Worst. Oscars. Show. Ever.

Don't get me wrong: there were some parts of the show I liked. I agreed with most of the choices this year, with some exception to Sandra Bullock. If it were me, two newcomer actresses Gabourey Sidible and Carey Mulligan would be sharing the Best Actress prize for the outstanding performances in Precious (Sidible) and An Education (Mulligan), and i'm thrilled that Kathryn Bigelow broke the glass ceiling in the all-boys Directors honors to become the first female to win the Best Director Oscar, and Ben Stiller was hilarious dressed up as one of James Cameron's blue-skinned Na'vi characters from Pandora, but the adult website Cumfiesta.com doesn't hold a candle to last night's unapologetic wave of facials that made up the telcast of the 82nd annual Academy Awards. How annoying and self serving was it? The verbal deepthroating that occurred when presenting Best Actor and Best Actress puts professional pornstars to shame. Every year, we're told that they plan to make the show shorter. This year's show went on for almost 4 hours. Bill Maher tweeted about the assault of verbal cock-sucking that took place:

Actors are just the bestest people in thw world! We are so lucky to be sharing the earth with them!! Fuck!!!

Amen, Bill. Here's the list of all the winners:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Karthryn Bigelow; The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges; Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock; The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz; Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique; Precious: Based On the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best Orginal Screenplay: Mark Boal; The Hurt Locker
Best Adapted Screenplay: Gefforey S. Fletcher; Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Best Animated Short:Logorama
Best Art Direction: Avatar
Best Cimeatography: Avatar
Best Costume Design: The Young Victorian
Best Documentary Feature: The Cove
Best Documentary - Short Subject: Music by Prudence
Best Film Editing: The Hurt Locker
Best Foreign Language Film: El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Best Live Action Short: The New Tennants
Best Makeup: Star Trek
Best Orginal Score: Michael Giaccino; Up
Best Original Song: T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham; "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart
Best Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker
Best Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker
Best Visual Effects: Avatar

Oscar Predictions, Pt. 3: Supporting Actor and Actress

And here's part 3 of my Oscar analysis for 2010! Now i'm going to look at what's happening with Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, although I think these are set in stone at this point. Anyway, onward with the predictions!

The Nominees for Actor in a Supporting Role are...
Matt Damon; Invitcus
Woody Harrelson; The Messenger
Christopher Plummer; The Last Station
Stanley Tucci; The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz; Inglourious Basterds
State of the Race: Besides the fact that after decades of amazing work by one of the most respected and celebrated performers in Hollywood, Chirstopher Plummer (finally) is nominated for an Academy Award, this race is done. It was over when Christoph Waltz won the acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and he hasn't looked back since.

And the Oscar goes to...Waltz. For the third straight year, a villain will have nabbed the Best Supporting Actor trophy (2008 with Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men and in 2009 with the late Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight). Since Cannes, Waltz has gone on to collect trophies at the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the Critics Choice, and the BAFTAs. If you don't believe he'll win, you're nuts.
And the Oscar should go to...See above. Also let me add that Waltz's Hands Landa is the best character Quentin Tarantino has created since Samuel l. Jackson played Bible-thumpin' hitman Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction and the best Nazi soldier since Ralph Finnes chilling and menacing take on Amor Goeth in Spielberg's Schindler's List.

And the Nominees for Actress in a Supporting Role are...
Penelope Cruz; Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal; Crazy Heart
Vera Farminga; Up In the Air
Mo'Nique; Precious: Based On the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Anna Kendrick; Up In the Air
State of the Race: Again, what freaking race? Penelope won it last year for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, so she's out. Farmiga and Kendrick were both excellent in Up In the Air, but they'll cancel each other out. That leaves us with Gyllenhall with her soulful performance in Crazy Heart, but she doesn't hold a candle to Mo'Nique's revelatory role as the abusive mother from hell.

And the Oscar goes to...Mo'Nique. Much like with Waltz for Supporting Actor and Bigelow for Director, the trio have swept up any and all trophies they have been nominated for. Even Oscar isn't this empty-headed to snub a sure-fire thing.
And the Oscar should go to...See the past two above.

And here's the recap of my predictions, if you've missed any of them:
Best Picture
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win Inglourious Basterds

Best Director
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow
Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Best Actor
Will Win: The Dude
Should Win: George Clooney

Best Actress
Will Win: Sandra Bullock
Should Win: Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe in a tie

Best Supporting Actor
Will win: Christoph Waltz
Should Win: Christoph Waltz

Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Mo'Nique
Should Win: Mo'Nique

Oscar Predictions, Pt. 2: Lead Actor and Actress

Part two of my Oscar predictions are here! I'm examining who's up this year, what does the race look like, and who will come out on top and why, along with who should win and why.

