Publications
Partners
Los Angeles - Hollywood holds its biggest night of the year on Sunday, as the annual Oscars coronation gets underway with two very different front-running films vying for top honours.
British royal drama The King's Speech was seen as a major contender for Best Picture, buoyed by glowing reviews and a bevy of other awards seen as accurate barometers of Oscars glory.
The movie, nominated for 12 Academy Awards - including best actor for Colin Firth - has been tipped by some critics as a shoo-in for best picture.
It faces stiff competition, however, from the crowd-pleasing Facebook flick The Social Network, deemed one of the year's must-see films, which is nominated for eight awards.
With hours to go before the annual awards mega-bash, stars were fine-tuning their acceptance speeches - fingers crossed - and preparing to don their gowns and tuxedos for the Oscars red carpet.
And while The King's Speech is the frontrunner, no one is taking anything for granted as rivals, including Western remake True Grit and boxing movie The Fighter, vie for Oscars glory.
That said, Firth is considered all but certain to be named best actor for his portrayal of Britain's King George VI, helped by Australian voice coach Lionel Logue - played by Geoffrey Rush - to overcome his crippling stammer.
Best director
David Fincher could well be named best director for The Social Network, which tells the story of how Mark Zuckerberg created the game-changing website from a controversial start while a Harvard student, some critics say.
The Social Network started the awards season as favourite, taking four Golden Globes in January. But the British royal film has since swept up a series of prizes, both in the United States and at Britain's Baftas.
On Sunday, the 10-strong shortlist for best film also includes hi-tech thriller Inception, 127 Hours - a true story about a hiker forced to amputate his own arm - and Toy Story 3, widely tipped as best animated feature.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year decided to expand the best-picture category from five films to 10 in order to better reflect the most popular movies.
Last year, the little-seen indie film The Hurt Locker walked away with Best Picture honours, while the much-nominated Avatar - the highest-grossing film of all time - lost out.
Actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host the Oscars show. The awards weekend also provides an excuse for endless festivities, ranging from Elton John's traditional bash in west Hollywood to one reportedly co-hosted by Madonna and Demi Moore.
Once the big show is over, the real fun starts: Oscars after parties - and after after parties - go on well into Monday, as Hollywood recovers from its annual awards season binge.
The best foreign film contest is between Mexico's Biutiful - whose star Javier Bardem is also up for best actor - Dogtooth from Greece, Denmark's In a Better World, Incendies from Canada and Algeria's Outside the Law.
