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Around the awards track: Anne Hathaway won’t be mean like Ricky Gervais | More experts’ Oscar predictions (like it or not)

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• Don’t expect Anne Hathaway or James Franco to pull a Ricky Gervais while hosting the Oscars. Hathaway says, ‘I can guarantee that if you’re looking for someone to call people out, we’re not your hosts. I think that humor is really difficult to pull off, and I’m not particularly adept at it. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it. Also, I don’t mean to sound overly serious, but I am the youngest host in history and I have no business being cynical or calling anyone out. I certainly haven’t earned the right to do that.’ HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

• ‘Inception’ leads with the most nominations (nine) at the Saturn Awards, which are bestowed to the best of sci-fi and fantasy fare. AMC network’s ‘The Walking Dead’ leads TV contenders with six bids. VARIETY

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Sasha Stone says, ‘I don’t think it’s a shoo-in for Natalie Portman. She’s certainly the front-runner, but I think Annette Bening in ‘The Kids Are All Right’ could have a good chance and if there is an upset, that’s the category it could be in.’ AWARDS DAILY

Kris Tapley gives his take on the races for best picture (part one and part two) and best actor. IN CONTENTION

Steve Pond says, ‘’The King’s Speech’ will win six Academy Awards on Sunday, double the number for the runner-up, ‘Inception.’ ‘The Social Network,’ ‘The Fighter’ and ‘Toy Story 3’ will each take home a pair, with the rest of the statuettes divided up between several other films.’ THE ODDS, THE WRAP

• ‘The King’s Speech’ gets 2 to 5 odds to win best picture based upon the predictions of nearly 30 experts. ‘The Social Network’ gets 4 to 1 odds. GOLD DERBY

Kenneth Turan bemoans all of the Oscar crystal-balling that goes on, including here at Awards Tracker: ‘The problem with all this Oscar predicting is not that the pundits are often wrong but, frankly, that they are often right. For the truth about the Oscars is that they are, to a large extent, predictable.... That’s how I feel about the never-ending parade of pre-event Oscar dissection. I know that genie is never, ever going back into the bottle, but part of me, the part that remembers being young, innocent and full of eager anticipation back in Brooklyn, wishes that it could.’ LOS ANGELES TIMES

• When asked for her view of Melissa Leo‘s self-promotional Oscar ads, Kathy Griffin replied, ‘I think it’s brilliant. The only thing I would have changed is the robe. She should have done a completely nude campaign. Now I really hope she wins.’ MOVIELINE

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• Many experts believe that the inclusion of palaces, royalty and posh British accents boosts chance of ‘King’s Speech’ winning Oscars. REUTERS

• However, David Germain notes that no film about the British monarchy has ever won best picture. ASSOCIATED PRESS

-- Tom O’Neil

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