Three years ago, Oscar producers Bill Condon and Laurence Mark shook up the way they handled the presentation of the acting awards, so that instead of having one person list five names, they welcomed back five previous Oscar winners who each spoke directly to one of the nominees. It was a much more touching, intimate way of bestowing the industry's top acting awards. Gold Derby hopes Brian Grazer and Don Mischer go with this more creative approach again but which former Oscar winners should return to bestow the glory upon the nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress? 

We put on our creative hats to try to come up with 10 unique presenters to highlight each of this year's 10 contenders. To see  who we think should fete the accomplishments of the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees VIEW GALLERY

Movies that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards received rave reviews from most film critics when they opened in theaters, of course, but not all. Since critics are grouchy contrarians by nature, some of them lambasted movies that may have seemed flawed at the time, but they went on to become classics crowned by Oscar glory. We have compiled some of the worst reviews of Oscar Best Picture champs and added reminders of how many Academy Awards they won. VIEW GALLERY

Here is just a sampling of some of the most savage criticisms. 

Al Pacino receives the National Medal of Arts: "'Presidents and senators don’t have men killed,' Michael Corleone was told in 'The Godfather.' They do, however, give out prizes. On Monday, President Obama presented Al Pacino, the 'Godfather' star and Academy and Tony Award-winner, with a medal recognizing his contributions to film and theater as the 2011 National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals were awarded." NEW YORK TIMES

Grammy ratings justify CBS's West Coast tape delay: "Although the Oscar telecast has historically aired live across the country and now the Golden Globes and Emmy awards shows are also live, CBS is not ready to follow suit with the Grammys. The network's rationale is simple: more viewers are available to watch the show between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. than they are in the late afternoon. Given that Sunday night's show drew almost 40 million people -- its second-biggest audience ever behind the 1984 telecast that saw Michael Jackson sweep the awards -- it is hard to argue with CBS' logic." LOS ANGELES TIMES

Chris Brown, the Grammys, and the message sent to kids and teens: "Sure, people should have second chances, and sure, people can like the music of artists who say and/or do nasty things. That doesn’t mean they deserve a chance to strut around the Grammy stage a few years after being convicted of felony assault for his attack on Rihanna at a pre-Grammy party ... Sadly, many fans felt Brown did nothing wrong or that Rihanna must have done something to provoke him. What kind of message do you think they got from the Grammys showcasing Brown at this year’s ceremonies?" WASHINGTON POST

The Oscars will be visited by a nun: "Mother Dolores is not flying or singing, but the real deal — and the focus of 'God is the Bigger Elvis,' which is nominated in the best documentary short category and premieres April 5 on HBO. 'It will be so nice to be back at the Oscars,' says Mother Dolores, 73, the Benedictine nun who stars in the 37-minute visit to the Abbey of Regina Laudis, appropriately located in Bethlehem, Conn. 'It's such a fun night ... The last time I was there was in 1959, when I was a presenter,' says Mother Dolores, who is spiritual counselor to 38 other cloistered sisters. 'This will be different.'" USA TODAY

George Clooney joins an elite Oscar club: "In the history of the Oscars, only 16 men have been well-respected and well-liked enough by the Academy to score at least three best actor nominations within a span of five years. (Amazingly, two of them had two such streaks, bringing the total number of streaks to 18.) The most recent actor to join this elite list: George Clooney, whose best actor nomination this year for 'The Descendants' follows best actor noms for 'Michael Clayton' (2007) and 'Up in the Air' (2009)." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Catch up with the Oscar contenders at AMC theaters: "This weeked, AMC theaters across the country are putting on the Best Picture Show, a two-day event where all of the Oscar-nominated films are shown. All nine movies will be shown on the big screen (even those already out on DVD). So if you can stand hours and hours of movies in one sitting, you are in luck." WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Very curious: Movies about 3D space aliens and animated giant green ogres never win Best Picture at the Oscars. Those flicks sell the most tickets at the box office, granted, but academy members -- snobs who get too much fantasy on the job every day -- prefer their award-crowned movies to be real.

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It's weird, but no movie about making movies has ever won Best Picture. More than 25 of the 84 winners of the top Oscar have been about war. Most champs featured romance. Several were even about show business: three about Broadway ("All About Eve," "The Great Ziegfeld," "Broadway Melody") and one about the circus ("Greatest Show on Earth").

But voters seem to have a grudge against movies about Hollywood. While a few like "Sunset Boulevard" have managed to get nominated for Best Picture, others – even masterpieces like Judy Garland's "A Star Is Born" – were snubbed.

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Now, suddenly, this year it looks like one will finally prevail: "The Artist" has overwhelming odds (9 to 10) from the Oscarologists at Gold Derby.

Why is it the exception?

Probably for three reasons:

1.) It's a novelty act irresistible to the cynics in the academy who want their votes to be special. Nothing like hurling your support behind a black-and-white silent film that has limited financial potential.

