AP writers are covering the scene as Hollywood gets ready for its big night on March 5. They'll be filing periodic reports on the goings-on as the perfect outfits are selected, the red carpet is readied and the gold statuettes are polished for the annual awards show. Imagine being Steven Spielberg if your remake of the mother-of-all-war-of-the-worlds epics fails to get an Oscar nomination for visual effects. Ditto for Peter Jackson if the giant monkey boy you and your pixel pixies birthed misses out on an effects nomination. Or, gasp, think of George Lucas and the Skywalker clan sitting this one out on Oscar night. There are only three slots to be had for the visual-effects category when nominations come out next Tuesday. My gut feeling is that Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," Jackson's "King Kong" and Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" will end up the three finalists for Hollywood's pyrotechnics beauty pageant. [More]