Before predicting who will win the five film races at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 29, be sure to read our overviews and handicapping. And check out the charts that show the rankings and odds for all the nominees. Then head over to our prediction center to log your forecasts for the winners. (Signing up for a free account takes just a minute.) 

The Screen Actors Guild Awards have an impressive track record of foreseeing the Academy Awards. Of last year's 20 SAG acting nominees, 17 went on to contend at the Oscars. All four of the SAG film acting winners went on to prevail at the Academy Awards. And SAG ensemble champ "The King's Speech" was also named Best Picture at the Oscars.

All the winners of Best Film Ensemble at SAG have gone on to reap Academy Award nominations for Best Picture save one ("The Birdcage," 1996). Seven SAG champs -- "Shakespeare in Love," "American Beauty," "Chicago," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Crash," "No Country for Old Men," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The King's Speech" -- also won the top Oscar. This year's nominees are: "The Artist," "Bridesmaids," "The Descendants," "The Help" and "Midnight in Paris."

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The past seven Best Actor champs at the Screen Actors Guild Awards went on to win at the Oscars. In all, 13 of the 17 SAG champs prevailed at the Academy Awards. This year's nominees: Demain Bichir ("A Good Life"), George Clooney ("The Descendants"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar"), Jean Dujardin ("The Artist"), and Brad Pitt ("Moneyball").

Twelve of the SAG winners for Best Actress repeated at the Academy Awards. Of these Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady") is in contention vying against SAG TV champ Glenn Close ("Albert Nobbs"), Viola Davis ("The Help"),  Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin") and Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn".

Ten of the 17 winners of the Supporting Actor race at the Screen Actors Guild Awards went on to repeat at the Oscars, including the last four in a row. This year's nominees are: Kenneth Branagh ("My Week With Marilyn"), Armie Hammer ("J. Edgar"), Jonah Hill ("Moneyball), Nick Nolte ("Warrior") and Andy Serkis ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes").

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Austin film critics pick "Hugo," Michael Shannon, Tilda Swinton: AUSTIN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

Phoenix film critics prefer "The Artist" and Elizabeth Olsen: PHOENIX FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

HBO leads American Society of Cinematographers TV nominees: AWARDS DAILY

Director Dee Rees discusses "Pariah": "'Pariah' concerns a teenager named Alike (Independent Spirit Award nominee Adepero Oduye), an expressive girl who only encounters more identity issues as she tries establishing herself as an out lesbian. Though Rees came out as a lesbian in her 20s, she feels a deep connection to Alike -- especially in her resistance to 'butch' and 'femme' labels. Movieline caught up with Rees to discuss 'Pariah's' wonderful story, the visibility of the LGBT coming out experience in 2011, and Rees's unexpected connection to 'Dallas.'" MOVIELINE

"War Horse," stage vs. screen: "I am not, by any stretch, an authority on theater ... But I can say, without hesitation, that the Broadway production of 'War Horse' is the best thing I've ever witnessed on stage ... And how does Spielberg's version measure up to all this? I did my best to not allow my first 'War Horse' experience to make me biased against my second, and it's true that the two works are very different beasts. I was, however, keeping score as I basked in the orange glow of Spielberg's impossible skies, for this equine weeper's path to the screen yields a lot of pluses and minuses." THE FILM EXPERIENCE

Demian Bichir is a serious Oscar contender for "A Better Life" following his SAG nomination: "It became the first movie of the season to set up Q&As in June with star Demian Bichir for SAG’s then-newly formed nominating committee. Bichir and director Chris Weitz have since been doing receptions for press and awards voters, lots of interviews and generally beating the drum for their 'little movie that could.'" DEADLINE

Before predicting who will win at the 69th annual Golden Globes Awards on Jan. 14, be sure to read our overviews and handicapping for all 13 film races. And check out the charts that show the odds and rankings for each nominee. Then head over to our prediction center to log your forecasts for the eventual winners. (Signing up for a free account takes just a minute.) 

"The Artist" landed a leading six nominations. Two other strong Oscar contenders -- "The Descendants" and "The Help" -- each earned five nods. George Clooney's political drama "The Ides of March" had an unexpectedly strong showing with four bids. All four of these films vie for Best Drama against "Hugo" (3 nods) and "War Horse" (2). Late derby entry "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was shut out. (See full list of nominations here). 

