If you’ve already started planning your Oscar parties for four weeks from Sunday, you can print the prediction ballots as of today. Bonus question: name five actual movies this year’s Academy Awards co-host James Franco GRD ’16 has been in! No one? Why is he famous?! And also, what is this recent mustache situation?

Actually, our favorite graduate student’s exhausting-to-watch movie garnered six nominations, and Franco himself is up against a formidable four in the Best Leading Actor category: Mark Zuckerberg (or whatever his real name is), Colin Firth (we gotta have some shockers in the mix, you know?), Javier Bardem (for Biutiful, Alejando González Iñárritu’s latest), and Jeff Bridges (although surprisingly, it’s not for Tron).

The 10 best picture nominations thing is apparently here to stay, and it’s up for grabs whether there are just too many great movies or too many consistently mediocre ones. And then a lot of these ten repeat later in the boring parts of the list (you know, all the randos’ speeches we don’t care about).The movie that made all of us really believe we’ve got a friend in the animated cast we grew up with is following in Up’s footsteps with a nomination in both the best movie and best animated movie categories. And like last year, we have no idea who will win in this best animated category. NO IDEA. Unlike last year, there are no women in the director category and no divorced couples are fellow nominees in any category. But I have an inkling that there’ll be some other Oscar drama to focus on.

If you need to get caught up on movies before Oscar season, here are a few tips:

1. Don’t forget that “Oscar nominated” is not equivalent to “good.” I.e., this is not a legitimate justification for paying to see Country Strong.

2. If you don’t have anything to say that’s cinematically inclined, just talk about how “Colin Firth has it in the bag!” You’ll probably be right.

3. You won’t be able to catch up on the best documentaries or foreign films of the year at the Bow Tie, but skip out on Vince Vaughan’s latest slapstick feature next time you venture over to Temple for some of these 2010 classics (in order of good to boring):

The King’s Speech, which leads with 12 nominations (and rightfully so).

Blue Valentine, but probably not while your parents are visiting. You’ve heard correctly that it’s depressing, but it’s worth your $11 and the ensuing disenchantment with marriage for the lovely Michelle Williams, and for Ryan Gosling, who was robbed. Robbed.

Another Year, nominated for its screenplay, by the writer of Happy-Go-Lucky.

Somewhere, the lost sheep of the Oscar buzz herd, nowhere on the nominations list

Black Swan, I guess, if you’re into Natalie Portman or other overrated things (speaking of which, Inception was also nominated for Best Picture).

True Grit, with the youngest nominee: 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld for best supporting actress, and nominations in nine other categories.

4. And if you’re willing to drive…

Well, your options aren’t that different. The Fighter is playing at the Rave in Milford and the Bow Tie in Trumbull, but opening up to a 15-mile radius just gives you the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman latest (will they? won’t they?! the suspense!) and Tron (but it’s in IMAX and 3D, so I guess that makes everything okay).

Countdown starts now, and a new batch of movies, surely bastions of American culture, are already on their way for 2011.

Image courtesy of Flikr user TinyGlimpses