..judging from his Guardian review of ‘Aliens Versus Predator: Resurrection’:

“But perhaps it is time to extend this face-off principle to other kinds of cinema. We could have an action-horror with Keira Knightley from Atonement battling Helena Bonham Carter from A Room With a View, the delicate porcelain of their English complexions flecked with spittle and blood as their jaws extend into slavering mandibles, from which lesser rows of teeth would extend as they rampaged around the Tuscan countryside fanatically trying to kill each other.”

Quite the image.

Last year, it was Martin Scorsese who ended his legendarily long wait for a best Director Oscar when he finally won for The Departed, at only the fifth time of asking. Spare a thought, though, for sound editor Kevin O’Connell, who has been nominated in his category no less than nineteen times, without ever winning. The Academy have this year seen fit to bestow upon him a twentieth nomination, for his work on Transformers. So whoever you are cheering on on the February 24th, please spare a cheer or two for Kevin, and hope he finally breaks his duck. Even if for a Michael Bay film.

Good on the Academy for recognising two of the best performances of last year with Oscar nominations: Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Saoirse Ronan in Atonement. The only disappointment for me would be that they are both demoted to ‘supporting’ nods, when really they are both the pivotal characters in the two films.

Still, at least Keira Knightley got overlooked, thank god.

Bags’ psychic predictions:

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Adapted Screenplay: Chistopher Hampton, for Atonement

Much of the buzz surrounding awards season seems to be about the new Coens film No Country For Old Men, which seems to have taken an age to hit these shores (it finally opens here on Friday). But for all of the critical acclaim, one factor seems to be getting more coverage than most: the strange creation atop Javier Bardem’s head. Bardem, always a striking presence on the big screen, seems to have cultivated a monstrosity something akin to what a grumpy teenager might grow in rebellion against the world (and his parents). This hirsute issue now seems to be raised in almost every interview the 38-year old actor gives about the film, leading me to wonder if the Oscars might in future consider presenting an award for best performance by a barnet. It certainly seems to deserve some sort of seperate accreditation.

What if this award were backdated and posthumously awarded for services to the hairdressing industry? Naturally Carrie Fisher‘s ‘danish pastry’ look would be a shoe-in (or should that be hat-in??) for best/worst female ‘do’ in 1977’s Star Wars, and a few other Lucas creations may have hegemony in other years.

More recently, the offensive object adorning Tom Hanks’ crown in The Da Vinci Code (below) would prove a toughie to beat. So how about it, Academy? Lets finally give these coiffures the recognition they surely deserve. And the award for worst haircut goes to….