It is the time of year when stars shine bright and the paparazzi line up at Hollywood's Kodak Theater while moviegoers sit in front of the small screen (TV), equally anticipating whose name will be read from the envelope and receive the golden statue at this year's 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.

Jon Stewart will host Hollywood's biggest award event, which is broadcasting live at 8 p.m. Feb 24. on ABC. There may be less glitz and glam due to the writers' strike, but the show must go on. If the strike is resolved, though, the red carpet may be as crowded as ever.

As the votes of the Academy members are being tallied, it is a year of many predictable nominees, but, as always, there will surely be some surprises. The Academy, which consists of over 6,500 individuals from every field of entertainment, will decide the nominees' fates on award night.

2007 has been a fantastic year for cinema, which is evident in the strong list of nominees. But for those who still are baffled about who will win, here is a guide to nominees that will help in one of the most competitive years in recent memory.

Best Picture
"Atonement," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood"
The Best Picture category is one of the most coveted, and most of these films have a decent shot at having its name read on award night.

The frontrunner in this category is "No Country for Old Men," a story of a Texan who stumbles upon drugs and money with a killer in pursuit. In pursuit of "Men" is "There Will Be Blood," which could be a possible upset. The dark horse in this race is audience favorite "Juno," which tells the story of a pregnant teenager. The older members of the Academy, though, are less likely to embrace it.

Will win: "No Country for Old Men"
Should win: "No Country for Old Men"

Best Actor
George Clooney ("Michael Clayton"), Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood"), Johnny Depp ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"), Tommy Lee Jones ("In the Valley of Elah") and Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises")

As a mad oil tycoon in "There Will Be Blood," Day-Lewis is so phenomenal, Clooney recently said that he has given up hopes of winning. While the win shouldn't be surprising, the nominations for this category certainly were.

Viggo Mortensen shocked audiences in a nude fighting scene as a ruthless London gangster, as Jones moved us as a patriotic father searching for his son who disappeared after returning from Iraq.

If there's any competition, it's going to come from Clooney as a smart attorney or from Depp as a murderous singing barber, but don't expect any upsets here.

Will win: Daniel Day-Lewis
Should win: Daniel Day-Lewis


Best Actress
Cate Blanchett ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age"), Julie Christie ("Away from Her"), Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), Laura Linney ("The Savages") and Ellen Page ("Juno")

Best Actress is a three-way race that's sure to surprise. Christie brilliantly plays an Alzheimer patient, while Page seems to instinctively act the role as a smart-aleck pregnant teenager. Cotillard plays a memorable role as the late French singer Edith Piaf in a musical biography. All with an equal shot at winning, judging by precursor awards, Christie seems to have an edge over Page and Cotillard.

Will win: Julie Christie
Should win: Ellen Page

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck ("The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"), Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men), Phillip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War"), Hal Holbrook ("Into the Wild") and Tom Wilkinson ("Michael Clayton")

If you thought I sounded sure that Day-Lewis will win Best Actor, then consider me 100 percent for Javier Bardem winning here. Playing the violent villain in "No Country," Bardem, who acted so naturally, gives us a character that should be remembered for some time.

Will win: Javier Bardem
Should win: Javier Bardem

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett ("I'm Not There"), Ruby Dee ("American Gangster"), Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement"), Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone") and Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton")

Two actresses have a 50/50 shot at winning the statue here. One contender is Blanchett for playing, of all things, Bob Dylan, in the quirky biopic. The other is Broadway's Amy Ryan as a trash-talking Bostonian, grieving after the disappearance of her young daughter.

In a category that is more kind to newcomers, Ryan has won key precursors and has a more conventional role. However, Blanchett is an Oscar favorite, being nominated in two categories.

Blanchett has a slight edge as a seasoned actress, though Ryan could swoop in for the prize.

Nominated in a blink-it-or-you-miss-it role, Dee could spoil the night, as she won in a big upset at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in a film that was once to be a frontrunner.

