Jessica Alba put her baby bump on show during a shopping trip in LA yesterday, trading in her glamorous Oscars look for street chic.

The Fantastic Four actress, who is rumoured to be expecting twins, kept it casual with a full length black summer dress and flip flops as she hit the stores with her fiancé Cash Warren.

Jessica, who recently revealed she is in her “third trimester”, opted for a relaxed approach to fashion after making a dazzling appearance at the Academy Awards earlier this week in a strapless Markesa dress with Cartier jewellery.

She presented a gong at the ceremony, and noted on her MySpace blog she was relieved to have made it through without tripping over her dress on stage.

But she did lose her balance away from prying cameras.

She wrote: “I did have a stumble backstage… Cash caught [me]. Luckily all the photographers were taking pictures of Cameron [Diaz] looking gorgeous in pink.”

She also revealed she passed over VIP parties in favourt of a quiet night with her fiance.

“Instead of hitting up the Governor’s Ball or any other party, we opted for sweats and In-N-Out Burgers,” she noted.

“Being preggers kind of takes the fun out of partying until the wee hours. Sleep always sounds so much better these days.”

Jessica, who announced her pregnancy in December and got engaged weeks later, is also adjusting to her changing shape.

She has said: “When you’re pregnant, your breasts are engorged and your stomach is getting bigger by the second.”

“But it’s awesome. It’s the best time ever.”

Whoopi Goldberg has accepted Oscar’s apology.

When her ‘The View’ co-hosts had pointed out on Monday’s episode that she was left out of the montage shown in the 80th Academy Awards, the 52-year-old actress became emotional and teary-eyed for the omission.

And then on Tuesday, Oscar’s executive producer Gil Cates told People magazine that he would personally call Goldberg to apologize for the oversight.

“Gil called yesterday and said, ‘I would have called you Monday but I hadn’t slept.’ He said ‘Listen, I missed it. I didn’t realize it wasn’t in there.’”

Goldberg became forgiving and excused the error saying they just had a lot on their minds.

“They even missed Brad Renfro and Steve Martin,” the first ever African-American woman who won the Academy’s Best Supporting Actress says.

“I love Gil. He was the one who came to me and said, “I want to put you in as first female host of the Oscars, let’s make history,” she adds.

France’s Marion Cotillard was crowned best actress at the 80th Academy Awards here Sunday as violent thriller “No Country for Old Men” bagged two early Oscars.

Cotillard, 32, won for her astounding performance as tragic chanteuse Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose,” becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the best actress Oscar since Simone Signoret in 1960.

It was the only second time in Oscars history that the best actress award had gone to a performance in a non-English speaking role. Italian legend Sophia Loren was the other woman to achieve the feat in 1962.

Cotillard, who received the award from 2007 best actor Forest Whitaker, paid tribute to her director before exclaiming: “Thank you life, thank you love. It is true that there are some angels in this city. Thank you so, so much.”

In other early honors, pre-Oscars favorite “No Country for Old Men” took an early lead in the overall awards stakes by winning two statuettes in the best supporting actor and adapted screenplay categories.

Javier Bardem became the first performer from Spain ever to win an acting Oscar for his portrayal of a psychopathic hitman in the film.

“This is pretty amazing, it’s a great honor for me to have this,” Bardem told guests in his acceptance speech.

“Thank you to the Coens for being crazy enough to think that I could do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts in history on my head,” he added, referring to the bizarre coiffure given to his character in the film.

The film’s directors — Joel and Ethan Coen — later won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for “No Country for Old Men.”

Britain’s Tilda Swinton was crowned best supporting actress for her performance as a scheming corporate legal chief in the drama “Michael Clayton.”

“Oh, no. Happy birthday, man,” Swinton said, clutching her Oscar statuette. “I have an American agent who is the spitting image of this. Really truly the same shape head and, it has to be said, the buttocks.”

