American audio company, Dolby, are now sponsoring the venue which Kodak were rumoured to have been paying $3.6m annually for naming rights.

Formally known as the Kodak Theatre, the huge 3,400-seater building has hosted the Oscars for the past 10 years and cost a hefty $94m to build back in 2001.

When the Eastman Kodak company went bust earlier this year, the first thing they did was stop selling their digital cameras, so it was only a matter of time before a judge allowed Kodak to end its $74 million contract.

The new 20-year contract Dolby have signed with theatre owners, the CIM Group, means that the Oscars will continue to be hosted in Hollywood, despite the Academy having thoughts about moving to the bigger Nokia stadium.

The 7,100-seat arena Nokia Theater, where the Emmys and the American Music awards are currently hosted, is in a less congested part of LA, but is also much less central,  which is why the Academy opted to stay put.

According to Tom Sherak – the president of the Academy of motion Picture Arts and Sciences – “The Academy’s Board of Governors believes that the home for our awards is in Hollywood. It is where the Academy and the motion picture industry are rooted. We are pleased to have a new agreement with CIM that will continue our long-standing partnership.”

Dolby hope to give its audience a more “immersive” experience by kitting out the theatre with the latest Dolby audio technology, as well as the revolutionary new Atmos 3D sound system which was released just last week.

Director of the upcoming Hobbit film, Peter Jackson, said he was considering using the new Atmos technology in his much anticipated movie. The New Zeeland filmmaker told the Hollywood Reporter that ‘three dimensional sound would be fantastic and if I can do it I would be pretty keen’. The Hobbit,which is the prequel to fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, débuts in December.

The spine tingling thriller, starring Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe, has stayed at the top of the UK Box Office chart for three weeks and has earned an estimated £14,598,813 from 457 screens.

The film has managed to make more money than earlier major Hollywood horror productions, such as The Others and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, both of which were filmed in the UK, as well as featuring British actors including Erik Sykes and Gary Oldman.

The Woman in Black has even topped the takings of home-grown British horrors such as 28 Days Later  and Simon Pegg’s black comedy, Shaun of The Dead.

The Hammer hit has been just as successful in North America, taking in more than $50 million after just 25 days of release.

The Woman in Black, directed by James Watkins (The Descent Part 2 ), was adapted from the classic novel by Susan Hill. The spooky story has also been made into the popular play of the same name. It has been running in the West End since 1989, making it the second longest running, non-musical play in the history of the West End.

The record-breaking success of The Woman in Black was said to have ‘affirmed the re-birth of Hammer’ according to the President and CEO of Hammer, Simon Oakes.

According to Oakes, Hammer is set to produce more intelligent genre films like The Woman in Black this year; these include The Quiet Ones and Gaslight, both of which will shoot in the UK.

According to Xavier Marchand – the Managing Director of Momentum Pictures –  the film is close to reaching a staggering $100m in the worldwide Box Office Chart.

He was impressed with the recent UK Box Office record and said: ‘It shows how great British films can resonate not only here in the UK but also abroad. Congratulations to James Watkins, Daniel Radcliffe, Jane Goldman and all involved in The Woman in Black.”

The previous top British horror titles, according to figures by Rentrak, are:
The Others (2001) – £11,880,848
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1993) – £11,548,429
Interview With the Vampire (1995) – £10,674,956
Sleepy Hollow (2000) – £10,047,381
Shaun Of The Dead (2004) – £6,692,683
28 Days Later (2002) –  £6,296,734

It was a fairly predictable year at the Oscars, but then again, it rarely isn’t. There are however a few nice surprises in the list below, so it’s worth checking out the entire thing rather than the traditional “best actor/actress/film and nothing else” approach, whether or not our predictions turned out to be right. Personally, I think The Artist was a shoe-in for awards, as was Hugo. Read on to take a look at who won.

Best Picture: The Artist

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation - Iran

Best Animation: Rango

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Best Art Direction: Hugo - Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo

Best Cinematography: Hugo - Robert Richardson

Best Sound Mixing: Hugo - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Best Sound Editing: Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Best Original Song: ”Man or Muppet”, from The Muppets - music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie

Best Original Score: The Artist - Ludovic Bource

Best Costumes: The Artist - Mark Bridges

Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated

Best Documentary Short: Saving Face

Best Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Best Animated Short Film: The Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Best Live Action Short Film: The Shore

Best Visual Effects: Hugo - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

Best Make-Up: The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J Roy Helland

Although the majority of the film world spent last night celebrating the very best of cinematic talent and achievements, it was also a time for the Golden Raspberry Awards (or ’Razzies’) to draw our attention to what have surely been some of the worst films of the year. Previously, the Razzies have been dished out the night before the Oscars, but this time around the ceremony has been (rather suitably) shifted to April 1st, and it was the nominations which instead coincided with last night’s Academy Awards event.