The Best Director lineup includes our two Oscar frontrunners -- Alexander Payne ("The Descendants") and Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist") -- as well as  Martin Scorsese ("Hugo"), Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris") and Clooney ("The Ides of March"). 

The Best Drama Actor race has four Oscar frontrunners: Clooney ("The Descendants"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar"), Michael Fassbender ("Shame") and NYFCC champ Brad Pitt ("Moneyball) as well as Ryan Gosling ("The Ides of March"). 

The Best Drama Actress nominees includes our top two Oscar frontrunners -- Viola Davis ("The Help") and Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady") -- as well as Glenn Close ("Albert Nobbs"), the surging Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin") and Rooney Mara ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo").

"The Artist" vies for Best Comedy/Musical Picture against "50/50," "Bridesmaids," "Midnight in Paris" and "My Week WIth Marilyn."

Two frontrunners for Best Actress at the Oscars -- Michele Williams ("My Week With Marilyn") and Charlize Theron ("Young Adult") -- contend on the comedy/musical side against Jodie Foster ("Carnage"), Kristen Wiig ("Bridesmaids") and Kate Winslet ("Carnage"). 

Oscar frontrunner Jean Dujardin ("The Artist") is up for Best Comedy/Musical Actor against Ryan Gosling, who reaped a second bid for "Crazy Stupid Love," as well as Brendan Gleeson ("The Guard"), Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("50/50") and Owen Wilson ("Midnight in Paris"), 

The catch-all Supporting Actor race includes three Oscar frontrunners -- Kenneth Branagh ("My Week With Marilyn"), Albert Brooks ("Drive") and Christopher Plummer ("Beginners") -- as well as the surging Jonah Hill ("Moneyball") and Viggo Mortensen ("A Dangerous Method").

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And the Supporting Actress category also has the three Oscar frontrunners -- Berenice Bojo ("the Artist"), Octavia Spencer ("The Help") and Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants") -- as well as the prolific Jessica Chastain ("The Help") and Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"). Biggest snubs: Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids"), Vanessa Redgrave ("Coriolanus"). 

Unlike the Oscars, there is only one Screenplay award so Adapted frontrunners "The Descendants" and "Moneyball" compete against Original frontrunners "The Artist" and "Midnight in Paris" as well as "The Ides of March." Biggest snubs: Original - "Bridesmaids"; Adapted - "The Help," "Hugo." 

The HFPA has about 85 members drawn from media who cover Hollywood for international outlets. Five-time Globe nominees Morgan Freeman is to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. He won the Best Comedy/Music Actor award for "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1989. Ricky Gervais returns to host the live NBC kudocast on Jan. 16.

The only time in the last seven years that one of the Globes Best Picture champs went on to take the top Oscar was "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2008. Prior to that, the Globes had an eight-year winning streak.

Last year, all of the five Best Drama Picture nominees went on to compete at the Oscar as did Best Comedy/Musical winner "The Kids Are All Right." While "The Social Network" won with the Globes, it was "The King's Speech" that prevailed at the Oscars. 

Two years ago, the five Best Drama Picture nominees went on to compete at the Oscar but none of the Best Comedy/Musical contenders did. While "Up in the Air" led with the most Globe bids, "Avatar" won the Best Drama Picture prize. However, it was pipped at the post by "The Hurt Locker" at the Oscars.

Adele and Michael Buble gave record sales a much needed boost in 2011: "... album sales for 2010 were down 13 percent from 2009. And prior to that they'd been down an average of 8 percent every year through the 2000s, suggesting an incredible shrinking music business. This year reversed the trend, but there is a cloud buried in the silver lining: the success stories of 2011 will not be easy to replicate. The year’s two biggest albums were Adele’s '21' and Michael Buble’s 'Christmas' -- and even the most copycat-prone execs aren’t foolish enough to start looking for pleasingly plump Englishwomen or Sinatra-bred carolers to sign." THE WRAP