In other early awards, Disney-Pixar’s “Ratatouille”, about a Parisian rat who attempts to become a master-chef, won the best animated feature Oscar.

Earlier, dark clouds and rain failed to put a dampener on the movie industry’s biggest party of the year as stars lit up the red carpet.

Streets around the venue were cordoned off as authorities draped a security blanket over the neighborhood where guests arrived on a red carpet that has been shielded by a waterproof canopy.

The Oscars are expected to be carved up between several violent movies, with the eight-times nominated “No Country for Old Men” heading the field and its directors, the Coen brothers, eyeing a place in history.

Oscar host Jon Stewart quipped about the crop of “Oscar-nominated psychopathic killer movies” in his opening monologue.

“Does this town need a hug? What happened? ‘No Country For Old Men?’ ‘Sweeney Todd?’ ‘There Will Be Blood?’ All I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy. I think the country agrees,” Stewart said in a nod to best picture nominee “Juno.”

The Coens could set a new record if they sweep all four categories they have been personally nominated in — best picture as producers, director, adapted screenplay and editing.

It would be the first time ever that anyone has won four Academy Awards for the same film in one year, although Walt Disney scooped four Oscars for different projects in 1953.

On paper, “No Country for Old Men’s” biggest rival is the eight-time nominated oil industry epic “There Will Be Blood,” which is joined in the best picture category by legal thriller “Michael Clayton,” historical drama “Atonement” and comedy “Juno.”

Beyond the contests for best picture and best director clear front-runners have emerged in most of the acting categories.

Daniel Day-Lewis is regarded as a shoo-in to win the second best actor statuette of his career for playing an oil baron in “There Will Be Blood,” ahead of George Clooney (”Michael Clayton”) and Tommy Lee Jones for “In the Valley of Elah.”

This year’s Oscars are taking place after months of uncertainty following the Hollywood screenwriters strike that wreaked havoc with the entertainment industry’s awards season.

The Golden Globes were canceled after stars vowed to boycott the event in support of striking writers and fears of a similar no-show had plagued the Oscars until the strike was called off earlier this month.

Notable quotes from Sunday night’s 80th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles:

“I’m speechless. … Thank you life. Thank you love. It is true there (are) some angels in this city.” _ Marion Cotillard, after winning best-actress Oscar for “La Vie en Rose.”

“George Clooney, you know, the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber batsuit from `Batman & Robin’ _ the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch _ you rock man.” _ Tilda Swinton, thanking “Michael Clayton” co-star George Clooney after winning best supporting actress trophy.

“Thank you to the Coens for being crazy enough to think that I could do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts (in) history over my head.” _ Javier Bardem, thanking directors Ethan and Joel Coen while accepting the best supporting actor Oscar for “No Country for Old Men.”

“The fight is over. So tonight, welcome to the makeup sex.” _ Jon Stewart, on the post-strike Oscars.

“If we stay the course, we can turn these movies around.” _ Jon Stewart, on the plethora of financially unsuccessful Iraq movies.

“Oscar is 80 this year, which makes him now automatically the front-runner for the Republican (presidential) nomination.” _ Jon Stewart.

“The prospect of all this is rather daunting. The actual practice of it is all right. I’m enjoying myself.” _ Tom Wilkinson, supporting actor nominee for “Michael Clayton,” on his Oscar red carpet experience.

“Normally when you see a black man or a woman president, an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty.” _ Jon Stewart.

Violent movies are tipped to carve up the top honors when the red carpet is rolled out for the 80th Academy Awards on Sunday, reflecting Oscar voters’ increasing willingness to honor darker fare.

As stars and powerbrokers prepare to descend on the Kodak Theatre for Hollywood’s biggest party of the year, all eyes are on a best picture race that features a slew of films notable for their grim, dark themes.

The heavy favorite with eight nominations is “No Country for Old Men,” Joel and Ethan Coen’s film about the murderous forces that are unleashed after a drug deal on the US-Mexico border ends in a pile of bullet-ridden corpses.

