Well, what a night, eh? It was glorious to have a real nail-biter of a ceremony, with the David and Goliath battle that was Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker. But, in the end, Katheryn Bigelow’s budget Iraq epic took home the gold, in a night that was revolutionary, though rather predictable.

Crimety, people are getting banned from the cinematic event of the year left, right and centre. First a Hurt Locker producer is dis-invited for vote-mongering, and now it seems like Sacha Baron Cohen has been given his marching orders too. At least they have each other.

Naughty naughty. Nicolas Chartier, one of the producers on this year’s Oscar front runner The Hurt Locker, has been banned from coming to the Oscars after urging the Academy panel not to vote for Avatar.

Well well well, who’ve thought it? This year’s Baftas was an interesting mix – full of both predictable winners (Colin and Carey, anyone?) as well as a couple of surprises. I think we all would have predicted that Avatar would have walked away with at least three Baftas this year, but in the end of the night, Cameron’s 4D fists were clutching but two

Whew! We were beginning to think that it would never happen, and our site would only be able to report news like ‘Avatar Is Still Good’ and ‘James Cameron Makes Even More Cash’ until our fingers were worn down to the bone. But thankfully, this is not so.The US box office finally has a new number one- Dear John has replaced Avatar as the USA’s current movie of choice.

…well, dollars at least. It has been announced today that the 19-year-old Harry Potter starlett has this year earned $19 million, making her the highest paid actress of 2009. She beat out the likes of Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie, as well as being the youngest person on Varietys best paid list at number 14.

The gloves are on for the showdown we’re all waiting for at this year’s Oscars. The big contenders for Best Director are Avatar’s James Cameron and The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow. So who should bag the Oscar? Let’s review the contenders, shall we?

Oh dear. Another franchise bows its head in grudging respect to the new world run by James Cameron and his voodoo. After being adamant last year that the Transformers films wouldn’t go 3D, director Michael Bay has been under major pressure from Universal to change his mind following the never-ending success of Avatar. Another one bites the beautifully pixilated dust.

It may be strange to think it, but in an age where we’re so used to 3D creatures, pixilated flying houses and talking toys, a 2D film can be considered pushing the boundaries of today’s kids entertainment. Gone is the golden age of Disney classics- The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin – all-singing, all dancing, all bloomin’ marvelous. Today what kids want is action explosions, nifty special effects and some smooth-talking robots, right?

Soon we’re going to have to start dividing the modern film age into two eras- before and after Avatar. In a PA (post Avatar) world, it seems like if your film title doesn’t include the letters ‘3D’, you might as well not bother. At least that seems to be the reasoning of the Harry Potter production team, who’ve announced that the new film, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows (Part One), will be given the 3D treatment in post production.