As the 83rd Academy Awards Approaches…

The Academy Awards anxiety is building as 5755 nomination ballots for the 83rd Oscar ceremony were mailed. The ballots were sent to voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS).

Ensuring that the ballots are prepared is quite a process. Prior to mailing, the PricewaterhouseCoopers's staff administers a methodical confirmation process to be sure that there are no duplicates and that nothing is missing. In addition to being counted and sorted, the ballots are numbered to assure that each one is addressed to the suitable voter.The completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5 p.m. PT on Friday, January 14, 2011.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is considered the world's paramount

movie-related organization. Its members are more than 6,000 of the most proficient men and women working in cinema.

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.The awards for marvelous film achievements of 2010 will be presented on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.The presentation will be telecast live in more than 200 countries.

Kevin To Cheer For The Amazing Movie 'The Social Network'

"Superman Returns" star Kevin Spacey will be encouraging David Fincher's "The Social Network" at the Academy Awards as his former assistant Dana Brunetti is one of the film's producer.

The Oscar winner's producing partner Dana Brunetti went to the Oscars with Kevin Spacey a decade ago and the forthcoming year he could well be up onstage collecting gold as his Facebook film is sure to be amongst the 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees and many critics have tipped it for victory.

The Social Network is a 2010 drama film about the founder of the social networking website Facebook and its resulting lawsuits. The film was directed by David Fincher and features an all together cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Brenda Song, Max Minghella as well as Rooney Mara.

15 Semifinalists for 2010 VFX Oscar Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) recently announced that 15 films have been chosen as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 83rd Academy Awards. The films include:

• Alice in Wonderland
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Shutter Island
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
• Clash of the Titans
• Hereafter
• Inception
• Iron Man 2
• The Last Airbender
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Scott Pilgrim vs the World
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
• Tron: Legacy
• Unstoppable

In early January 2011, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who selected the semifinalists, will narrow the list to 7.

All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the 7 short listed films on January 20. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate 5 films for the final Oscar Award.

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on January 25, 2011 in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

2011 Oscars To Be Co-Hosted By Actor James Franco and Actress Anne Hathway

Actor James Franco and Actress Anne Hathaway to Co-Host the 2011 Academy Awards that will be held on 27 February at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

They will be the youngest hosts of the ceremony for decades, as the show's producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer look to catch the attention of a new generation of viewers to the live telecast.

Hathaway was nominated for an Oscar in 2009 for  "Rachel Getting Married", while Franco is popular for his Harry Osborn role in the Spider-Man films.

The shows producers stated that James Franco and Anne Hathaway epitomize the next generation of Hollywood icons - fresh, thrilling and versatile.He also added that they hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both showcase their unbelievable talents as well as entertain the world during this event.

James Franco, 32, and Hathaway, 28, will be the youngest hosts of the show ever since the 29-year-old Goldie Hawn took on co-hosting duties in 1975.They capture from this year's successful, but older partnership of Alec Baldwin, 52, and Steve Martin 65, which attracted 41 million viewers, the maximum audience since 2005.