“There Will Be Blood,” an edgy movie about a tyrannical oil prospector, also has eight nods and is joined in the best picture category by legal thriller “Michael Clayton,” historical drama “Atonement” and comedy “Juno.”

But after scoring a sweep of the movie industry’s professional awards — seen as key Oscar indicators — the Coen brothers’ bleak “No Country” looks unstoppable as the best picture winner.

“The old days of ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Oliver’ winning best picture are gone, at least for the time being,” said Tom O’Neil, an awards season pundit with the Los Angeles Times’ theenvelope.com.

“It’s going to be the second year in a row that a best picture winner has won where all guns have been blazing,” O’Neil added, recalling Martin Scorsese’s win in 2007 for gangster movie “The Departed.”

Pundits say the expected success of “No Country for Old Men” indicates the willingness of the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science’s 5,829 voters to reward quality film-making regardless of the level of violence.

“Whether it’s violent or not does not matter as much as whether the film has been well made,” said Maxim film critic Pete Hammond.

“That said, it’s unusual that for two years in a row we see a dark, violent movie getting the Oscars’ top prize. But maybe Oscar is simply reflecting the times we live in.”

Lew Harris, the editorial director of Movies.com, meanwhile noted that only one out of the five best picture nominees — the acclaimed comedy “Juno” — had broken the 100-million-dollar box office barrier.

“There is a growing gap between what the Academy is going to reward and what the audiences out there want to see,” Harris said. “That may or may not be a good thing.”

Outside the contests for best picture and best director, which is expected to see the Coen brothers triumph, clear front-runners have emerged in most of the acting categories.

Daniel Day-Lewis is regarded as a shoo-in to scoop the second best actor statuette of his career for playing a murderous oil baron in “There Will Be Blood”, ahead of fellow nominees that include George Clooney for “Michael Clayton” and Tommy Lee Jones for “In the Valley of Elah.”

The best actress award is expected to be a straight fight between British veteran Julie Christie, who plays a woman grappling with Alzheimer’s in “Away from Her” and France’s Marion Cotillard, nominated for her startling portrayal of tragic chanteuse Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose.”

In the supporting categories, Javier Bardem is poised to become the first ever Spaniard to win an acting Oscar for his performance in “No Country for Old Men,” where he plays a psychopathic hit-man whose specialty is executing victims with a slaughterhouse cattle-gun.

But the race for best supporting actress is less clear-cut. Australia’s Cate Blanchett, who is also nominated in the best actress category, had been the early favorite following her gender-bending performance as music legend Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There.”

However Blanchett could face stiff competition from 83-year-old Ruby Dee, who would become the oldest winner of a competitive Oscar in history if she wins for her role as a drug lord’s mother in “American Gangster.”

This year’s Oscars are taking place after months of uncertainty following the Hollywood screenwriters strike that wreaked havoc with the entertainment industry’s awards season.

The Golden Globes were canceled after stars vowed to boycott the event in support of striking writers and fears of a similar no-show had plagued the Oscars until the strike was called off last week.

The awards assumed added significance this year because the Hollywood writer’s strike stripped the Golden Globes, which traditionally rank next to the Oscars, to a mere press event.

Those present at the awards ceremony included Keira Knightly, Sienna Miller, Jessica Biel, Kate Hudson, Eva Green, Emily Blunt, Victoria Silvestedt, Tilda Swinton, Rosamund Pike, Natassia Malthe and Natascha McElhone among others.

Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for his role in There Will Be Blood, and French actress Marion Cotillard took the Best Actress award home for La Vie En Rose, in which she played singer Edith Piaf.

Atonement, which had been nominated in 14 categories, was named the best film but managed just one more award in the Production Design category.

Oscar nominated actress Ellen Page has signed up to star in director Sam Raimi’s new horror flick.

The Juno star will appear in Drag Me To Hell as a girl who has been afflicted with a supernatural curse.