More films than ever had limited qualifying runs in 2011 in advance of 2012 releases: "What's unusual this Oscar season is the number of small distribs using the technique, and their fervor as they try to gain the attention of critics, awards and audiences in the heat of December -- without the struggle to keep the pics in theaters. 'For independents, it's a way to release a film without duking it out with a big group of films spending heavily (to attract the) same audience in December and January,' says Roadside Attractions co-prexy Howard Cohen." VARIETY

Memo to the Academy -- surprise us: "Oscar watchers LOVE a quality surprise even more than they love correctly predicting your decisions. Mike Leigh for 'Vera Drake'? 'City of God' for Best Direction? Laura Linney for 'The Savages'? These were moments to cherish. So if you're dying to nominate Asghar Farhadi ('A Separation') for Best Director or join #TeamMargaret in Original Screenplay or vote for Kirsten Dunst ('Melancholia') for Best Actress or 'Potiche' for best costumes or whatever... go for it!" THE FILM EXPERIENCE

Rolling Stone polls readers for the best new act of 2011: "2011 has been a great year for new artists, with acts such as Lana Del Rey, Foster the People, Frank Ocean, Sleeper Agent, Yuck, Tyler the Creator, Wild Flag, Cage the Elephant, the Joy Formidable, Danny Brown and the Weeknd all making their first big splash in pop culture. Our question for you this week is: Who is your favorite new artist of 2011?" ROLLING STONE

Oscar-winners "Silence of the Lambs" and "Forrest Gump" among National Film Registry selections: "The National Film Registry is a list of 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films,' chosen by a board at the Library of Congress. The list currently comprises 575 items from American film history – including short films, footage, TV and sound recordings – now protected in the world's largest archive of its type. 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Forest Gump' are two of the most recently made films on the list, apart from 'Toy Story' (1995) and 'Fargo' (1996), which were listed in 2005 and 2006 respectively." TELEGRAPH

Director Abel Ferrara ("Bad Lieutenant") preps film based on DSK scandal: "Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval has confirmed that Abel Ferrara and screenwriter Christ Zois are working on a feature script partly inspired by this summer’s sex scandal surrounding former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Gérard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani have been rumored circling characters based on the scandal-plagued former IMF chief and his wife Anne Sinclair and have met with the director, but Maraval says the project is still a long way from active development." DEADLINE

"Who is Yun Jeong-hie?" That was the question being asked on Dec. 11, when the 67-year-old Korean won Best Actress from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. for her performance in "Poetry." Awards-watchers had expected Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady"), Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn") or Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin") to prevail.

Jeong-hie's win is less surprising when you consider that "Poetry" won Best Screenplay at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, earned a score of 89 on MetaCritic, and has been certified as 100% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes.

How many of this year's top Oscar contenders have 100% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes? If you guessed none of them, you're right.

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Alas, "Poetry" isn't on the list of 2011 films eligible at the Oscars. Even if it were, convincing Academy members to watch it would be difficult as it not on their radar. Voters inevitably prioritize those films they consider to be the most significant, including those with well-known actors or directors, festival favorites given late-fall theatrical releases and heavy promotional pushes, and major prize-winners during the year-end awards blitz. 

As the industry professionals who make up the Academy can't be expected to see everything, the most important factor for any film is visibility not quality. That's where critics come in. Their position is unique in that they see most eligible films as a matter of course, both the high-profile titles Academy members are likely to watch anyway and the kinds of smaller, more obscure films that prompt questions like, "Who is Yun Jeong-hie?"

Such films are often among the least-seen but best-reviewed of any given year, so why do so few of them make an impact among critics' groups? This year, the New York Film Critics Circle was so determined to be first that members didn't even see one major film -- "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" -- before announcing the winners on Nov. 29. They recognized only films and performances with major studio campaigns, lending a helping hand to contenders that don't need it ("The Artist," Streep, and Brad Pitt, among others). That is disappointing not because the recipients are undeserving, but because they reflect a narrow perspective of the year in film, suggesting that the only movies that merit consideration are those that have already been discussed.

