The Final Countdown: 10:45- Lord Knows

10:45: Sam Worthington and Jennifer Lopez present Best Score. Oh, wait, there's going to be dancing for ten minutes first. AND THE WINNER IS: MICHAEL GIACCHINO FOR UP! Up and Fantastic Mr. Fox's soundtracks are the only ones I have actually purchased, and they are both incredibly beautiful. Giacchino does Lost's memorable soundtrack as well, so bonus points.

10:53: Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper present Visual Effects. AND THE WINNER IS: (If Avatar doesn't win America may implode): AVATAR. Phew, the Earth is safe for now.

10:56: Jason Bateman presents Up in the Air as Best Picture.

11:01: Matt Damon to present Best Documentary. AND THE WINNER IS: THE COVE! It really is an incredible film. At the end I was wishing it was longer.

11:05: Tyler Perry presents Best Film Editing. AND THE WINNER IS: (Alec & Steve in that Slanket): THE HURT LOCKER!!~!

11:08: Keanu Reeves presenting The Hurt Locker, which is the Best Picture. (whoops).

11:14: Pedro Almodovar and Quentin Tarantino present Best Foreign Film. AND THE WINNER IS: EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS- ARGENTINA.

11:18: Kathy Bates presents Avatar as Best Picture nominee.

11:24: Tim Robbins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julianne Moore, Colin Farrell (!) and Vera Farmiga present Best Actor tributes. I kind of like this whole ego-flaming thing, it feels genuine to get real people who know the nominees to speak about them, and it's more interesting than showing those longer clip versions. Kate Winslet appears to present the award. And the winner is: Jeff Bridges.

They just announced Barbra's name. Dare I wish her to present Kathryn Bigelow with her award? My body might explode.

11:40: Michael Sheen (!), Stanley Tucci, Peter Sarsgaard, Forest Whitaker, and Oprah Winfrey present Best Actress tributes. Sean Penn appears to present the award. AND THE OSCAR GOES TO: SANDRA BULLOCK. Or, holy f$*^, she actually won.

11:52 BARBRA BARBRA BARBRA KATHRYN KATHRYN KATHRYN. YAY HURT LOCKER. I'm too tired, and I'm so happy. What a wonderful program, the end.

Part Deux: 9:45-10:45 pm

9:47: Rachel McAdams and Jake Gyllenhaal present Adapted Screenplay: (go Up in the Air!):
AND THE WINNER IS: Precious, wow, what an upset! Jason Reitman is so pissed right now. Probably not, he's classy.

9:52: Queen Latifah presents the Lifetime Achievement Oscars which were stupidly not shown during this broadcast. They definitely deserved more than just tiny clips.

9:55: Robin Williams to present Best Supporting Actress. If Mo'Nique doesn't win there may be a riot, though I personally voted for Anna Kendrick. AND THE WINNER IS: MO'NIQUE. I have to say, she has been giving the best speeches all season and she looks incredibly radiant. HATTIE MCDANIEL SHOUT OUT! Wurq! (She won BSA for Gone with the Wind, and was the first person of color to ever win).

10:01: Colin Firth presents An Education for Best Picture.

10:05: Sigourney Weaver, O Goddess, presents Art Direction. AND THE WINNER IS: AVATAR.

10:08: Tom Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker present Costume Design. SJP's hair flyaways are kind of tragic, but her dress is gorgeous. AND THE WINNER IS: THE YOUNG VICTORIA! Yippee! The winner looks gorgeous.

10:11: Charlize Theron presents Precious for Best Picture. [Editor's Note: One load of laundry completed. Victory will be mine!]

10:16: Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner from Twilight present the horror tribute. Is she the first person in Academy history to cough during the live broadcast? Oodles of appreciation for using the Psycho theme during the clips. Are Twilight and Edward Scissorhands really horror movies?

10:22: Anna Kendrick and Zac Efron present Sound Editing and Mixing. I wonder why they're showing The Dark Knight again? (Just kidding). AND THE WINNER FOR BEST SOUND EDITING IS: THE HURT LOCKER! Yippee!

AND THE WINNER FOR SOUND MIXING IS: THE HURT LOCKER! It's going to be a wild night!

10:27: Elizabeth Banks to present the Sci-Tech awards.

10:29: John Travolta presents Inglourious Basterds as Best Picture.

10:34: Sandra Bullock, looking unbelievably stunning, presents Best Cinematography. AND THE WINNER IS: AVATAR.

10:37: Demi Moore presents The Memorial Segment.

Liveblogging the Oscars! 8:30-9:30 p.m.-ish

I've had my brownie, my Bailey's is in my mini fridge, and I am hunkered down and ready to go. I may post this every hour to break it up, but we'll see, anything can happen. Fun fact: I thought the Awards started at 8 pm so I wrapped up my blogged picks and flew down the stairs, so I apologize for the past and future spelling errors.