Most notably, Adam Sandler has broken the Razzie record set by Eddie Murphy back in 2007 by being up for a total of 11 awards, most of which are courtesy of his latest comedy caper, Jack & Jill. Murphy’s critically panned film, Norbit, was only nominated for a total of five Razzie awards. However, with Jack & Jill giving Sandler the opportunity to play both an advertising executive and his ‘identical’ twin sister, he has found himself up for both Worst Actor and Worst Actress, as well as a variety of other awards. However, the comic actor is no stranger to recognition from the Razzies, with a number of his previous films including Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, Little Nicky and Mr Deeds all having been nominated for Golden Raspberries in the past.

Other men up for Actress awards include David Spade, who also plays a woman in Jack & Jill, as well as Brandon T Jackson and Martin Lawrence, who both appear as women in Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son.

Also featuring heavily in this year’s Razzies is the latest in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 1, which has a total of eight nominations, closely followed by Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, is currently up for seven Golden Raspberry Awards.

The Golden Raspberry Award winners will be announced on 1st April 2012 – meanwhile check out the full list of nominations below:

WORST PICTURE
Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star
Jack & Jill
New Year’s Eve
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One

WORST ACTOR
Russell Brand (Arthur)
Nicolas Cage (Drive Angry, Season Of The Witch, Trespass)
Taylor Lautner (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Abduction)
Adam Sandler (Jack & Jill, Just Go With It)
Nick Swardson (Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star)

WORST ACTRESS
Martin Lawrence (Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son)
Sarah Palin (Sarah Palin: The Undefeated)
Sarah Jessica Parker (I Don’t Know How She Does It, New Year’s Eve)
Adam Sandler (Jack & Jill)
Kristen Stewart (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Patrick Dempsey (Transformers: Dark Of The Moon)
James Franco (Your Highness)
Ken Jeong (Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, The Hangover Part 2, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, Zookeeper)
Al Pacino (playing Al Pacino in Jack & Jill)
Nick Swardson (Jack & Jill, Just Go With It)

WORST SUPPPORTING ACTRESS
Katie Holmes (Jack & Jill)
Brandon T Jackson (Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son)
Nicole Kidman (Just Go With It)
David Spade (Jack & Jill)
Rosie Huntington Whiteley (Transformers: Dark Of The Moon)

WORST SCREEN ENSEMBLE
Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star
Jack & Jill
New Year’s Eve
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

WORST DIRECTOR
Michael Bay (Transformers: Dark Of The Moon)
Tom Brady (Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star)
Bill Condon (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1)
Dennis Dugan (Jack & Jill, Just Go With It)
Garry Marshall (New Year’s Eve)

WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL
Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star
The Hangover Part 2
Jack & Jill
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Nicolas Cage, and anyone sharing the screen with him in his three 2011 movies
Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Transformers: Dark of The Moon)
Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston or Brookyln Decker (Just Go With It)
Adam Sandler and Katie Holmes, Adam Sandler or Al Pacino (Jack & Jill)
Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1)

WORST SCREENPLAY
Bucky Larson, Born To Be A Star (Written by Adam Sandler, Allen Covert and Nick Swardson)
Jack & Jill (Screenplay by Steve Koren & Adam Sandler, Story by Ben Zook)
New Year’s Eve (Written by Katherine Fugate)
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (Written by Ehren Kruger)
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg)

Starring Scrat the Squirrel, the featurette charts his nut-obsessed trials and tribulations throughout the first three films, in a loving homage to the silent film.

The short has been created to cleverly advertise the fourth instalment of the Ice Age franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift. What better way to do so, than by comparing it to the hot favourite to sweep the board at the Oscars?

Clever, clever marketing team.

I don’t know about you, but I think that pesky squirrel is a dead ringer for Jean Dujardin. What do you think?

And the featurette brings up an interesting point. All of the advertising for the brand new Ice Age, including the first teaser trailer, have starred Scrat. Despite the fact the films actually revolve around Sid the Sloth, Mannie the Mammoth and the Sabre tooth tiger, Diego. Scrat is a sub-plot.

It makes us wonder who the real star is. Considering they put him in the place of the central character in The Artist, I think we may have our answer.

Ice Age: Continental Drift will see Manni, Diego and Sid become separated from their herd, when their continent separates. On their travels via iceberg, they come across pirates.

Catch the brand new Ice Age: Continental Drift in theatres in July of this year.

You can see if The Artist steals all the Oscars this Sunday, 26th February on Sky Movies. Red carpet coverage starts from 11.30pm. The ceremony will air from 1.30am until 4am.