2.) This film about how Hollywood was devastated by the advent of sound in the 1920s has eerie parallels to the challenges facing the town today by the Internet and 3D.

3.) It's a great movie loved by critics who give it an impressive rank of 89 at Metacritic.

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Triumph the Insult Comic Dog demands Golden Collar Awards write-in: "'My work on the "Conan O‘Brien Show" has been overlooked,' complains Triumph. 'It’s a travesty.... These awards have clearly been fixed!' He proceeds to make dog meat out of the other nominees, including Jason Gann who plays Wilfred on 'Wilfred.' 'This isn’t even a real dog! He’s a grown man with a sad fetish,' snarls Triumph, as he chews on his cigar. As for the big black dog on 'Entourage,' Triumph admits that the dog is a much better actor than Adrian Grenier." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Douglas Trumbull receives an honorary Oscar: "The first Oscars of the year have been presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards, the motion picture academy’s annual celebration of the geeks and gizmos that make movie magic. Oscar winners at the Saturday night gala included Douglas Trumbull, the visual-effects master behind such pioneering works as '2001: A Space Odyssey,’ 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' and 'Blade Runner.' Trumbull, 69, was honored for his long career of technological contributions to filmmaking, including his latest wizardry in the Brad Pitt-Terrence Malick drama 'The Tree of Life,' which featured grand images of the cosmos and the age of dinosaurs." ASSOCIATED PRESS

Grammy Awards post their best ratings in almost 30 years: "Last night's broadcast of the 54th Annual Grammy Awards delivered more than 39 million viewers, the largest Grammy audience since 1984 and the second largest in history, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day fast affiliate ratings (8:00-11:30 PM) for Sunday, Feb. 12. In key demographics, The Grammy Awards averaged a 14.1/32 in adults 18-49, matching its best since 1990 (14.2), a 16.0/33 in adults 25-54, best since 1988 (16.1) and 12.1/31 in adults 18-34, best since 2001 (13.5)."

Does computer voting open up the Oscars to hacking? "The academy said the software developed by the San Diego-based computer voting company Everyone Counts would incorporate 'multiple layers of security' and 'military-grade encryption techniques' to ensure that nothing untoward or underhanded could occur before PricewaterhouseCoopers, its accountancy firm, captured the votes from the Internet ether. Unfortunately, leading computer scientists around the world who have looked at Internet voting systems do not share the academy's confidence. On the contrary, they say the technology is vulnerable to a variety of cyber attacks — no matter how many layers of encryption there are — and risks producing a fraudulent outcome without anyone necessarily realizing it." LOS ANGELES TIMES

Whitney Houston's final movie will be released in August: "'Sparkle,' a musical drama featuring the final film role of Whitney Houston, is now scheduled to hit theaters on August 17th. The movie, a remake of the 1976 picture of the same name, features Houston as the mother of three sisters in a Supremes-like musical group who struggle with fame and drugs. The movie also includes performances by Jordin Sparks, Cee Lo Green and Mike Epps. In addition to starring in the film, Houston recorded several songs for its soundtrack, which was intended as a comeback project for the troubled superstar." ROLLING STONE

Oscar-nominees Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer sit down with Tavis Smiley: "They kind of 'go there' — this is a worthwhile, interesting conversation … for those of you interested. Viola Davis speaks quite passionately about the stigma and crippling dilemma of being a black artist who must carry the burden, I think, of both the black and white community. They pay the price, white actors don’t. Anyway, Davis says it all a lot better than I can … have a listen." AWARDS DAILY

Kirk Baxter is in that rarefied group of people who reaped Oscar bids for each of their first three film. Along with Angus Wall, Baxter was nominated for Best Film Editing of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008), "The Social Network" (2010), and this year's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." The Facebook drama earned the duo their first trophies at last year's ceremony when presenters Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law called out their names.

In a video chat with senior editors Chris Beachum and Rob Licuria, Baxter recalls that moment: "It was just a joy, from start to finish ... you got to go on the other side of the curtain." As for his impressive nomination streak, Baxter admits to being, "very lucky; you wouldn't put bets on the odds."

All three Oscar bids came for their collaboration with director David Fincher -- "the common denominator." As Baxer wryly admits, "He's the secret sauce, and I'm kind of a passenger on his train."

"He's a terrific director to work for," Baxter says. "He's very very patient, he understands the editing process extremely well, so he knows it takes time to perfect it, and he knows how to coax you along to get the best out of you. I think that is where David's real genius is; he gets the best out of everybody around him."

For "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Baxter and Wall were faced with the daunting prospect of cutting together an extensive amount of footage. "With Fincher's coverage, he gets extensive angles, and they're all extremely useful for any particular scene he's setting up," which Baxter says allowed them to "hone in, and get quite aggressive with the editing."  According to Baxter, "there are very few scenes in Fincher's films that are simplistic ... [and] that alone makes editing stand out on a Fincher film."

