It's Oscar weekend! Have you seen all the award-winning, award-nominated films you swore you'd catch? We hope you haven't gone through too much stress waiting for the film distributors in your area to bring in the goodies but as they say — some things are worth the wait.

Our pick for this week is Hugo. Adapted from an illustrated children's novel, Hugo is a surprisingly optimistic and cheerful film from Scorsese and also a tribute to the early pioneers of cinema and the magical dreams they wove through their art. Hugo is one of the multi-nominated films this year, vying for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, amongst others.

In The Grey, Liam Neeson and a small group of plane crash survivors battle against Alaskan snowstorms, the wilderness, and very hungry wolves with nothing but their bare hands. Produced by Ridley Scott, The Grey is a nature survival horror flick that recalls the best film of the Alien series.

If you're not so much a fan of tough guys, you might prefer the eye candy in Runway Beat, an easy-going Japanese high school drama about a group of students who decide to put on a fashion show as their graduation project, led by a male transfer student and atelier heir who wears skirts to school.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a tale about an orphaned boy genius and an eccentric, elderly stranger he takes to as both embark on a journey of discovery after the boy's father dies in 9/11. The film is nominated for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor.

Nicolas Cage returns in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. This time round, he's on a mission to the world AND the Anti-Christ from the machinations of Satan! Directed by the team that brought us the Crank movies, this Ghost Rider film bears their trademark offbeat humour.

Till next week,

Vernon Chan