need.” Together, they begin to figure things out.

The Sitter is in theaters everywhere December 9.

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The movie script was originally written by Stan Chervin, the movie is being released through Columbia pictures and stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The movie was originally intended to begin production in June 2009 but days before filming began Sony put the film on hold.

The film script had elements in it that were non traditional for a sports movie. As such there were no interviews with real life players and as a result of this the film director Steven Soderbergh was let go. He was replaced by Bennett Miller and Adam Sorkin rewrote the script. The movie puts a different spin on the story of baseball.

Although there have been movies made about baseball before this is not a typical movie about baseball. The movie is about a man who had a vision to do something new in baseball. He was told he was leading a team of people who were rejected by the scouts and a team that couldn’t compete with the major teams because of lack of finances. Billy never gave up his dreams despite the obstacles in front of him.

Even in making this movie it was not an easy project to get off the ground because it doesn’t fall in the typical category of a sports movie. This was the reason for the dismissal of the original director. The movie is based on a non fiction book of the same name published by Michael Lewis in 2003.

Its amazing movie that really is inspiring and it’s a film that would be enjoyed by most people but especially those people who have always dreamed about taking on the system. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball’s conventional wisdom he has a big dream the desire to do something and the wisdom to pull it off.

He believes baseballs conventional wisdom is wrong. He is forced to basically reinvent the game on a very tight budget . He will have to outwit the richer clubs and work out how exactly is he going to do this. That’s what the film will desire to reveal to audiences. This one time jock will team up with ivy league graduate Peter Brand played by Jonah Hill, in the most unlikely partnership.

Together they recruit all the bargain players that the scouts have labelled them as flaws but they still have the ability to get on base score points and win the game. Many are saying that Beane is tearing the heart and soul out of the game. All Beane is doing is revolutionizing the game and changing the system to give evryone a chance to play.

The great thing about films like this are even though there are challenges in this case big teams with a lot of money, with faith and perserverance our dreams can be realised if don’t allow anyone to stand in our way.

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