And without further ado...

And the nominees for Actor in a Leading Role are...
Jeff Bridges; Crazy Heart
George Clooney; Up In the Air
Colin Firth; A Single Man
Morgan Freeman; Invitcus
Jeremy Renner; The Hurt Locker
State of the Race: To be honest, there isn't much of a race. Firth won the BAFTA for his heartbreaking role as a gay professor coping with the loss of his partner, but he's not going to win. Freeman won it in 2005 for Best Supporting Actor in Million Dollar Baby, so we can cancel him out. Renner gave a breakout performance as an IED specialist who's addicted to war, but rarely does a performance like that win the golden statuette (the last time that happened, Jamie Foxx can away with it in '05 for Ray). That leaves us with Clooney in his career-best performance as a self-isolating man who flies across the county to fire people, and The Dude, in a soulful role as a washed-up country star looking for redemption and a way back into the spotlight.

And the Oscar goes to...The Dude. He's been nominated four times and not won, while George won Supporting Actor in 2006 for Syriana. Plus, he's won at the Golden Globes, and at the SAG Awards. The Dude will abide.
And the Oscar should go to...George Clooney. It was him at his best, finding the fragile nature of a hermit-shelled man ready to feel something with the human race. He's utterly heartbreaking.


And the nominees for Actress in a Leading Role are...
Sandra Bullock; The Blind Side
Helen Mirram; The Last Station
Carey Mulligan; An Education
Gabourey Sidibe; Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Meryl Streep; Julie & Julia
State of the Race: Again, not much of a race. Lets (sadly) cancel out the newcomers, Mulligan and Sidibe, excellent as they may have been in their debut roles. Mirram won the Best Actress prize in 2007 for The Queen, so she's out. It's between Sandra, first-time Oscar nominee who shocked critics with her dramatic and inspiring performance as Southern mom to NFL rookie Michael Oher, vs. 16-time nominated, and two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, with another amazing role as light-hearted cooking legend Julia Child.

And the Oscar goes to...Sandra Bullock. Like Bridges, she's won most of the big awards (Golden Globes, Critics Choice Award, SAG award, all for Best Actress) leading up to the Awards ceremony, and Streep has won twice. When Bullock wins, she'll be the first actor to win an Oscar and a Razzie for Worst Actress (All About Steve).
And the Oscar should go to...Mulligan and Sidibe in a tie. For me, these two are hard to choose from, mostly because both gave true standout performances. The 24 year-old Mulligan is brilliant as Jenny, balancing her coming-of-age and her carnal desires for an older man. Sidible, who has never acted before, is a knockout as the title character, a 17-year-old living through hell with her abusive mother and raising a kid, but still finding the strength to carry on.

Part three is tomorrow, and a recap on my pics for the rest of the categories.

Oscar Predictions, Pt. 1: Best Picture and Best Director

This Sunday is the 82nd annual Academy Awards, and this year, there are 10 films nominated for Best Picture, rather than the usual five. Here are the nominations, who will win and who should win.

And the nominees for Best Picture are...
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based On the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Up
Up In the Air
State of the Race: It's between James Cameron's juggernaut Avatar and ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's war thriller The Hurt Locker, universally acclaimed by the critics. Hurt Locker has picked up the Producer's Guild Award, the Director's Guild, and the Writer's Guild, and has won big at the BAFTA's weeks ago, all are usually indicators of where the voters will usually go. Avatar, however, has one thing Bigelow's drama doesn't have: the highest grossing movie of all time, both in the States ($700+ million) and worldwide ($2 billion so far). Does the Academy follow in the footsteps of its colleagues, or will it follow the almighty dollar?

And the Oscar goes to...Inglourious Basterds...Wait, what?! Over the top-grossing movie of all time and the most critically-acclaimed film of the year? Why??? Like President Barack Obama trying to find middle ground with the Democrats and the Republicans on health care, the Academy will probably go with a middle-of-the-road indie that has had big success at the box office ($120 million), is well liked by the critics, and features a director at the top of his form in Quentin Tarantino.


And the nominees for Best Director are...
Kathryn Bigelow; The Hurt Locker
James Cameron; Avatar
Lee Dainels; Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Jason Reitman; Up In the Air
Quentin Tarantino; Inglourious Basterds
State of the Race: This years Best Director race has history between the two frontrunners. James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow were, once upon a time, married, before calling it quits. The two are still friendly between one another, and each are hoping the other win the prize. Cameron won the top honor 12 years ago for Titanic, and he won it again this year at the Golden Globe Awards two months ago. Bigelow is just the fourth female director to be nominated for Best Director in the show's history, and she's collected the Director's Guild Award, the first time a female director has won the award. the DGA has been an indicator as to who will collect the trophy for director, so will the Academy allow a woman to join the big boys club?