While the NYFCC cites only those films that are already part of the Oscar conversation, LAFCA has shown a renegade streak in recent years. Yun was their third consecutive foreign-language winner for Best Actress, following Yolande Moreau ("Seraphine") in 2009 and Kim Hye-ja ("Mother") last year. They also cited Vera Farmiga ifor the obscure "Down to the Bone" in 2005. In the supporting races, they've honored Luminiţa Gheorghiu ("The Death of Mr. Lazarescu," 2006), Vlad Ivanov ("4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," 2009) and Niels Arestrup (2010, "A Prophet"). None of these performers ever stood a chance at the Oscars. But critics shouldn't concern themselves with trying to predict Academy tastes; we've got the Golden Globes for that.

While the LA critics went out on a limb for Yun, the Boston Society of Film Critics made a case for "Margaret," the little-seen film by two-time Oscar-nominee Kenneth Lonergan ("You Can Count on Me"). Plagued by lawsuits, the film's release was delayed for six years before debuting this fall in fourteen theaters nationwide and grossing all of $46,000. The Beantown critics -- who named the film as a runner-up in many categories, including Best Picture -- urged Fox Searchlight to send screeners of the film to Oscar voters. Soon thereafter, it reopened in New York City and DVDs were mailed to Academy members. However, the film remains an Oscar longshot at best.

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The National Society of Film Critics -- whose membership includes Roger Ebert, Andrew Sarris, Time's Richard Corliss, and the Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy -- has been bold in its choices. Its recent Best Picture winners include "Yi Yi" (2000), "American Splendor" (2003), and "Waltz with Bashir" (2008). Like LAFCA, it has selected foreign performances for Best Actress for the last two years: Moreau in 2009 and Gionvanna Mezzogiorno ("Vincere") in 2010. Recent supporting champs include Eddie Marsan (2008, "Happy-Go-Lucky"),  Hanna Schygulla (2008, "The Edge of Heaven"), Paul Schneider (2009, "Bright Star"),and Olivia Williams (2010, "The Ghost Writer").

However, all the other critics' groups stick to the same script. This year, "The Artist," "The Descendants," and "The Tree of Life" have divided the lion's share of Best Picture accolades, even though lesser known titles like "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," "13 Assassins," "The Interrupters," and "Meek's Cutoff" were as well-reviewed by these critics. 

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The official poster for this year's 84th annual Academy Awards features the Oscar statuette, the tagline "Celebrate the movies in all of us," and images from eight films spanning eight decades: "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Casablanca" (1943), "Giant" (1956), "The Sound of Music" (1965), "The Godfather" (1972), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), "Forrest Gump" (1994) and "Gladiator" (2000).

All were Best Picture champs but for "Giant" which lost the top award to "Around the World in 80 Days" but won for directing (George Stevens). 

The poster was created by Anthony Goldschmidt, and Mark and Karen Crawford of the design firm Blood&Chocolate. By opting to have "Giant" represent the Fifties, they also snubbed Best Picture winners "All About Eve" (1950); "An American in Paris" (1951); "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952); "From Here to Eternity" (1953); "On the Waterfront" (1954); "Marty" (1955); "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957); "Gigi" (1958); and "Ben-Hur" (1959). 

The press release touting the poster says, "the design is meant to evoke the emotional connections we all have with the movies." Adds Academy president Tom Sherak: "Whether it's a first date or a holiday gathering with friends or family, movies are a big part of our memory. The Academy Awards not only honor the excellence of these movies, but also celebrate what they mean to us as a culture and to each of us individually."

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The image can be downloaded here. Posters will start popping up soon at movie theaters and a theatrical trailer debuts Jan. 6. Nominations are announced on Jan. 24 and the awards are handed out on Feb. 26. 

Documentary "Pina" aims for rare Oscar double play: "'Pina' wound up in this year's Oscar race in the documentary category – where the film, which makes rich use of 3D, appeared to be crippled by the fact that doc branch voters screen submissions on 2D screener DVDs. And yet it made the 15-film shortlist. It also became a rare documentary entry in the Oscar Foreign-Language Film category, where voters often seem prejudiced against films that aren’t conventional narratives. And sure enough, I heard reports that its official screening for the general committee met with walkouts, and grumbling over the fact that it was 'double-dipping' in the foreign and doc categories." THE WRAP

"The Tree of Life" and "Drive" lead the Online Film Critics Society nominations. ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

