The 83rd Annual Academy Awards: Socially Gritty Swan Song?

Despite the pretty-people-infuriating antics of Ricky Gervais, the oh-my-god-did-she-just-say-that? creepiness of Natalie Portman, and the vaguely racist ranting of Robert DeNiro, the most notable thing about this year's Golden Globes was who was NOT there.

Namely, the complete lack of anyone from"True Grit" in any of the categories, even though critics have been falling over themselves to heap praise on the Coen Brothers' western since its release. Will the 83rd annual Academy Awards do right by the Brothers? We can't imagine why they wouldn't. Of course, we'll find out Tuesday morning, as the nominations will be announced live at 8:40 AM (ET).

The quirky directing pair become Oscar darlings with their last western - "No Country for Old Men" - not to mention that "True Grit" stars last year's best actor winner Jeff Bridges, bright newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and the perennially-admired Matt Damon. And pay attention, trivia buffs, because if Bridges is nominated and wins, it would mark the first time* two Best Actor winners have won for playing the same character (John Wayne won the top prize for his Rooster Cogburn in 1970). It's an Oscar slam dunk…maybe.

The addition of "True Grit" to the mix would, at very least, give the race a dark horse that could potentially knock off the current favorite: David Fincher's "The Social Network." The Facebook origin story cleaned up at the Globes, and it certainly has Oscar momentum. The movie's only current competition seems to be Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," which is the film responsible for Portman's cringe-worthy Best Actress acceptance speech. Unless, of course, "No Strings Attached" becomes Portman's "Norbit" (Just ask Eddie Murphy how an ill-timed movie release can derail an Oscar train).

Rounding out the favorites heading in to the Kodak Theater is "The King's Speech," which catapulted the criminally underrated (but perhaps not for long) Colin Firth to a Best Actor Globe. "The King's Speech" also just snagged the Producer's Guild Award, adding more oomph to its Oscar push.

The rest of the field will likely be pulled from the Mark Wahlberg/Christian Bale drama "The Fighter" (which earned co-star Melissa Leo a Supporting Actress Globe), the Christopher Nolan sci-fi headspinner "Inception," the no-brainer for Best Animated Feature "Toy Story 3," the family drama "The Kids Are Alright" (yes, Hollywood Foreign Press, it's a drama. Not a comedy), Danny Boyle's hiking cautionary tale "127 Hours," and maybe, just maybe, they'll throw a bone to Ben Affleck's Boston-based crime thriller "The Town."

One thing we do know for certain is that new hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco will be pretty and charming and boring and will ensure that no comedian is ever given the job ever again. This is serious business, folks. This is not the forum to make fun of Tim Allen's lack of a non-Toy Story career, now is it? Smile, hand out trophies, and make jokes that only agents get. That's it.