US director Martin Scorsese

The race for the Oscars was heating up, with Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and the road movie "Sideways" dominating Hollywood's awards chatter.

Scorsese, always a bridesmaid but never the bride at the Oscars, may finally be in line for cinema's top honour with his epic biography of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, awards pundits said.

"It looks as if a Marty Scorsese film finally is flying high in the Oscar best picture race," said Tinseltown awards guru Tom O'Neil, adding that the film was pulling ahead because of its size, scope and overdue director.

Despite turning out classics such as "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas," Scorsese has never won the best director Oscar, heightening speculation among awards voters that 2005 may be the year to correct past oversights.

"'The Aviator' will no doubt lead with the most Oscar nominations and that has in the past overwhelming foretold the winner of the best picture award," said O'Neil, who runs the awards-monitoring website Goldderby.com.

"The Aviator" picked up six Golden Globe nominations, including best drama film nods for director Scorsese and a lead actor nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Globes, frequently seen as an Oscars bellwether, will be handed out on January 16, just over a week before the 77th annual Oscar nominations are announced on January 24.

However, the grand-scale "Aviator" faces intense competition from Eastwood's movie about a female boxer, starring Hilary Swank, and from Alexander Payne's critically adored movie about two ordinary men on a road trip, "Sideways."

"Sideways," a moving yet funny film about two oddly-matched pals searching for happiness while on a wine-quaffing car trip, led the Golden Globe nods with seven and has also swept the US critical awards.

The film by "About Schmidt" director Payne has picked up best picture honours from influential critics groups based in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"Million Dollar Baby" is also generating major Oscars buzz for best picture and best actress for Swank, for her turn as determined boxer Maggie Fitzgerald. She won the gong once before, for 1999's "Boys Don't Cry."

Swank stars opposite the film's director, Eastwood, as Maggie's reluctant manager, and Morgan Freeman.

"Clint's status as a beloved academy member certainly helps to bolster his chances in the best picture and best director races," O'Neil said.

Ironically, the three early favourites for the coveted best picture Oscar have not been seen by wide audiences as they are in limited pre-Oscars release only in major US cities.

Also packing serious Oscars heat, according to the pundits, are "Finding Neverland," the story of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie starring Johnnie Depp; "Kinsey," starring Liam Neeson as the famed sexologist; and "Closer," starring Jude Law and Julia Roberts in the story of a love quadrangle.

Jamie Foxx is also the focus of major Oscar speculation as a contender for the best actor award, after turning in a remarkable performance as the late "Genius of Soul," Ray Charles, in Taylor Hackford's biopic "Ray."

Foxx is likely to face off Don Cheadle for his role in the genocide-themed "Hotel Rwanda," as well as Paul Giamatti for "Sideways," Neeson for "Kinsey," and DiCaprio for "The Aviator," awards watchers said.

In the best actress race, Swank is expected to face competition from Annette Bening for her role as a London stage actress in "Being Julia," Imelda Staunton for the 1950s abortion saga "Vera Drake."

In the early stakes, however, it was "The Aviator" that loomed as the movie player to watch ahead of the February 27 Oscars show -- provided it does well at the box office following its general release.

"'Aviator' may have all of those plusses, but it can't prove victorious on February 27 if it doesn't already look like a winner at the box office," O'Neil said.