Here is the Ice Aged Artist:

The international athletic cast are set to showcase a unique and exclusive performance at next week’s Oscars; it will be the largest Cirque cast ever assembled for one single act.

Over 50 talented artists from Cirque du Soleil will come together to bring the dynamic performance to life. Some performers will be flying in from Japan and Russia to appear in this one-off act, which will be televised live across more than 225 countries worldwide.

The performers have been perfecting their routine since last year and are said to be eager to get into the Kodak Theater and try it out on the Oscar stage.

According to special events director, Yasmine Khalil, it is going to be pretty tricky for the cameramen to film all of the great acts going on without missing any.

She was reported saying: ‘To capture 50 people jumping around everywhere, from the ceiling and from the ground, and right and left and centre, it’s a whole added challenge’.

However, the challenge is also down to the viewers who according to Khalil will have to be ‘very attentive. There will be a lot happening, You don’t want to be blinking too much because you might miss something.’

Khalil added ‘The theme is very much in line with paying tribute to the movie-theater experience’.

This will be the second time Cirque du Soleil have appeared on the Oscars. Their first performance was at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.

Providing the music for the three minute display will be Danny Elfman, who also scored the music for Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS: A Journey through the World of Cinema.

The American composer has written the theme tunes for many well known TV shows, including The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives. In addition, the musician is responsible for some of the most catchy and well known film scores, from Batman and Mission Impossible to Black Beauty and Chicago. Elfman is an old friend of Tim Burton and has written some of the music for The Nightmare Before Christmas and Alice in Wonderland.

Be sure not to miss this outstanding display by tuning in on Sunday 26th February.

Okay so perhaps it’s not all as intense as that, but after the Golden Collar Awards were held on Monday, there are definitely a few more doggies that are going to be hounded by the media. The Golden Collar Awards was started by Alan Siskind, from the website dognewsdaily.com after he saw Uggie playing his role in The Artist so superbly. The ceremony was held in Hollyood on Monday and seems to have been cross between a canine-themed farce, and an event that gives true recognition to trainers and their protégées who have played roles in films and television.

Is it really necessary? It seems as though things were definitely going this way, especially after The Artist‘s much-loved Jack-Russell Uggie was not asked to participate in the Oscars next week. Well…he is a dog, and while he is without a doubt a very talented, well trained little pooch, human stars would probably not be happy if they lost out to a canine, however cute. Even Martin Scorsese jumped on the doggie award bandwagon and gave the Golden Collar organisers a ‘ruff’ time when they failed to include Hugo dog, Blackie.

So, who got their paws on the prizes? As expected, Uggie was named Best Dog In A Theatrical Film for The Artist, a film which itself won big at the BAFTAs on Sunday and is nominated for a total of ten Oscars. This left Hugo‘s Blackie in the dog house, but hopefully the fact that he was eventually added to the list of nominees means that his dog days are not over.

The award for Best Dog In A Foreign Film went to Koko, the six-year-old Kelpie who starred in box office smash Red Dog. While this particular pooch was unable to attend the award, he did send this amusing acceptance speech:

Another familiar face who was recognised for being the Best Dog In A Television Series was Brigitte, the French bulldog who plays Stella in the award-winning comedy series Modern Family. Well done to all the winners, and here is the full list:

Best Dog In a Theatrical Film

Uggie as The Dog in “The Artist”

Blackie as Maximilian in “Hugo”

Cosmo as Arthur in “Beginners”

Uggie as Queenie in “Water for Elephants”

Denver as Skeletor in “50/50″

Hummer as Dolce in “Young Adult”

Best Dog in a Foreign Film

Koko as Red Dog in “Red Dog” – Australia

Laika as herself in “Le Havre” – France

Biina as Alf in “The Day the Dogs Disappeared” – Japan

Ichico as Toa in “The Day the Dogs Disappeared” – Japan

Best Dog in a Television Series

Brigitte as Stella in “Modern Family” 

Rocky as Arnold in “Entourage”

Chunk as himself in “Chelsea Lately”

Dart as Chance in “Hot In Cleveland”

Jason Gann as Wilfred in “Wilfred”

Lambchop as Yakult in “Suburgatory

Best Dog in a Reality Series

Giggy – The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Hercules – Pit Boss

Millou – The Real Housewives of New York City

Jackpot – The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Spartacus – Ice Loves Coco

Best Dog in a Direct-to-DVD Film

Rody as Marley in “Marley & Me: The Puppy Years”

Fred as B Dawg in “Spooy Buddies”

Gaston as Beethoven in “Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure”

Angel as Chloe in “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2″

Rusco as Papi in “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2″

The BAFTA winners are normally a good indication of how the Academy Awards are going to go. Last year for example, The King’s Speech won the Best Picture accolade and Natalie Portman was named Best Actress for Black Swan at both ceremonies.

