MM’s look at Hollywood’s big night continues in the final part of our Oscar predictions.

Best Actress

All eyes are on Meryl Streep and her 17^th Oscar nomination in a mixed bag this year. Rooney Mara’s inclusion is absurd considering past winners include the great Helen Mirren and mesmerising Katharine Hepburn. 

Likely Winner: Meryl Streep. America’s all a flutter with period Britain at the moment as they marvel at Downton Abbey and many fancy Streep to pick up her third award in this category following her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Deserved Winner: Viola Davis. Davis is just as likely and probably more worthy than Streep for the win. Octavia Spencer provides the emotional pull in The Help but Davis anchors the production and The Academy likes an upset every now and again.

Best Actor

None of this year’s crop has bagged this golden statue before but all of them will hope to emulate such greats as Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando by grabbing the headlines come Monday morning. 

Demian Bechir’s curveball inclusion is nothing but nonsense but the other four nominees are all worthy contenders.

Likely Winner: Jean Dujardin. It’s hard not to get caught up in the whirlwind that is The Artist and it’s doubtful that The Academy are any different. George Clooney will push Dujardin close but it’s looking increasingly as though Clooney will miss out for the third time in five years.

Deserved Winner: Gary Oldman. Oldman is a force to behold in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as the mild-mannered yet witty Smiley. Brad Pitt deserves a mention for his role in Moneyball but it looks ironically as though the gong will go to a film rather than a deserving actor.

Best Picture

The daddy of the Oscars. The one that will be splashed across every front page across the globe. The Academy have nominated nine films this year but it’ss arguably one of the worst crops of nominations to ever have been named.

Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is nothing but a cash cow while Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close is only extremely poor and incredibly lame. True classics have been famously snubbed in the past a la Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction but nobody can see beyond a certain silent movie this year.

Likely Winner: The Artist. A shoe-in. Done and dusted. The love letter to silent cinema has already scooped up bags of awards and no one can truly see an upset here. Rumours of The Descendants sneaking in for the win have done the rounds but they’re just that, rumours.

Deserved Winner: The Help pulled in the money in the US and it’s a brilliant story that tackles issues that have always been prominent across the Atlantic. You could have no complaints if its crew and cast ended up on stage with Billy Crystal at the end of the night but The Artist is most deserving as well as most likely. It really is something to behold.

Scandalous Omissions

There’s always talk about those films and performances that have missed out on nominations and we all bemoan the elderly statesmen who make up The Academy for their traditionalist stance on cinema and Hollywood – it’s no different this year.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is one of the most emotionally charged and powerful tales ever told on the big screen and critics clamoured all over it when it won the Palme D’or at Cannes.

Charlize Theron in Young Adult deserves a nod while Diablo Cody, who gave us Juno didn’t even pick up a writing nomination.

Ground-breaking documentary Senna is outrageously omitted from the Best Documentary category while Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures Of Tin Tin has missed out on a Best Animated Film nomination.

Most baffling is The Academy’s decision to overlook Drive completely. Nicholas Winding Refn will become one of the world’s greatest directors. Ryan Gosling is far better than his performance in Half Nelson which secured him a Best Actor nomination in 2006. The soundtrack is superb yet snubbed while Albert Brooks is as deserving of a Best Supporting Actor nomination as Kenneth Branagh or Nick Nolte.

Regardless of these ridiculous snubs, Sunday night will be as glamorous, charming, enchanting and exciting as it always is. This night one not to be missed for any degree of film fanatic so make sure to tune in to Sky Movies Premiere at 1.30am for all the action from host Billy Crystal and co.

Disagree with our nominations? Let us know and leave a comment with your worthy winners below.