Veteran entertainer Liza Minnelli is so convinced Matthew Mcconaughey will win his first Oscar for his role as an Aids victim in Dallas Buyers Club she plans to give the actor her trophy if his name isn't called at the Academy Awards.

MCConaughey is a critics' favourite to land a Best Actor nomination and many film buffs believe he'll take home gold in March (14), and Minnelli agrees.

At a Focus Features luncheon for Academy members at New York City's Monkey Bar restaurant on Monday (06Jan14), the Cabaret star, who hosted the event, told guests, including MCConaughey and co-star Jared Leto, "I have nothing to do with this film except that I am a fan of how it was done, of the insight and the way they played these characters. And the fact that you were watching something that wasn't necessarily comfortable but you could not stop watching. It drew you in, whether you wanted it to or not, and that's magic.

And she told the film's star, "Honey, if you don't win the Academy Award, I'm giving you mine!"

Minnelli won a Best Actress Oscar for Cabaret in 1973.