DUBAI // Colin Firth's performance as the stuttering King George VI, who overcomes a speech impediment to address the British Commonwealth on the brink of World War Two, is the clear favourite to pick up the best actor award at the 83rd annual edition of the Oscars tonight. Pundits are mostly backing Firth, who is up against Jesse Eisenberg, who portrayed the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, and James Franco in 127 Hours. The award for best picture is not so clear cut, with 10 films nominated this year in the expanded category. As well as The Social Network, which picked up four Golden Globes in January, making it the film with the most wins of that night, The King's Speech is up against the thriller Inception, which grossed more than US$23.7 million (Dh87.1m) on its US opening day. Also in the running is Black Swan, where Natalie Portman portrays the lead ballerina in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet as she suffers a psychological breakdown. Portman, who trained as a ballerina for 10 months for the role, is tipped to receive the best actress award for her performance. Her main rival for this award is said to be Annette Bening, playing a successful doctor, who, with her life partner, must confront a variety of issues after their two children seek out their biological father in The Kids Are Alright. In the supporting actress category Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the Queen Mother alongside Firth in The King's Speech, and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, a tough-minded 14-year-old who hires a US marshal to track down the man who killed her father in True Grit, are the main contenders. The animated picture Toy Story 3, also nominated in the best picture category, is the favourite for best animated feature film. Tim Burton, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is nominated again this year for his fantastical creation Alice in Wonderland. It is worth noting that Burton has never lost when nominated for the best art direction award. The Way Back, a story of a group of prisoners of war who made their way home on foot across four thousand miles, and the first feature-length big picture from Abu Dhabi's production house Imagenation, is nominated in one category - best make up.