Spoiler alert: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" screenwriter discusses his changes to the story: "Fans of Stieg Larsson’s original novel may have noticed that David Fincher’s adaptation of 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' made a few changes to the story, although more in terms of what was left out than what was stuck in. That’s because any adaptation of a book of this length is going to need a bit of streamlining unless you want to opt for the recent trend of Hollywood mitosis that’s splitting everything up into an infinite series of Part 1s and Part 2s." EW.COM

Mixed reviews will hurt "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" in the Oscar race: "The polarizing drama has split critics down the middle, literally: It's got a Rotten Tomatoes score hovering around 50%. That's not encouraging news for Oscar." VULTURE

"Extremely Loud" and "We Bought a Zoo" struggle to sell sentimentality in an era of snark: "They are too sentimental overall.  The Cameron Crowe film is especially so. And where fanboys and onliners will give Spielberg a pass for the same amount of schmaltz, they won’t extend the same courtesy to Crowe – perhaps that’s because he doesn’t film the epic war scenes that Spielberg did. Spielberg, though, is as popular online as the Muppets and unicorns." AWARDS DAILY

The Motion Picture Academy is in good financial health: "As glossy as the image the industry it represents prefers to project, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is the picture of financial health, according to its recently released annual report. The Oscars remain the Academy’s biggest single source of income with $85.5 million for fiscal year 2011 versus $82.7 million for 2010, roughly a 3.4% increase. Expenses related to the Academy Awards amounted to $35.6 million for 2011 leaving Oscars net revenue of about $49.9 million." DEADLINE

Nomination ballots for the 84th annual Academy Awards were mailed Wednesday to the 5,783 voting members of the academy (that is 28 more than last year). The various ballots cover 15 of the 24 competitive categories; the others require attendance at screenings and/or presentations. 

All Academy members can pick up to five films for Best Picture and also nominate those races covered by their respective branches. The Best Picture nominees will be determined by a new system of tabulation. Nominees in the other races will be arrived at via the traditional system of preferential ballot that winnows down the pool to a final five. 

While the Oscars celebrate the achievements of individuals, only the acting branch is required to specify the names and films of the performers that merit nominations. They must also designate whether they consider the performance to be lead or supporting. Otherwise, members simply fill in the names of the films and the eventual nominees will be matched up with those titles.  

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Voters have until 5 p.m. (PST) on Friday, Jan. 13 to return them to PricewaterhouseCoopers, that well-known "independent accounting firm," which will tally the ballots.

Nominations in all 24 races will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 5:30 a.m. (PST) at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in the Academy's Beverly Hills headquarters. 

Final ballots will be mailed on Wednesday, Feb. 1 and the winners of all two dozen competitive awards will be revealed during the Oscars telecast on Sunday, Feb. 26.

Before predicting who will prevail at the 17th annual Critics' Choice Awards on Jan. 12, be sure to read our overviews and handicapping for all 12 races. And check out the charts that show the odds and rankings for each nominee. Then head over to our prediction center to log your forecasts for the eventual winners. (Signing up for a free account takes just a minute.) 

"The Artist" and "Hugo" lead with 11 bids each for these kudos bestowed by the Broadcast Film Critics' Assn. "The Artist," which won Best Picture from the New York Film Critics Circle last month, and "Hugo," which was similarly feted by the National Board of Review, are both in contention for Best Picture here as is "The Descendants," which won over the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and got seven nods from the BFCA. 

The Best Picture race also includes "Drive" and "The Help," which both reaped eight BFCA bids, as well as "War Horse" (7), "The Tree of Life" (5), "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (4), "Midnight in Paris" (3) and "Moneyball" (3)

Over the 16 years of these kudos, they have proven to be the most accurate precursor prizes to the Oscars. The BFCA has predicted nine of the past 15 Best Picture Oscar winners, 11 Best Actor, 10 Best Actress, nine Supporting Actress and eight Supporting Actor Oscar winners. They went four for four both last year and in 2009 although at the Critics' Choice Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") did tie with Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia").  

The BFCA is the largest film critics' organization in North America with 250 members who will determine the winners revealed on the VH1 kudocast.