This year The Artist stands in good stead to win big at the Oscar ceremony later this month. It took home a staggering seven BAFTA wins, including Best Film (no shocker), Leading Actor for Jean Dujardin, and Original Screenplay.

In the performance categories, Meryl Streep was awarded the BAFTA for Leading Actress for her portrayal of former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. And she had her own Cinderella moment on the way up to the stage: she lost her shoe on the stairs! Thankfully Colin Firth was there to save the day.

Meanwhile The Help‘s Octavia Spencer won in the Supporting Actress category, and Christopher Plummer pipped Kenneth Branagh for the Supporting Actor honour, for his performance in Beginners.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy went home with just two of its 11 categories, for the Outstanding British Film and best Adapted Screenplay awards.

All eyes were on John Hurt and Martin Scorsese however. The former was presented with the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, while the latter received The Fellowship for his long standing career and iconic status in film history.

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award, the only one voted for by the public, was awarded to Kidulthood‘s Adam Deacon.

So what do you think? Did the awards go to the right recipients? Let us know.

See the full list of winners below:

Best Film
THE ARTIST

Outstanding British Film
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

Oustanding Debut By a British Writer, Director or Producer
TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

Film Not in the English Language
THE SKIN I LIVE IN

Documentary
SENNA

Animated Film
RANGO

Director
THE ARTIST – MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS

Original Screenplay
THE ARTIST

Adapted Screenplay
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

Leading Actor
THE ARTIST – JEAN DUJARDIN

Leading Actress
THE IRON LADY – MERYL STREEP

Supporting Actor
BEGINNERS – CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

Supporting Actress
THE HELP – OCTAVIA SPENCER

Original Music
THE ARTIST

Cinematography
THE ARTIST

Editing
SENNA

Production Design
HUGO  

Costume Design
THE ARTIST

Make-up & Hair
THE IRON LADY

Sound
HUGO

Special Visual Effects
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

Short Animation
PITCH BLACK HEIST

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award (public voted)
Adam Deacon.

Miss Piggy has proved that she can glam it up with the rest of the stars. The  picture above shows her looking fabulous arriving at the premiere of The Muppets back in November, and now she will be preparing to be the centre of attention yet again. It has been announced that the glamorous piggy, who is the long-time love interest of Kermit the Frog, will be the official red carpet host for the BAFTAs.

These prestigious film awards will be taking place this Sunday, 12th February, and Miss Piggy will be right there on the front-line. It will be her job to bring back the interviews everyone is waiting for, and by all accounts she is not planning on holding back. She is reportedly especially looking forward to grilling the likes of George Clooney, Michael Fassbender and Jean Dujardin who are all up for the category of Leading Actor – only the best for our famous Muppet!

Miss Piggy has said that she “will be asking questions that only moi would dare ask” – which should certainly make for some entertaining viewing. We can’t wait to see what questions she has in mind to fire at the unsuspecting actors and actresses, as well as finding out who the winners will be. The BAFTAs will be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday, 12th February at 9pm and the BAFTA Red Carpet Show With Miss Piggy will air on Monday, 13th February.

Since the first Academy Awards in 1929, votes have been sent through the post. However thanks to their partnership with the company Everyone Counts, who develop software for internet elections, the Academy have decided to move their voting ballots to the web.

The move is intended to make it easier for members to vote. This way they can submit their electronic ballots wherever they are in the world.

Now ignoring the obvious point that many of the older members might not even have an email address, let alone know how to use an online voting system, computer security experts have warned that the new system will be vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Everyone Counts claim that their “multiple layers of security” and “military-grade encryption techniques” help keep voting honest and protected from less noble members of society. So naturally there has been deep scepticism from members of the computer sciences community.

“Everybody would like there to be secure internet voting, but some very smart people … can’t figure out how to do it,” said professor of computer science at Stanford University, David Dill, the founder of Verified Voting.

“If someone casts a ballot for best actor A and the vote is recorded for best actor B, the voter has no way of knowing the ballot has been altered, and the auditor won’t be able to see it either.”

Government elections do not allow online voting for this very reason, and while the Oscars do not hold the same significance, the Academy has prided itself on the secrecy of its voting for the last 80 years.

The 84th Academy Awards is to be held on 26th February 2012. Hugo, The Artist, War Horse, Moneyball, The Help, The Descendants, The Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close will fight it out for Best Picture.

What do you think? Will the votes be tampered with next year?