Oscars Special

Tonight we look at the winners and losers of this year's film awards season which ended with the Oscars. The ceremony got a bit of a thumbs down from the critics who felt that the young hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway lacked chemistry and that the triumph of The Kings Speech made it too predictable. We discuss how relevant the Academy Awards are now that similar ceremonies are multiplying. As often happens, the film that won Best Picture, The King's Speech, also won Best Director, for Tom Hooper. This meant many big name directors lost out, including Darren Aronofsky, the Coen brothers and David Fincher. We look at whether having 10 nominees instead of just 5 has made a difference and whether the same sort of films always win because of the who gets a vote. Annette Bening was unlucky yet again and the Best Actress award went to Natalie Portman. The Fighter took both Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale and Actress for Melissa Leo - we debate whether the best men and women won. William Skidelsky, books editor of The Observer, asks why so many of the films on the Oscars list were based on true stories. What's wrong with original ideas? And our panelists reveal the films and performances they felt were unfairly neglected this year.