Every year there’s one Oscar category that boasts such an evident winner all season that it becomes almost morose to even speak about the subject. This year, comedienne Mo’Nique and her riveting turn as Mary Jones in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire joins the ranks of Heath Ledger’s Joker, Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth and Charlize Theron’s Aileen Wuornos as an undeniable awards juggernaut.

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Yesterday’s story of Penelope Cruz joining Lars von Trier’s Melancholia proved to be false, but here is another casting announcement with the actress. THR’s Heat Vision Blog is reporting (and since has taken down) that Penelope Cruz (Nine, Broken Embraces) will be joining Johnny Depp in the Rob Marshall-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The film’s story “revolves around the Fountain of Youth.” Read the full story

UPDATE: The Playlist reports that these rumors were only “half-truths”. Cruz is not confirmed to star in the film.

Penelope Cruz, you better cover your private parts. The Playlist uncovered some European news that the Nine and Broken Embraces star will lead Lars Von Trier’s psychological disaster film, Melancholia. He told Danish television that he “always had Cruz in mind and that she will in fact lead his film.” The $5 million dollar budget film is in reference to “Planet Melancholia, an enormous planet that evidently looms threateningly close to Earth.” Last October we reported Von Trier saying the film will “have no more happy endings.” I can’t imagine something more twisted and bleak than Antichrist, but if anyone can prove me wrong, it’s Von Trier. Good luck Cruz.

Melancholia will shoot in Sweden and Germany later this year and premiere at Cannes 2011.

Did you admire Antichrist? What do you think about Cruz as the lead?

I love sharing Annie Leibovitz’s photography work in Vanity Fair. We featured a similar showcase last year, now she is back with this year’s Oscar contenders. These include Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz to James Cameron and his Avatar creations. Check out some examples below, as well as a video highlighting the shoot. Read the full story

The Weinstein Company | USA/Italy | 118 min

A great musical always leaves one leaving the theater in joy constantly humming or even singing. More importantly, a great musical’s songs actually add to the story and the characters. There’s very few musical films that have accomplished that. Does Nine? No. This is a film that purely gets by due to its style and a handful of memorable performances. This is a forgettable and yet mildly passable piece of Oscar bait. Read the full story

The third trailer for Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) Nine has premiered on Apple in HD. The film is a musical adaptation inspired by Fellini’s famous film and the original play. Check out the trailer with the all star cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson and Sophia Lauren below. Read the full story

It looks as though we will be seeing a lot of Nine promotion on ABC. The Weinstein Company, still struggling to stay above financial waters it seems, has signed a pact with Disney/ABC Unlimited to pepper the high-profile Rob Marshall musical all over ABC television, whether it’s applying the song “Be Italian” (from the “Nine” musical) into Dancing With The Stars (matching dress ensembles included) or name-dropped in day-time soaps.

Disney will also offer a road block-style trailer on ABC and the majority of ABC/Disney own cable channels on November 22nd. ABC.com is even devoting a microsite to the film on the master Web site, “streaming of the movie trailer and a half-hour “Making of ‘Nine’” special.” [Variety]

This harks back to the way TWC handled the release of Inglourious Basterds, splitting the work with Universal, forfeiting most of the international take to the big studio.

While it’s a smart, “hedge you bets” kind of move that worked in the case of the $300 million grossing Basterds, it’s still a bet that may not pay off. But TWC and Disney are covering all media bases, from TV to Internet. “The audience is not just watching TV,” he said. “There’s a fragmentation. They’re also online, they’re accessing shows on Blackberrys. This allows us to say, this is the depth of programming we want to access. We want to go after audiences on several fronts,” said Francois Martin, senior vice president of marketing at the Weinstein Co. [Variety].

The trailer for Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) Nine has premiered on Apple in HD and brings us the picture of the century (see above). The film is a musical adaptation inspired by Fellini’s famous film. Check out the trailer with the all star cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson and Sophia Lauren after the jump along with 38 screen captures.

Check out the trailer and screencaps >>

Last Sunday Slumdog Millionaire swept the Academy Awards concluding the culmination of 2008 cinema. 2009 film is now upon us. It’s been a bit of a mix with the horrendous Paul Blart: Mall Cop kicking off the year, but so far, it’s left us with a couple gems (Taken and Coraline 3-D). It’s not too early to take a look at the films that we will be seeing in next year’s Academy Awards. If you are looking for a more mainstream/blockbuster films, check out my 50 Must-See Movies of 2009. If you want a list of higher caliber films, here are my predictions for the major 2010 Oscars categories:

Best Picture/Director

I’ve decided to lump these two categories together since it’s too early to separate them out. Here are 10 films that I can see being in the running with some other contenders after:

Martin Scorsese – Shutter Island (a.k.a. Ashecliffe

Plot: Drama is set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island. Leo DiCaprio leads an all-star cast, including Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Max von Sydow

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Last night Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire cleaned up (as predicted) with 8 Oscars. I gathered as many acceptance videos I could find. Check them out below, kicking off with one of the best Oscar introductions to date and ending withe Judd Apatow’s hilarious comedy montage.

Hugh Jackman Opening Performance

Best Picture

Slumdog Millionaire, Christian Colson (producer)

Best Actor

Check out the rest of the winners and acceptance speeches >>