Will win: Cate Blanchett
Should win: Amy Ryan

In other top categories, brothers Ethan and Joel Coen should grab Best Director for "No Country for Old Men."

Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" can fly in for the win in a visually fantastic film.

While "Juno" may not win in its other three categories, at least it should find an award as the Best Original Screenplay: Former dancer and first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody deserves the win for her witty and smart dialogue.

The Best Adapted Screenplay category has a far less clearer picture of who the winner could be. Once a front runner, being left behind in other major categories, "Atonement" could find itself winning this nomination for the screenplay by Christopher Hampton, but the Coen Brothers can sneak in with "Old Men."

For every nominee there is always one that didn't make the cut. The biggest snubs went to "Talk to Me," "Zodiac," "The Simpsons Movie," "Crazy Love," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "A Mighty Heart" and "Waitress." These films didn't receive a single nomination.

Cate Blanchett stole the spot in the Best Actress category that belonged to Angelina Jolie for her amazing portrayal as Marianne Pearl, the wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl in "A Mighty Heart."

Ryan Gosling should have received his second Oscar nomination for the comedy "Lars and the Real Girl," starring as a delusional that falls in love with a mannequin.

In the supporting categories, "Juno" should have dominated with Award-worthy performances by Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, and Allison Janney.

David Fincher was robbed a spot as Best Director for the true-crime mystery "Zodiac" as well as a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. Pie-comedy "Waitress" should have cooked up a nomination for Best Original Screenplay in a film written, directed, and acted by the late Adrienne Shelley.

The last and maybe biggest snubs come from smaller categories. "Crazy Love," an interesting and wild love story, should have received a nomination for Best Documentary. In the animated category, "The Simpsons Movie" got replaced by the mediocre-at-best "Surf's Up."

In a year of fantastic achievements in film, we'll have to wait another 10 days to find out who will go home with a golden statues in hand.

"Bee Movie" is 'Bee'-Rated

**1/2 out of ****

Among talking ants, fighting insects, dancing penguins, partying cows, zoo animals running amok in the wild and cooking rats, a new member of the critter kingdom gets a chance to be animated. This time it's a bee.

"Bee Movie" is Dreamworks' latest animated film and one of the most "buzzed" about for the past few months. Though the animation isn't as detailed as "Shrek" or "Ratatouille," it is simple and glossy like "Meet the Robinsons," it does a good job making an insect with bad conduct cute enough to stick in a McDonald's Happy Meal.

"Bee Movie" starts off with Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld), an idealistic bee, who just graduated from his three days of school, a clever joke about the short life span of a bee. He and his conservative bee friend, Adam Flayman (Matthew Broderick), now must pick a job to do for the rest of their lives.

Barry decides to become a pollen jock, a bee that leaves the hive to collect nectar, spreading around pollen to give other plants life.

On Barry's first trip out of the hive into New York City, he encounters a few pratfalls. Getting separated from the group, Barry finds shelter in the home of florist Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellwegger). Vanessa's husband, Ken (Patrick Warburton, a frequent guest star on "Seinfeld"), tries to kill Barry, but Vanessa saves him.

Wanting to thank Vanessa, Barry deliberates whether or not to break bee law number one -- no talking to humans, or giving in to friendliness and curiosity. Affable Barry decides to befriend Vanessa. After the initial shock, Vanessa quickly warms up to Barry and the two become friends. When Barry and Vanessa hint at being more than friends, the movie flies off into act three, as if all this weren't enough.

On a supermarket trip with Vanessa, Barry learns that humans are collecting honey from the bees. Barry is repulsed and so is his hive when he tells them. This leads Barry to sue the human race.

Vanessa and his best friend Adam are his lawyers. But in court, one of the funniest parts in the film, Layton T. Montgomery (John Goodman), a Southern attorney for the honey companies, may be too much for the unlikely team to handle.