The thriller sees a return to form for Raimi who began his career with film such as Army Of Darkness and The Gift before turning his hand to the Spiderman franchise.

Drag Me To Hell will be the acclaimed director’s first non Spiderman project in eight years.

The Universal film, which will begin shooting in March, was co-written by Sam and his brother Ivan.

Marc Shmuger and David Linde, Universal chairman and co-chairman, told the Hollywood Reporter: “Sam Raimi’s return to horror is a cause for celebration for horror fans and movie lovers everywhere.

“We are tremendously excited to be bringing this movie to audiences, and having Ellen Page, one of today’s most gifted and relatable young actors, onboard to star is an abundance of riches.”

Meanwhile, Ellen recently formed part of the line-up in Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood photo shoot.

The starlet joins other rising stars including Amy Adams, Ameruca Ferrera and Anne Hathaway in the Annie Leibovitz spread.

After missing out on a nomination for the Oscars, Brit beauty Keira Knightley has managed to bag one for the 2008 Empire Awards.

Harry Potter’s also leading the way, with both films having received six nominations ahead of next month’s ceremony.

Billed as an antidote to the Oscars and the Baftas, Zodiac, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Assassination of Jesse James will battle it out for Best Film.

Atonement is shortlisted for Best British Film, Best Actress for Knightley, Best Actor for James McAvoy, Best Director for Joe Wright, Best Newcomer for Saoirse Ronan, and Best Soundtrack.

Helen O’Hara from Empire thinks Knightley is a very deserving contender.

She said: “This is really the film that shows she’s a proper actress – not just the star from the Pirate movies. It’s definitely her best work to date.”

The award ceremony will be aired on ITV2 on Monday, March 10 at 9pm.

Charlize Theron claims she is naturally plain. The Oscar-winning actress, who plays a small-town cop and single mother in new film ‘In the Valley of Elah’, insists her character’s appearance is how she really looks behind all the Hollywood glamor.

Charlize, 32, said: “If you don’t consider my character beautiful, I’m sorry, but that’s really me.”

“That’s my natural hair color. That’s me with very little make-up. There’s no prosthetics. That’s what I look like.”

The blonde star – who always appears on the red carpet looking radiant – insists all the good lead roles for women are ugly.

Charlize – who had to gain weight and dramatically alter her appearance to play serial killer Aileen Wuornos in ‘Monster’ – said: “It’s not like I’ve been offered any great glamorous roles that had great conflict and great story-telling. But I’m not going to be picky because those are hard to come by. If I sit around waiting for a good, glamorous story to come around, I’m probably never going to work.”

Charlize Theron seems to have it all: beauty, brains, a high-earning Hollywood career and an Oscar in her hands. Now, the actress has added another coveted description: Sexiest Woman Alive.

Men’s magazine Esquire on Wednesday bestowed its annual honor on the South African actress who is currently starring in war film, “In the Valley of Elah.”

“She combines unbelievable beauty with a smart mind and this attitude like she’s almost one of the guys — like you could hang out and have a beer with — and all of that adds up to sexy,” said Esquire articles editor Ryan D’Agostino.

In its November issue, which hits newsstands on October 16, Theron, 32, talks about her new movie, politics, being from South Africa and her feelings about the United States, where she recently earned dual citizenship.

The long-legged, blonde beauty also shows a penchant for drinking, cussing and smoking, and she tears up when talking about the recent death of her dog.

The issue annually is one of Esquire’s most widely read, and it generates debate among readers, D’Agostino said.

He added that every year the Sexiest Woman exudes some sense of individuality, and that there is no set of criteria or rules by which the magazine’s editors, writers and other contributors pick the titleholder.

D’Agostino did say the magazine likes to choose someone based on how current they are in pop culture. After taking time off following 2005 film “North Country,” Theron is back with two movies, “Elah” and “Battle in Seattle,” this year and has several others set for release next year and beyond.