The 2011 Oscar nominations have been announced and the online universe is buzzing with the news. The Golden Globes are always a good indication of who’ll be nominated for the Oscars thereafter and as you can see below, it’s no surprise that films like Black Swan, The Fighter and The Social Network are leading the way in terms of nominations.

This year’s awards will be hosted by James Franco (127 Hours) and Anne Hathaway (Love And Other Drugs) and will air on the ABC Network on 27th February 2011. non US film fans will no doubt be able to watch live feeds online and catch the commentary on Twitter and Facebook.

Please also leave us some lovely comments and let us know what you think of this year’s nominations!

Follow the team on Twitter below and remember to use the hashtag #oscars on 27th February – we look forward to your tweets!

Panic Dots – @panicdots

Editor – Richard Crothers – @iamnotabeard

Film Editor – Wee Claire – @weeclaire

Deputy Editor – Ed Williams – @Man_Drowning

Writer – Andrew Moore – @theFILMblog

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions)
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit” (Paramount)
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
• James Franco in “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (Lionsgate)
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight)
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”(Paramount)
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best animated feature film of the year

• “How to Train Your Dragon” (Paramount), Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” (Sony Pictures Classics), Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Lee Unkrich

Achievement in art direction

• “Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″ (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Achievement in cinematography

• “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design

• “Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” (Magnolia Pictures), Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” (Miramax), Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Mary Zophres

Achievement in directing

• “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” (Paramount), David O. Russell
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), David Fincher
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best documentary feature

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” (Producers Distribution Agency), A Paranoid Pictures Production, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
• “Gasland”, A Gasland Production, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Representational Pictures Production, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” (National Geographic Entertainment), An Outpost Films Production, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” (Arthouse Films), An Almega Projects Production, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Best documentary short subject

• “Killing in the Name”, A Moxie Firecracker Films Production, Nominees to be determined
• “Poster Girl”, A Portrayal Films Production, Nominees to be determined
• “Strangers No More”, A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• “Sun Come Up”, A Sun Come Up Production, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• “The Warriors of Qiugang”, A Thomas Lennon Films Production, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Achievement in film editing

• “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” (Paramount), Pamela Martin
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Best foreign language film of the year

• “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions), A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production, Mexico
• “Dogtooth” (Kino International), A Boo Production, Greece
• “In a Better World” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Zentropa Production, Denmark
• “Incendies” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Micro-Scope Production, Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” (Cohen Media Group), A Tassili Films Production, Algeria

Achievement in makeup

• “Barney’s Version” (Sony Pictures Classics), Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” (Newmarket Films in association with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Image Entertainment), Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Wolfman” (Universal), Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• “How to Train Your Dragon” (Paramount), John Powell
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Alexandre Desplat
• “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)), Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” (Walt Disney), Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best motion picture of the year

• “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” (Paramount), A Relativity Media Production, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), A Warner Bros. UK Services Production, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), An Hours Production, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Columbia Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” (Paramount), A Paramount Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), A Winter’s Bone Production, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Best animated short film

• “Day & Night” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo”, A Magic Light Pictures Production, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let’s Pollute”, A Geefwee Boedoe Production, Geefwee Boedoe
• “The Lost Thing”, (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment), A Passion Pictures Australia Production, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”, A Sacrebleu Production, Bastien Dubois

Best live action short film

• “The Confession” (National Film and Television School), A National Film and Television School Production, Tanel Toom
• “The Crush” (Network Ireland Television), A Purdy Pictures Production, Michael Creagh
• “God of Love”, A Luke Matheny Production, Luke Matheny
• “Na Wewe” (Premium Films), A CUT! Production, Ivan Goldschmidt
• “Wish 143″, A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in sound editing

• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
• “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” (Walt Disney), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” (20th Century Fox), Mark P. Stoeckinger

Achievement in sound mixing

• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Achievement in visual effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″ (Warner Bros.), Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” (Warner Bros.), Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2″ (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount), Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Adapted screenplay

• “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Original screenplay

• “Another Year” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler

It’s not every day Belfast moviegoers are treated to a world exclusive event on the film calendar, but on October 28th 2010, a select few – including myself – had the chance to sample over 20-minutes of Disney’s upcoming sci-fi extravaganza, Tron: Legacy in 3D.

After a short introduction by a rep from Disney, the film opened with a short message from the film’s director, Joseph Kosinski, then launched into – what I imagine is – part of the film’s opening scene involving Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) and – an old character from the original Tron – Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner). Not much of the film’s true potential was exploited during in these moments and indeed it wasn’t even shown in 3D but nevertheless it did set a dark and mature tone for what was to come, as we see Sam entering his father’s old games arcade, looking no different to how it was presented in the early 80s.

From here we see Sam whisked away into the world of Tron, or ‘The Grid’ as it is often known as. In the next scene the leading protagonist is taken captive by some guards and flown to a detention centre in one of the command ships seen in the original film – and updated to quite amazing effect. From this Sam gets suited and booted into the typical Tron gear and forced to battle in the games, in a gladiator-esque arena, sparking a visually glorious fight scene which completely blew me away.

The third and, unfortunately, final scene the audience were given a taster of was one of the highly anticipated lightcycle chases Tron is probably most famous for. Due to the crashing and derezzing debris scattering all over the screen, the frantic and brilliantly realised action really showed off the true potential of 3D. Something, in my honest opinion, even James Cameron’s Avatar failed to do last year. The chase climaxed with Sam finally meeting his estranged father, and hero of the original film, Kevin Flynn (the legendary Jeff Bridges) for the first time in nearly 20 years. Despite all the spectacular special effects being shown off during the film’s preview, this scene also demonstrated that Tron: Legacy has a deeper and more emotional side which is sure to add weight to the overall story.

To finish off, the display closed with the video to Daft Punk’s latest single – taken from the film’s soundtrack – Derezzed, which spoiled the audience further of what is to come when Tron: Legacy hits our shores in mid December.

From those 20+ minutes, it was clear Disney have truly invested a lot of time and care into this long awaited sequel. The world Joseph Kosinski has created is imaginative, dark, brooding and not totally out removed from the world of The Matrix. What really got me however was the sheer scale of the feature, undeniably epic in proportions – and despite its mind bending Stanley Kubrick-esque moments, it looks like it’s also set to be a heck of a lot of fun also.

It’s hard to really pick apart what was essentially a glorified, extended version of the footage we have already seen in the previous two trailers so we’ll leave that for the nit-picking for now. My only real complaint? It was only 20 minutes! I’m on my hands and knees begging to see this film in its entirety now. This was something really special.

The Tron remake – Tron: Legacy - is almost upon us and it’s no secret that Daft Punk are doing the soundtrack. So with just over a month to go, we bring you this wonderful YouTube delight.

We shall say no more, check out Daft Punk’s “Derezzed”!

The beginning of a new year means that blogs, websites and magazines tend to go “list crazy”. Empire Magazine treated us to a veritable feast of lists on their website just before the new year. They looked at the film trends of the noughties, the biggest blockbusters and the highest earning films.

So, as we all sit huddled around our radiators in January, it’s time to get positive and look ahead to some of the great films Hollywood has in store for us this year. This isn’t a high-brow list of great finds rather just a little rundown of the blockbusters set to whet our appetites this summer.

Iron Man 2

Clash of the Titans

The A-Team

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Tron Legacy