The film is created, produced, co-written and stars comedian Jerry Seinfeld in his first major role since "Seinfeld" ended in 1998. "Bee Movie" lacks that extra "sting" to make it rise above the recent animation fare. The extensive cast includes Oprah Winfrey as the judge at the trial, Kathy Bates and Barry Levinson playing Barry's bee parents, fellow "Seinfeld" alumnus Michael Richards, Rip Torn, Chris Rock as a mosquito, Megan Mullally, Larry King as a bee version of himself and Ray Liotta as the label of an evil honey-making company. Even the real Sting makes a cameo, being sued for the rights to his name.

Jerry Seinfeld is goofy, but personable and charismatic, as Barry. With a few jokes that fly over the heads of kids, "Bee" still is a kiddie-flick that can hold the younger crowd's attention, but lacks in keeping older kids entertained, unlike "Shrek."

With all the buzz, this is still a "bee"-rated movie.

'The Game Plan' Fumbles

* out of ****

"The Game Plan" is the newest Disney family comedy romp, though there aren't many X's and O's on the chalk board.

The Game Plan is about ace pro-NFL quarterback, Joe Kingman (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who plays for the fictional football team, The Boston Rebels. While Kingman is a national sensation, closing huge endorsement deals left and right, he is also an idiotic, self-absorbed playboy and portrays this behavior pretty much through the whole movie.
He never throws to his open receivers and runs the ball himself no matter how much it hurts the team, kind of like Terrell Owens.

While he throws huge parties in his lavish penthouse with his multiple girlfriends, he is also lonely. That is the cue to bring in Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis), Joe's 8-year-old daughter that he never knew existed. And her arrival happens at the worse time imaginable, of course, because Joe is about to lead his team to the football championship.

While there are certainly many question marks such as: Would a mother really leave her child on a man's doorstep that she hasn't seen since she got divorced from him? Isn't there a better suitor for the job? Is emergency humanitarian work in Africa an excuse to leave her child for a month without a phone number or means of contact?

However, this is Disney so don't expect much to be answered.

The rest of the film focuses on Joe learning that little girls don't like protein shakes or workout regiments but ballet and dolls. Peyton acts equally as dumb as Joe, turning a blender on with the lid off, and putting two bottles of bubble soap into a bath tub. These comedic scenes, though, don't leave the audience laughing.

When Peyton convinces Joe to take her to ballet school, he falls for her ballet teacher, Monique Vasquez (Roselyn Sanchez), where he gets the ballet-is-a-sport-too nuance and she gets a crash lesson in football.

If Disney's game plan for "The Game Plan" was to make it as cute as possible, they scored a TD, but not really anywhere else.

Director Andy Fickman ("She's the Man") provides a certain level of originality, though it seems hackneyed and contrived; trying to please all demographics.

Wrestler-turned-actor Johnson is a decent in dramas ("The Gridiron Gang") and comedies ("Be Cool"). You see him genuinely trying to be funny, but he is so over exaggerated, when he first sees Monique, you think his eyes and heart would actually pop out and start thumping.

Ultra-cute, tinkering on being fake, Madison Pettis, who you might recognize from the Disney Channel, is funny, but starts to annoy halfway through when she's in one too many scenes.

Kyra Sedgwick is wasted as Joe's ice cold agent, Stella Peck, being too cartoonish -- like Cruella De Vil -- to pose a threat.

Meanwhile the best actor could be Spike (Tubbs), Joe's bulldog who gives off some funny sight gags thanks to a tutu and nail polish.

The movie's biggest problem is you probably saw it all before with titles like "Kindergarten Cop," "Father Hood," "Mr. Nanny" and "The Pacifier."

"The Game Plan" is silly, fun and harmless if you are 10 and younger. However, it's not so cringe-worthy you can't sit through it, and you'll probably get a laugh or two. "The Game Plan" is a weak one, but it's not a complete shut-out.