Manny The Movie Guy /

Round two! Previously, the Academy has announced 63 films vying for Oscar glory, and then there was 9. My home-country, the Philippines, failed to make it. Their submission, "The Women in the Septic Tank" by Marlon Rivera did not make the cut although the film is one of the best of 2011 in Philippine Cinema.

Some early favorites that did not make the shortlist are "The Flowers of War" from China, "The Kid with a Bike" from Belgium (they nominated another Belgian movie called "Bullhead," and one of the most famous snubs from perennial award favorite, Pedro Almodovar, "The Skin I Live In" from Spain. Heck they even ignore Angelina Jolie's Bosnian film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" which received a Golden Globe nomination.

From the 9 shortlist, the Academy will have specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles where they will watch three movies each day from Friday, January 20, through Sunday, January 22. Then...they will cast their ballots.

We'll find out the final five when the 84th Academy Awards nominations are announced on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m.

And of course, the Oscars will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre.

And here are the films, listed in alphabetical order by country:

Belgium, "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam, director;
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau, director;
Denmark, "Superclásico," Ole Christian Madsen, director;
Germany, "Pina," Wim Wenders, director;
Iran, "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi, director;
Israel, "Footnote," Joseph Cedar, director;
Morocco, "Omar Killed Me," Roschdy Zem, director;
Poland, "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland, director;
Taiwan, "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," Wei Te-sheng, director.