Over the past two decades, 13 PGA winners have gone on to win the Oscar for best picture.
The hotel's eighth-floor Stardust Room was featured in "Argo, " the Iran hostage drama that won this year's Oscar for best picture.
But this year the Oscar for best picture (and perhaps for best actor) may go to a movie that has no dialogue.
While Argo was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, Affleck was passed over in the directing category, something many see as a huge snub.
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Last year's winner Slumdog Millionaire went on to win the Oscar for best picture and the previous year, the Coen brother's No Country For Old Men did the same.
"It was the equivalent of an indie film winning the Oscar for best picture, " jokes Mr. Hautemont, 47, who was born in France but has lived in California since the late 1980s.
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The film's producers said they had expected fellow Oscar best-picture nominee "Beasts of the Southern Wild" to win the top Spirit Award and that they have no expectations of winning the big prize at the Oscars, where Ben Affleck's CIA thriller "Argo" is the best-picture favorite.
The surprise success of Slumdog Millionaire, which could win the Oscar for Best Picture, not only draws attention to the rich film culture of India's Bollywood but also reflects a profound change in the way the world views the film's key supporting character: the slum itself.
Several commentators call it an Oscar frontrunner for Best Picture, pointing to the authenticity of the portrayal.
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Based on the book by Brian Selznick, the film is an Oscar contender for Best Picture, both marvel and masterpiece.
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It will definitely be on the list of Oscar nominees for Best Picture, and Bradley Cooper will surely get a nod for Best Actor.
Several named producers, including actor Don Cheadle, were deemed ineligible for the Best Picture Oscar.
The film has six other Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for star Adrien Brody.
Best Picture Oscar guesses are side-by-side with the eventual departure of some European country from the euro.
After all, how often does a year have 15 to 20 potential Best Picture Oscar contenders?
Kevin Costner revitalised the Western genre when his 1991 film Dances with Wolves won the best picture Oscar.
Winning a Golden Globe (which are awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) is not a sure omen of a Best Picture Oscar.
The SAG is less than 50% accurate in predicting the Best Picture Oscar winner since they started giving out awards nearly 20 years ago.
In 1989, Cyrus Todd found himself nearly broke, so he reportedly decided to sell his grandfather's 1956 Best Picture Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days.
"It leaves a healthy dowry for the BFI to inherit, " agreed Gareth Unwin, who gave "a massive thank you to the UK Film Council" as he accepted the best picture Oscar with his colleagues.
On the thirtieth anniversary of its release, I have some theories as to why Chariots of Fire was able to sprint ahead of Atlantic City and Reds, two much finer films, and win the Best Picture Oscar.
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The trio proved to be box-office gold: They were two of the highest-grossing films of their time, winning a slew of awards -- including a best picture Oscar for the latter, a tale of con men in 1930s Chicago.
The former would mean Argo has to overcome 80 years of Oscar history to take Best Picture without even a nomination for Best Director, and the latter means Lincoln has to overcome a softening status amid a race that became highly competitive with strong challengers in the home stretch.
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Only eight of 17 times since the guild added the category has the cast winner gone on to take the best-picture Oscar.
The Help has four Oscar nominations, including best motion picture.
When Affleck was snubbed for a directing slot, awards analysts initially were counting "Argo" out for the best-picture Oscar, along with Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Tom Hooper's "Les Miserables, " which also missed out on directing nominations.
The Academy has been cracking down on the number of producers per film who can be eligible for an Oscar since Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture in 1999 and five producers walked away with Oscars.
"The Help" won the guild's cast prize last year, while Oscar voters named "The Artist" as best picture.
His spaghetti western's Oscar nominations include nods for best film and best picture.
O'Neil claims that Hollywood has improved in its recognition of black actors, but the Academy's failure to nominate 2006's "Dreamgirls" for best picture, for example, is a sign that Oscar voters simply don't understand such films culturally.
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