Winter's Bone | featured news

Jennifer Lawrence will help announce this year's Academy Awards nominees. The 21-year-old actress will join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak at the nominations announcement on Jan. 24. Lawrence earned her first Oscar nomination last year for "Winter's Bone." She stars in the anticipated adaptation of "The Hunger Games," set for release in March.

The ballet thriller "Black Swan" won four prizes Saturday at the Spirit Awards honoring independent film, including best picture, best actress for Natalie Portman and director for Darren Aronofsky.James Franco was picked as best actor for the survival story "127 hours," while the Ozarks crime story "Winter's Bone" earned both supporting-acting prizes, for John Hawkes and Dale Dickey.