And the Oscar goes to...Kathryn Bigelow. Even Oscar can't screw thin one up.

I'll have Lead Actor and Actress later tonight.

Oscars Thread

I'll be posting the winners on and make general comments on how I think the show is going. The Count is welcome to join me if it is his wish.

The Count: This is your Baby Jonathan. :) I will say I think this has been a better year for movies than most.

Update: Slumdog is sweeping up Awards: Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, and Sound Mixing (I think I have that right).

Penelope won for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (well deserved) and Heath Ledger won for The Dark Knight, with his family accepting the award in his honor.

Benjamin Button won for Visual Effects, Makeup and Art Direction, as expected.

So far, so familiar......but wait! Suprise: Hugh Jackman is really good as host! And for next year, either have Steven Colbert or Will Smith due hosting duties.



Update 8:08 - Jerry Lewis win an Honary Oscar, while Slumdog continues it's hot streak, winning Best Original Song (Jai Ho) and Orginal Score, both won by composer A.R. Rahman (That's a total of 6 Academy Awards won so far)

Now comes the In Memorian, the the biggies: Actor, Actress, Director and Picture.


Update 8:25 - Make that 7 Oscars won for Slumdog. Danny Boyle won Best Director.

Update 9:01 - Kate finally wins one.

Shock: Penn beats Rourke for Actor!

And Slumdog wins Best Picture, making that a total of 8 Academy Awards won.

Oscar Nominees - The Full List

Better late than never, I suppose: here's the full list of all the Academy Award-nominated moves for 2009:

Best Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director:
Danny Boyle; Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry; The Reader
David Fincher; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard; Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant; Milk

Best Actor:
Richard Jenkins; The Visitor
Frank Langella; Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn; Milk
Brad Pitt; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke; The Wrestler

Best Actress:
Anne Hathaway; Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie; Changeling
Melissa Leo; Frozen River
Meryl Streep; Doubt
Kate Winslet; The Reader

Best Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin; Milk
Robert Downey, Jr.; Tropic Thunder
Heath Ledger; The Dark Knight
Phillip Seymore Hoffman; Doubt
Michael Shannon; Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams; Doubt
Penelope Cruz; Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis; Doubt
Taraji P. Henson; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei; The Wrestler

Best Original Screenplay:
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Orginal Song:
"Ja Hoi"; Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya"; Slumdog Millionaire
"Down To Earth"; WALL-E

Best Original Score:
The Curious case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

Best Visual Effects:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron-Man

Best Editing:
The Curious case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight
Iron-Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Best Sound:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Best Makeup:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Art Direction:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Bengamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Dutchess
Revolutionary Road

Best Costume Design:
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dutchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Best Cinematography:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Feature Film:
Bolt
Kung-Fu Panda
WALL-E

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Revanche
Departures
Waltz With Bashir

Best Doucumentary Feature:
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Best Documentary - Short Subject:
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Short Film:
On the Line
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Toyland

Best Short Film - Animated:
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Grammy Predictions: Part One

So here's my worthless predictions of who's gonna win what and why.

Album of the Year:
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Who will win: Viva la Coldplay! They're the biggest band in the world with the biggest hit this year. Plus, rap records, 8 times out of 10, never win Album of the Year, no matter how good the album is. Just ask guys like Kanye West with Late Registration and Graduation, and Eminem with The Marshall Mathers LP.
Who should win: As much as I loved Viva La Vida, Thom Yorke made a better album. In Rainbows is right up there with Kid A and OK Computer as one of the bands best albums. Too bad they gave the finger to the recording industry when releasing their seventh LP.

Record of the Year:
Record of the Year
Adele - “Chasing Pavements”
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
M.I.A. - “Paper Planes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Please Read The Letter”

Who will win: Is this a serious question? “Viva La Vida.” Hands down, no excuse, no questions asked.
Who should win: “Viva La Vida.” Sometimes, it's just that simple.


Best New Artist:
Adele
Duffy
Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

Who will win: If you think the Jonas Brothers aren't winning this award, then you're nuts.
Who should win: Duffy's breakthrough album is a breath of fresh air, so it's bound to lose. Plus, the Grammys have already given the title away to actual talented artists back-to-back year already (James Blunt's Back to Bedlam and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black). As Bill Clinton would say, "The third time is not the charm."

