If you had told me a month ago that my Oscar predictions would look anything like this, I probably would have advised you to go do a little more research. “Argo” poised for the Best Picture win sans a Best Director nod? Unthinkable. Emmanuelle Riva and Naomi Watts as viable Best Actress contenders against youthful powerhouses like Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain? You’re pulling my leg.

Where everyone else spent most of last January debating which team would be victorious at Super Bowl XLVII, I was busy trying to predict which movies would win big at the 85th annual Academy Awards. In many respects, the Oscars feel like a sporting event as nominees tirelessly campaign to win and award analyzers place bets on which horse will cross the finish line.

“A Good Day to Die Hard” marks the fifth entry to the “Die Hard” franchise and the third film to come out in the last two months about an ass kicking senior citizen. The original “Die Hard” is a definitive action picture that can still make audiences cheer even after multiple viewings. Whether you love or hate “Die Hard 2” and “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” pretty much everyone can agree that John McClane made a welcome return in the sensational “Live Free or Die Hard” a few years ago. The previous “Die Hard” got just about everything right from the absurdly insane stunts, to the humorous dialog, to Bruce Willis’ committed performance. “A Good Day to Die Hard” has just enough fun moments for die-hard fans to take a gander. Regrettably, it remains the least impressive outing of this series.

Now that his reign as The Governator is officially over, Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to shoot bad guys, sell one-liners, and butcher the English language again.

The Oscar season is customarily kicked off by the Academy President and a random star solemnly announcing the nominees in a drab ceremony. The Academy decided to shake up tradition this year however, in one of the most cheerful Oscar mornings we’ve ever had.

If you’re anything like me, you were up at 6 a.m. this morning hitting refresh on your browser, waiting for the Oscar nominations’ webcast to finally get started.

Complete list of 85th Annual Academy Award nominations announced today:

In the eight years I’ve taken on the regular duty of reviewing movies, 2012 just might have been the best.

There’s always that one person — whether an ignorant friend or snarky online commenter — who bemoans what a weak year it’s been for film. To those naysayers I reply, “Well, you just haven’t seen enough movies.”

New York  --  Well aware that the television audience may be particularly sensitive, the Showtime network aired a disclaimer warning audiences of violent content in the season finales of its dramas “Homeland” and “Dexter” last weekend. It was two days after a gunman killed 26 people in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

LOS ANGELES — Roger Deakins is the rare person I was actually nervous to interview because I'm such a huge fan of his work. When I talked to the veteran cinematographer in early 2008, after he'd received Academy Award nominations for both "No Country for Old Men" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," I found him to be lovely and humble, with a dry and self-effacing British wit — which naturally made me admire him even more.

New York • Nothing is so much of a boys’ club as a James Bond movie. That is, except when Judi Dench is on screen.

In the wake of financial woes and production delays, fans were undoubtedly concerned for the future of the 007 franchise. As “Skyfall” reminds us, though, there’s no keeping down the world’s most debonair spy for very long, and James comes roaring back in what is by far one of the best Bond films in years.

To borrow a line from Depeche Mode, death is everywhere in "Skyfall." James Bond's mortality has never been in such prominent focus, but the demise of the entire British spy game as we know it seems imminent, as well.

NEW YORK — If you just looked at the cast and crew of "Skyfall," you could easily confuse the assembled talent for a prestige costume drama. Director Sam Mendes, actors Judi Dench, Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, and cinematographer Roger Deakins might just as easily be mounting a Shakespeare adaptation.

Connery? Dalton? Brosnan? Moore? Craig? Who's next?

The B-list rules Hollywood’s fall and holiday movie season: Bond, Bella and Bilbo.