Join Josh Horowitz and Christina Garibaldi with your favorite celebs, starting 5 p.m. Sunday on MTV.com.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

MTV News has been your go-to source for everything Oscars leading up to the big night, and when it comes time to hand out the Academy Awards, we’ll be right in the center of the action to bring you what you need.

MTV News’ Josh Horowitz and Christina Garibaldi will come to you live from the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre this Sunday, February 26, talking to the stars, bringing you the fashion and celebrating all things Oscars.

The live stream from the red carpet will begin on MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. PT and run right up until the beginning of the ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars to share your thoughts and ask questions of your favorite celebs.

During the two and a half hours of coverage, you’ll be sure to hear from not only the nominees, but the rest of Hollywood’s biggest stars. MTV News will be your one-stop shop for the biggest stars on Hollywood’s biggest night.

In the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, MTV News has had everything you need to know heading into Oscar night. Every day, we will be bringing you new predictions and analysis of the awards show and giving you all the inside info to take home the pot in your Oscar pool.

It all starts live on MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. PT.

The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars.

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Amy Childs – pictured last week leaving Nobu – has revealed how her life has been turned upside down since she shot to fame on the hit reality TV show, The Only Way Is Essex.

The former TOWIE star ? who left the show last year ? told OK! magazine:

?My life has changed so much and not all of it has been good. We?ve lived in Brentwood for ten years. We never had any problems until I went into TOWIE, but some things have started to go wrong.?

She then explained how her family home has been burgled, her dad?s flower shop has been raided and her brother?s Mercedes has been scratched.

Amy added, ?This has all happened since I became famous. I feel so guilty for my family.

?My mum and dad have given me so much support. I understand what happened to Whitney Houston. People are like, ?It must be great to be famous.? It is, but they don’t know how bad things can happen.?

Wait; what has Whitney got to do with this? Is anybody else confused?!

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The one, the only Joan Rivers took a break from ridiculing celebrities on the red carpet to attend New York fashion week. The E! Fashion Police guru dished with In Touch on her style secrets while backstage at the Badgley Mischka and Dennis Basso shows.

IT: What does it feel like knowing you originated the whole philosophy of “who are you wearing”?
JR: It’s hilarious! If my daughter Melissa and I had known we would have copy written it.

IT: What is your fashion faux pas?
JR: Anyone that takes themselves seriously in fashion. It’s like calm down. It’s fun, it is not life and death.

IT: Whose closet would you raid?
JR: Well, raid it and fix it would be Meryl Streep. She doesn’t care about fashion. Raid it to just look at it, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett. They are taking chances. Sarah Jessica Parker is hit or miss and that is what I love about her.

IT: How do you pick your outfit?
JR: Whatever makes me look thin!

Come on, Joan! You look great in everything!

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Woody Allen will most likely be rewarded for ‘Midnight in Paris,’ but we have our hearts set on ‘A Separation.’
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams in “Midnight in Paris”
Photo: Sony Pictures Classic

One of the major complaints about this year’s Academy Awards race is that most of the winners feel decided already. Sure, “The Artist” is going to win Best Picture. Viola Davis probably already has Best Actress locked up. But the competition for Best Original Screenplay doesn’t even feel like a competition at all. The Academy has already spoken, and they’re going with an Oscar favorite.

What’s really unfortunate here is not that the category is so predictable, but that the Academy didn’t venture more into independent film to find their nominees. “A Separation” stands out as one of the more refreshing nominees, but as the obligatory “indie” nominee, “Margin Call” could easily be swapped out for the likes of Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter” or Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”

Of all the films nominated for original writing, here are our predictions for the category in 2012:

Who Will Win: Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris.” After 40-plus years of making movies, Allen delivered a film that went on to become his most financially successful ever. An achievement by a writer/director of his caliber will rarely go unrewarded at the Oscars, and deservedly so. “Midnight in Paris” is perfectly all right with being ridiculous, even going as far as to not explain the main character’s time-traveling abilities. More importantly, the film was about something, the allure and emptiness of nostalgia, in a year that’s been obsessed with traveling back in time emotionally. Even if the plot became repetitive at times, even the most cynical viewers had to find some joy in watching the like of Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds speaking words written by Allen.

Who Should Win: Asghar Farhadi for “A Separation.” Anytime the Academy has an opportunity to do something utterly unexpected, that’s where my heart will lie. A win for the Iranian film would not only buck old Academy stereotypes, but reward a truly deserving film. “A Separation” follows a married couple as they decided whether to stay in Iran and care for an ailing parent or leave to better the life of their young daughter. Launching from that already provocative starting point, the film goes unexpected places while keeping the audience’s attention every step of the way.

The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5:30 p.m. ET for our three-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners.

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Most critics have panned the Nicolas Cage flick, citing mediocrity as its biggest crime.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Nicolas Cage in “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”
Photo: Columbia Pictures

Nicolas Cage‘s Ghost Rider has received a makeover from “Crank” directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, but that’s not enough to keep the critics happy. Most have panned “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” citing mediocrity as its biggest crime.

We’ve rounded up a sample of the reviews of the film, so you can decide whether you’ll be making the trip to hell this weekend.

The Story
“It’s been five years since stunt rider Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) signed on the bloody line and became Beelzebub’s flaming-biker bounty hunter. Sniffing out evil and sucking the souls out of bad guys whenever his head catches on fire, Blaze finally wants rid of his cursed vigilante alter ego.” — Paul Bradshaw, TotalFilm.com

The Lead
“Returning as the eponymous not-quite-hero, Nicolas Cage spends stretches of the film on autopilot while waiting for scenes he deems worthy of his particular brand of crazy. They’re not frequent enough to please the Cage aficionado, but sequences in which the twitchy, inappropriately giddy actor tries to choke back transformations into a bloodthirsty skeleton-on-fire are welcome in a film where often-charismatic costars Ciarán Hinds and Idris Elba are singing off-key.” — John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter

The Directors
“Of course, the 3-D is only of any use whenever the camera stays still, but as with the previous helming efforts of Neveldine/Taylor (the more proudly provocative ‘Crank’ 1 & 2 and ‘Gamer’), the action is often either jittery or roving, shot from behind with the swerving rhythm that comes from one filming on rollerblades, thus doing the format few favors. Their glib touches litter the screenplay, from quips about YouTube and the odd moment approximating a video game glitch to the aforementioned throwaway shot of Ghost Rider taking a flaming leak and nodding to the camera amid the unlikely inferno.” — William Goss, Film.com

The Supporting Cast
“It’s even hard to fully enjoy the mostly-great Ciarán Hinds as the Devil, a role he should be perfectly suited for. Unlike everyone else, he’s obviously trying to hold back and not look ridiculous, but that’s also tough considering how poorly his dialogue is written.

Similarly, young Fergus Riordan may not be quite as annoying as Thomas Horn, but he introduces the same issues any kid character does when brought into a movie geared towards adults. Violante Placido does a perfectly fine job looking fine, making it plainly obvious that she’s basically another poorly-developed female character thrown into a male-driven action movie with very little actual purpose.” — Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net

The Final Word
“Like ‘Ghost Rider: Low Voltage,’ this is a surprisingly underpowered excursion into Marvel’s mad world by Neveldine and Taylor. More purgatory than hellfire.” — Helen O’Hara, Empire

Check out everything we’ve got on “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.”

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

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