Last year, Baxter was left off the list of 178 artists and executives invited by the Academy to join its roster of members, which include his co-editor Wall. Now that Baxter has racked up an impressive third nomination, perhaps he might make the cut when the Academy announces its list of new invitees later this year.

"Our film calls itself a Western, and we always laugh a little bit about the contrast between our film and the concept of a Western as we all see it in American movies," says Amanda Forbis of "Wild Life," a 13-minute film currently nominated for Best Animated Short at the Oscars.

Written and directed by Forbis and her animating partner Wendy Tilby, it tells the story of a remittance man, one of a class of Englishmen who struggled to make a life for themselves in the Canadian frontier at the turn of the 20th century. "They were infatuated a little bit with the cowboy culture," says Tilby of the ill-fated expatriates. "There were in a sense victims of the [British] Empire and their hubris. It wasn't really their fault. They just weren't equipped."

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The film was made using a combination of traditional and computer techniques: animated with Flash and then hand-painted, frame by frame, to evoke the texture of the western Canadian landscape. But computer technology is "a double edged sword," says Forbis, "because even though it's so much more efficient and we'd never go back, you can also ... try to fix every single detail, and for about the last several months of the production that's what we did ... That kind of relentless drive to get it perfect can be a tyranny."

The film was produced by the National Film Board of Canada, a government-run organization that supports art film projects, documentaries, and animation. "It's a fantastic thing because we're freed up to be more creative and less involved in the marketing and publicity … It's a wonderful thing for us." The NFB this year boasts two films in the running for Best Animated Short; the company also produced "Dimanche." They also produced Forbis and Tilby's previous nominated short, "When the Day Breaks" (1999).

Finding such support for short film is invaluable in a marketplace where there is less attention paid to short film projects. Says Forbis, "I think fundamentally it's the fact that there's no natural venue for short films. There's getting to be more venues … through the internet, but otherwise it's historically been really hard to see and I think because of that they're not in people's consciousness and don't get taken as seriously as we think they deserve to."

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A wider audience is able to find "Wild Life" as of this past weekend, when ShortsHD and Magnolia Pictures began distributing the Oscar-nominated documentary, live-action, and animated shorts to 200 theaters across the country. The shorts program, which has run since 2005, last year grossed $1.35 million nationwide. The nominated shorts will also be available on iTunes and Movies On Demand starting on February 21.

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Emmanuel Lubezki won the top prize from the American Society of Cinematographers for lensing;"The Tree of Life." He has already won top honors with both the Gotham and L.A. film critics for his lensing of this Terrence Malick movie and is one of the five Oscar nominees.  

He won this award in 2006 for "Children of Men" and contended in 1999 for "Sleepy Hollow." He reaped Oscar bids for those two films, as well as "A Little Princess" (1995) and "A New World," his last collaboration with Malick, but has yet to prevail at the Academy Awards. 

Lubezki's strongest competiton at the Oscars may well be Robert Richardson. He reaped his 10th ASC nom for the 3D filming of "Hugo." While Richardson has won two of his previous six Oscar races -- "JFK" (1991) and "The Aviator" (2005) -- he has yet to win over his guild. 

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Jeff Cronenweth contended at the ASC for the second year in a row for lensing a David Fincher film. Last year, he picked up his first career nod with "The Social Network" and returned with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." He too contends at the Oscars. 

Rounding out the ASC list were a pair of first-time nominees: Hoyte van Hoytema ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") and Guillaume Shiffman ("The Artist"). While Hoytema missed out on an Oscar bid, Shiffman, who just won the BAFTA Award, was nominated. 

While the ASC snubbed four-time nominee Janusz Kaminski for his shooting of "War Horse," the two-time Oscar champ -- "Schindler's List" (1993) and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) -- is contending at the Academy Awards. 

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It's been 10 years since anyone joined the pantheon of people who've won the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), but now Scott Rudin is among the immortals who include Mel Brooks, John Gielgud, Whoopi Goldberg, Marvin Hamlisch, Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Rita Moreno, Mike Nichols, Richard Rodgers and Jonathan Tunick.

Rudin just won a Grammy for producing Best Musical Theater Album ("Book of Mormon"). Previously, Rudin won a Tony for producing Best Musical "Book of Mormon" on Broadway in addition to Tonys for "The History Boys" (Best Play, 2006), "Doubt" (Best Play, 2005), "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" (Best Play 2002), "Copenhagen" (Best Play, 2000) and "Passion" (Best Musical, 1994).

He won an Oscar for producing Best Picture "No Country for Old Men" (2007) and an Emmy for Best Children's Program "He Makes Me Feel Like Dancing" (1984).

Photo: Rudin (center) with the Cohen Brothers showing off their Oscar gold for "No Country for Old Men." (ABC)