01:39 AM EDT 03/06/2012

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POLL: Who Should Win the Best Actress Oscar? | Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Viola Davis

Oscars 2012

Oscars 2012: Who Should Win Best Actress?

Originally posted 02/24/2012 05:00PM

This year's race for Best Actress is a nail-biter, with some of Hollywood's most accomplished stars vying for the golden statuette.

Meryl Streep, who won the Golden Globe for her spot-on performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, could be seen as a frontrunner. After all, with 17 previous Oscar nominations and two wins, Streep is Hollywood royalty.

But she's by no means a shoo-in. Street's pal, Viola Davis, won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for best actress for her role in the wildly popular film The Help, and will be giving Streep a run for her money.

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Oscar Trivia: What You Don't Know About Hollywood's Big Night | Billy Crystal, Rooney Mara

Oscars 2012

Oscar Trivia: What You Don't Know About Hollywood's Big Night

Originally posted 02/23/2012 01:15PM

Pop quiz: What annual awards show airs this Sunday night? If you're as into the Oscars as we are, you likely just yawned and said, "Easiest. Question. Ever." And you'd be right.

Now, let's try a few more challenging questions. Which of the current crop of Best Actress hopefuls honeymooned at George Clooney's Italian villa? The Help's Jessica Chastain earned a scholarship to Julliard funded by which Oscar-winning comedian? War Horse composer John Williams's son sang for which classic rock band?

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Snubs, What Snubs? PEOPLE Critic Takes on the Oscar Nods

Oscars 2012

Oscar Nominations: PEOPLE Critic's Take

Originally posted 01/24/2012 02:00PM

Nominations are out for the 84th Academy Awards. Here is PEOPLE Magazine critic Alynda Wheat's take on what went down at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hugo?! Fine, Hugo.
Leading the pack with 11 nominations is Martin Scorsese's kids movie that's not actually for kids. I confess that I still don't get it. Technically, Hugo is a triumph (you'll notice that the vast majority of its nominations are for technical awards), and Scorsese's nod for Best Director is certainly justified. But as a movie-going experience I still think it's remarkably cold (lectures about film history don't really move me). For my money, it's still a race between the French silent film The Artist and The Descendants, starring George Clooney, who did get nominated and Shailene Woodley, who missed the cut. Which brings me to my next point:

Snubs? What snubs?
Okay, sure, Golden Globe nominee Woodley might be a tad disappointed, as might Albert Brooks (Drive), Michael Fassbender (Shame), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and even Steven Spielberg, whose amazing animated The Adventures of Tintin didn't rate a Best Animated Film nod, and who wasn't on the Best Directors list, in spite of the fact that his War Horse is a Best Picture nominee. But are these omissions actually snubs? Not really.

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Meet Rooney Mara's Boyfriend: Charlie McDowell | Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara Is Dating Charlie McDowell

Originally posted 01/18/2012 04:35PM

Who's that boy with the girl with the dragon tattoo?  

Actress Rooney Mara, best known for her Golden-Globe nominated, man-hating, butt-kicking character Lisbeth Salander, has been spotted out and about with a tall, brooding redhead: her beau Charlie McDowell.   

The two, who have been an item since at least 2010 – when they were photographed kissing – were hand-in-hand in Manhattan last week, wearing matching beanies while out shopping.  That weekend they jetted from JFK to LAX, just ahead of Mara's turn on the red carpet.

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What Are the Stars Eating at the Globes?

Golden Globe Awards 2012

Golden Globes Banquet Menu Revealed

Originally posted 01/14/2012 06:00PM

An embarrassment of dishes: The nominees of this year's Golden Globes have three courses of deliciousity to feast upon, thanks to the Beverly Hilton's executive hotel chef, Suki Sugiura, and executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi.

The evening's culinary fireworks kick off with pistachio-crusted pistou ravioli with wild arugula, smoked tomato, kabocha compote and burrata cheese.

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REVIEW: Rooney Mara Completely Transforms in Dragon Tattoo | Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Review

Originally posted 12/21/2011 08:30AM

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is about power – who has it and who doesn't, but mainly how quickly it shifts.

Take a scene in the film's first hour: Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) is on a subway platform bothering no one when a foolish stranger snatches her backpack. Soon, she's capably retrieved her pack – and beaten the thief so savagely that passersby see her as the heinous one. In an instant she's gone from victim to victor to victimizer. And she's just getting started.

What may be most shocking about director David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's international bestseller is that it's shocking at all. After all, the book had such broad appeal that for at least a year you couldn't get on a plane, train or bus without seeing it clutched in someone's hands.

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Rooney Mara Takes Sister Kate to Dragon Tattoo Premiere | Kate Mara, Rooney Mara

Rooney and Kate Mara Glam Up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Premiere

Originally posted 12/16/2011 03:15PM

They certainly present a contrast, but sisters Rooney and Kate Mara are both soaking up the spotlight these days.

Brunette Rooney is currently promoting her much-anticipated film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which hits theaters Dec. 21, while auburn-haired Kate has created buzz with her role in the popular FX show American Horror Story.

Rooney, 26 and Kate, 28, were photographed Tuesday at the afterparty for the New York Premiere of Dragon Tattoo. Rooney, dressed in black, has just a tinge left of the extreme makeover she underwent to play the role of wiry, moody hacker Lisbeth Salander.

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Late-Entry Movies Throw Oscar Race Wide Open | Rooney Mara, Sandra Bullock

Late-Entry Movies Throw Oscar Race Wide Open

Originally posted 12/12/2011 12:30PM

And the winner is ... Who knows?

The late entry into the race by buzzed-about films Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has made for a wide-open Oscar race for Best Picture this year.

"I can't remember a year like this where there was no clear front-runner," says a longtime awards season veteran. "Nobody knows where this race is going."

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PHOTO: Rooney Mara's Extreme Makeover for Dragon Tattoo

Rooney Mara's Extreme Makeover for Dragon Tattoo

Originally posted 01/12/2011 02:30PM

Whatever happened to sweet-faced, innocent Rooney Mara?

Well, she got tattooed. And pierced. And her hair dyed jet black and chopped. And handed a pack of cigarettes. All for her role in the upcoming blockbuster The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

New photos of Mara, 25, as Lisbeth Salander, the title character in Hollywood's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's best-selling novel, are set to be published in February's W magazine, on newsstands Jan. 25 – and they put to rest any doubts that Mara might not look the part.

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PHOTO: Rooney Mara's Transformation into Lisbeth Salander

Rooney Mara Transforms into Lisbeth Salander

Originally posted 10/23/2010 11:25AM

Rooney Mara has gone from sweet-faced star to bad girl Lisbeth Salander.

Mara, 25, is in Sweden shooting the Hollywood adaptation of Stieg Larsson's best-selling novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

In photos hot off the set, the actress – whose chestnut hair normally falls past her shoulders in gentle waves – is now sporting a severe raven-black cut with blunt bangs.

Add to that heavy eye make-up, a lip ring and boots decorated with duct tape, and Mara's transformation into the feisty computer hacker is complete.–Sara Hammel