Oscar Grub

The race to pick the next Oscar winners starts earlier every year, but why not, the football world picks pre-season favorites, mid-season favorites, post-season favorites and winners for every season in between. So why shouldn't those of us who love movies not indulge our obsessions year round as well? With that said, here are some of the pre-season actors and films which are already getting major Oscar buzz. If you've seen any of them, let us know what you think!
.(mark wahlberg in "the fighter")
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.MOVIES WITH BUZZ: The Social Network, Waiting for Superman, Inside Job, The King's Speech, Hereafter, The Fighter and True Grit.

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PREDICTION: Expect "True Grit" to crush.

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(stephen dorff and

elle fanning in "somewhere")

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ACTORS WITH BUZZ: Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton for "Stone"; James Franco for "127 Hours"; Sean Penn for "Fair Game"; Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth for "The King's Speech; Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg for "The Fighter; Johnny Depp for "The Tourist"; Stephen Dorff for "Somewhere"; Jeff Bridges for "True Grit" and Ryan Gosling for "Blue Valentine".

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PREDICTION: This year's group of male Oscar hopefuls are dominated by several actors who have turned in consistently good work for several years but have never been recognized by Oscar. So we're guessing this year's winner will be one of those guys who the Oscar voters decide that it's finally his "turn"; Wahlberg, Firth, Dorff, Bale, Gosling, Norton and Franco have all never won an Oscar. Unless, of course, Jeff Bridges turns the whole thing on its ear and wins for the second year in a row for "True Grit". Don't be surprised if that happens.

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ACTRESSES WITH BUZZ: Milla Jovovich for "Stone"; Gemma Arterton for "Tamara Drew"; Minnie Driver for "Conviction"; Naomi Watts for "Fair Game"; Natalie Portman for "Black Swan"; Angelina Jolie for "The Tourist"; Elle Fanning for "Somewhere"; Hailee Steinfeld for "True Grit", Lesley Manville for "Another Year" and Michelle Williams for "Blue Valentine".

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(naomi watts and sean penn in "fair game")

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(milla jovovich and robert deniro at a press conference for "stone")

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PREDICTION: Jovovich has been a consistently good actor for many years but with never a break-through role; this could be it. Naomi Watts will get the liberal Hollywood sympathy vote because she's playing someone who was wronged by one of the greatest real-life villians of all time, Dick Cheney. We've also got not one, but two, potential Tatum O'Neal-type child winners, Fanning and Steinfeld. This one's a real toss-up, we'll have to wait awhile longer to see who starts to get the most serious buzz.

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Have you seen any of these films? Let us know what you think.