Oscars

Get the inside scoop on the entertaining banter between Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, and Michael Keaton at the Oscars.

An “October surprise” refers to a major revelation deliberately timed to influence the outcome of a Presidential election. The Oscars, then, regularly offer a January surprise, in which a contender comes out of nowhere to elbow their way into the awards conversation. This year’s big shock is permanently smirking superhero send-up Deadpool, which has already upended plenty of predictions by racking up nominations among various industry guild groups. Superhero movies have never been able to crack the Best Picture race, but perhaps the self-reflexive meta streak in Deadpool could give it the edge it needs to sneak into the category. The nominations will be announced one week from today, and who’ll end up at the big dance is anyone’s guess.

It’s been a topsy-turvy week for awards prognosticators, relative even to the usual topsy-turviness of an industry based entirely on guesswork and speculation. Deadpool frightened and confused Oscar oddsmakers when it unexpectedly snatched up a Best Picture nomination from the Producers Guild Awards program on Tuesday, and then officially rejiggered everyone’s slate of predictions when director Tim Miller earned a nomination from the Directors Guild of America. What had been all but forgotten as a superhero oddball is staging a late-phase charge among the groups of professionals that vote for Oscar nominees — nothing is out of the question.

Deadpool. Mercenary. Superhero. Weapon X survivor. And Writer’s Guild of America nominee for Best Adapted freaking Screenplay.

Gaming: Behold the Thor: God of Thunder videogame front box art on the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS. Music: Donald Glover will blow you away with his latest jam Freaks and Geeks (NSFW audio). History: Kirb Your Enthusiasm analyzes comic panels by the legendary Jack Kirby, while occasionally digging into some righteous anecdotes from the artist's prolific history...

From Moviefone: There's still a weird, ignorant stigma that animation is just kids' stuff, but oftentimes, it is just as captivating, impressive and entertaining as any live-action movie. You want proof? Check out what we named as the best movie of 2010...

Movies: Spider-Man takes to webslinging in the latest batch of set photos from the upcoming reboot. Awards: Depending on how you feel about comic book movies, you might consider 2010's offerings fairly snubbed in terms of Oscar nominations as Iron Man stands alone...