Call it Oscars Armageddon -- our final, fiercest battle of derby season. HuffPost editors Michael Hogan and Chris Rosen and I have clashed over predictions often during the previous months, but no one is vanquished -- yet.

In the video below, as hard as I blast away at poor...

Two leading Oscar pundits -- Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood) and Steve Pond (The Wrap) -- just added new drama to the Best Actress race: they ditched Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) for Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), who recently pulled off an upset at the BAFTA Awards.

Lawrence still retains a sizeable...

Years ago Variety editor Peter Bart shared with me a fascinating Oscar insight. In order to win Best Picture, he said, a movie must conjure up a person who Academy members are rooting for. In other words, the film with the best face behind the title wins. Thus The Departed...

Nothing in Hollywood goes according to script, especially at the Oscars. In past years, for example, just when most of the award pundits made up their minds that Viola Davis (The Help) and Julie Christie (Away from Her) would win Best Actress of 2011 and 2007, Meryl Streep (The Iron...

Good thing HuffPo film editor Chris Rosen has a jolly sense of humor. Soon after entertainment editor Michael Hogan and I raise him up as a model of Oscar punditry for picking Argo early on to win Best Picture, we tear him down in this webcam chat for

Lincoln leads the Oscars' Best Picture race with 4-to-1 odds, according to Gold Derby's poll of 24 experts, but beware: dark horse Argo is pulling up fast.

Thirteen Oscarologists are backing Lincoln, compared to 10 for Argo and one for Silver Linings Playbook. (See the pundits'...

What a difference a few days makes. On Dec. 12, Les Miserables had a cozy lead in Oscar's Best Picture race, according to a poll of experts conducted by Gold Derby. Just two days later, Lincoln -- propelled by strong showings at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards...

HuffPo entertainment editors Michael Hogan, Christopher Rosen and I strongly disagree over what movie is ahead to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Hogan opts for Lincoln, Rosen says Argo and I think it's Les Miserables.

In our video chat, Hogan defends his pick: " I think Lincoln is an...

Now that Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty have finally been seen by Oscar pundits, Les Miserables has resumed its lead in the Best Picture race by a comfortable margin (9 to 2 odds). Eleven experts out of the 26 polled by Gold Derby now predict it will...

Which pony is really ahead in the Oscar Best Picture race? Silver Linings Playbook took the lead in early September at the Toronto Film Festival, but now Argo is out front, according to the Oscarologists polled by Gold Derby. Meantime, many formidable dark horses loom still unseen, including...

There's a really creepy scene, Oscar-wise, in Hitchcock. Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock lies on a therapist's couch and, instead of confessing his perverted obsession with blondes or secret life as a peeping Tom, fumes over what's really bothering him: his failure to win awards in Hollywood.

It's clear that...

Five weeks ago, most Oscar experts polled by Gold Derby believed Silver Linings Playbook was out front to win Best Picture, followed by Lincoln in second place. Since then, the forecasts have changed radically with Argo zooming to the front of the pack and Les Miserables (11 to 2) in...

Sony Pictures has confirmed that Jessica Chastain will be campaigned in Oscar's lead actress race for Zero Dark Thirty, not supporting as previously presumed widely across the blogosphere. She portrays a CIA staffer who picks up on Osama bin Laden's trail and advises the U.S. Navy SEAL Team on their...

Miserable no more! Les Miserables just pulled ahead of Silver Linings Playbook in the Best Picture race based upon the predictions of top experts polled by Gold Derby.

Back on Sept. 26, eight pundits out of 23 picked Silver Linings Playbook to prevail, giving it 5-to-1 odds. Place...

Move over, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan and Ingrid Bergman. Daniel Day-Lewis is about to join you in the pantheon of Oscar's second-biggest winners.

After previous Academy Award victories for My Left Foot (1989) and There Will Be Blood (2007), Day-Lewis is now a shoo-in to win for Lincoln....

Silver Lining Playbook currently leads the Oscar predictions for Best Picture at Gold Derby, reaping 11-to-2 odds, but -- beware -- it's got a big problem.

The quirky romance starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper doesn't have a key component that's usually essential to victory: support "below...

Director/writer Ben Lewin may be surprised to discover that his heartwarming new film The Sessions is being submitted by Fox Searchlight as a drama at the Golden Globes.

After The Sessions unspooled at the Toronto film festival last month, Lewin took to the stage with his cast for a...

The Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln are the ponies most Oscarologists are betting on to win the Academy Awards' race for Best Picture, according to a poll conducted by Gold Derby.

Slightly out front is Silver Linings Playbook, director David O. Russell's comedy about a former teacher...

There will be a startling upset in the race for Best Drama Series at the Emmys this Sunday (ABC, 8-11 p.m. ET), according to the experts polled by Gold Derby. Breaking Bad will break loose and overtake the category's longtime champ.

Up until last week, Mad Men was...

Most people are sick and tired of Jon Stewart's The Daily Show romping through the Emmys, according to a recent GoldDerby.com poll. The Daily Show has won Best Variety Series for the past nine years in a row and many predict that it will prevail again on Sept....