Song of the Year:
“American Boy” - William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)
“Chasing Pavements” - Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)
“I’m Yours” - Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)
“Love Song” - Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)
“Viva La Vida” - Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)

Who will win: Once again, Coldplay's “Viva La Vida” will take this category.
Who should win: “Viva La Vida.” I dare you to find me a better song that can challenge this juggernaut of a hit.

Part two of my Grammy predictions later tonight or tomorrow.

Chris, Lil' Wayne, Thom, and the Grammys

Let's take some time away from right-wing world and talk about the just-released Grammy nominees. Rapper Lil' Wayne leads the pack with 8 nominations, including Album of the Year and Rap Album of the Year, while British band Coldplay trails with 7 nominations including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year, among others. Another British rock band, Radiohead, is up for Album of the Year, along with Alternative Album of the Year, Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, etc. Here are the rest of the nominations:

Album of the Year

Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Record of the Year

Adele - “Chasing Pavements”
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
M.I.A. - “Paper Planes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Please Read The Letter”

Best New Artist

Adele
Duffy
Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

Song of the Year

“American Boy” - William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)
“Chasing Pavements” - Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)
“I’m Yours” - Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)
“Love Song” - Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)
“Viva La Vida” - Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)

Best Rock Album

Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Metallica - Death Magnetic
The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

Best Rock Song

Bruce Springsteen - “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”
Radiohead - “House Of Cards”
Death Cab for Cutie - “I Will Possess Your Heart ”
Kings of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Coldplay - “Violet Hill”

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

AC/DC - “Rock ‘N Roll Train”
Coldplay - “Violet Hill”
Eagles - “Long Road Out Of Eden”
Kings of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Radiohead - “House Of Cards”

Best Pop Vocal Album

Sheryl Crow - Detours
Duffy - Rockferry
Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden
Leona Lewis - Spirit
James Taylor - Covers

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

Alicia Keys & John Mayer - “Lesson Learned” ”
Madonna, Justin Timberlake & Timbaland - “4 Minutes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Rich Woman”
Rihanna & Maroon 5 - “If I Never See Your Face Again”
Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown - “No Air”

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Eagles - “Waiting In The Weeds”
Gnarls Barkley - “Going On”
Maroon 5 - “Won’t Go Home Without You”
OneRepublic - “Apologize”

Best Rap Album

Jay-z - American Gangster
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
Nas - Nas
T.I. - Paper Trail

Best Rap Song

“Lollipop” - D. Carter, S. Garrett, D.Harrison, J. Scheffer & R. Zamor, songwriters (Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major) “Low” - T. Dillard, M. Humphrey & T-Pain, songwriters (Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain)
“Sexual Eruption” - Calvin Broadus, S. Lovejoy & D. Stewart, songwriters (Snoop Dogg)
“Superstar” - Lupe Fiasco & Soundtrakk, songwriter (Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos)
“Swagga Like Us” - D. Carter, S. Carter, Clifford Harris, & Kanye West, songwriters (M. Arulpragasam, N. Headon, M. Jones, J. Mellor, T. Pentz, P. Simonon, songwriters) (Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

Estelle Featuring Kanye West - “American Boy”
Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain - “Low”
John Legend & Andre 3000 - “Green Light”
Lil Wayne Featuring T-Pain - “Got Money”
Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos - “Superstar”

Best Alternative Music Album

Beck - Modern Guilt
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Best R&B Album

Eric Benet - Love & Life
Boyz II Men - Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Al Green - Lay It Down
Jennifer Hudson — Jennifer Hudson
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

No Country For Oscars

Here is the list of all the winners form the 80th Annual Academy Awards.

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis: There Will be Blood
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody: Juno
Documentary: Taxi to the Dark Side
Best Doc Short: Freeheld
Best Score: Atonement
Best Cinematography: There Will Be Blood
Best Song: Falling Slowly, Once
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard: La Vie En Rose
Best Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton
Animated Short Peter and the Wolf
Live Action short: Le Mozart des Pickpockets
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem
Art Direction: Sweeney Todd
Visual Effects: The Golden Compass
Best Makeup: La Vie Rose
Best Animated Feature: Ratouille
Best Costume Design: Elizabeth, The Golden Age

Talk amongst yourselves on what you thought about this year's winners.

Jonathan And I Are Honored

BEST INFILTRATION/MEMORIALIZATION

Props to Count Istvan, Jonathan and Yakki, for engaging the trolls on their own terms through their respective personal blogs. What would we do without your courageous forays into the Trollosphere, and especially with Count’s dedicated chronicling of the trolls’ excesses on the News Hounds mains? Congratulations to all three of you for a thankless job well done!
Posted by: Kim, Pb.D on Fri 2.22 4:40pm

Thank You