Setting: Nicole is laying on the chaise lounge, watching the HD showing of the Oscars. She has a plan to liveblog while also drinking milk. But can she also do two loads of laundry? Only time will tell.

8:30 p.m.: NPH in sequins! Yes, please!

8:34: "The biggest pair since Dolly Parton."

8:38: "What's up with all the Hitler memorabilia?" Genius.

8:44: Pene presents Best Supporting Actor, kind of surprising since Supporting Actress is usually first. I guess they're back to showing clips of movies and only having one presenter. Kind of a really long clip for Matt Damon, can they keep this going for the whole show? They're really showing a lot of all the movies, not leaving a lot to the imagination. This is taking quite a long time.

And the winner is: CHRISTOPH WALTZ. Yippee! Uber-bingo!

8:50: Ryan Reynolds to present The Blind Side for Best Picture. Ay dios. Thoughts so far: It's going to be a looong night if they continue to show clips that long for each nominee. More Baldwin-Martin!

8:55: Playing "Someday My Prince Will Come" for Cameron Diaz is fairly cruel. She and Steve Carell present clips from animated movies? At least Ed Asner's adorable.

And the winner is: UP!. Vunderbar!

9:00: Amanda Seyfried and Destiny Hope Cyrus need to stand up straight. They present Best Original Sons, which is now just showing the clip of the movie with rehearsal footage with the song playing. Thank god Colin Farrell followed Nine, that would have been unbearable otherwise.

And the winner is: RYAN BINGHAM AND T BONE BURNETT- THE WEARY KIND

Yes! It truly is a wonderful song and completely made the movie. Does this mean that Colin Farrell has a de facto Oscar now since he performed it? T Bone is way too cool for school.

9:05: Chris Pine presents District 9 as Best Picture. Somebody thought Star Trek would be nominated! This District 9 clip is probably going to be the highlight of the first hour of the ceremony. I can't believe it's been over a half hour already and they've only given out three awards. 2:00 a.m., here we come.

9:12: Robert Downey, Jr. and Tina Fey present Original Screenplay. RDJ is killing it! Perhaps he should host next year?

(I'm cheering for The Hurt Locker) AND THE WINNER IS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THE HURT LOCKER!

Ooh Guy Pearce is in the audience! (I can always smell him out). Jane Seymour just eye-effed Jason Bateman, who is sitting next to her.

9:17: Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick for a John Hughes memorial tribute. It's funny that, except for the hair, Matthew hasn't aged.

9:23: Samuel L. Jackson to present Up as Best Motion Picture. Rhetorical question: Which movie will win Visual Effects? Will it be Avatar, James Cameron's Avatar, or Avatar: Legend of Pandora?

9:27: Carey Mulligan and Zoe Saldana present The Short Film Awards. AKA more clips. Though the Devil Wears Prada clip is much appreciated.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT GOES TO (I PICKED A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH): LOGORAMA. Weak sauce, that just blew my chances. Though I do appreciate the font choice.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT GOES TO (I PICKED THE LAST TRUCK): MUSIC BY PRUDENCE. Man I really am not doing well in the unknown categories this year. Last year I only missed two (out of all awards). Oooh, first playoff of the night, how exciting.

LIVE ACTION SHORT (I PICKED MIRACLE FISH): THE NEW TENANTS.

9:37: Ben Stiller, as a Na'Vi, to present Best Makeup. And ze winner is, (I'm going to call Star Trek)...STAR TREK.

9:43: Jeff Bridges to present A Serious Man as Best Picture nominee.

Best Picture!

10. The Blind Side
You know that old saying, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong"? This would be the standout one for this year. It is a pleasant enough sports drama, but comparing it to The Hurt Locker is laughable.


9. Precious
A good film with strong performances, but too flawed overall to win Best Picture.


8. A Serious Man
Absolutely hilarious (if you like Coen brothers comedy), but it does not have the oomph to sustain the Coens' winning streak.
7. Avatar
A lot has been said about this movie, and clearly the visual effects are beyond compare, but the plot needs work, in that it needs to not be Pocahontas, and the fact remains that I would rather see real human emotion over CGI'd effects any day.

6. District 9
Really a spectacular sci-fi movie, and it is the "pro" reason why it is good that the Academy raised its numbers of nominations, because for sure this would not have been nominated for Best Picture.

5. An Education
A sharp-witted tale about growing up in the 1960s, and it is executed well and simply on all levels.

4. Up
That early montage is easily the best one I have ever seen, and it invokes such wonderful emotions without either of them speaking. And the balloons! It has great message and delivers it without being too heavyhanded, which is my biggest complaint with most animated films.

3. Inglourious Basterds
QT was able to rewrite history realistically, make it hilarious and of course dark, all the while creating an obscene amount of tension just while characters are talking to each other. In short, classic QT.

2. Up in the Air
Sharp dialogue, peak performance acting, and a 2009 storyline. Any other year this probably would have been the frontrunner for Best Picture but it seems that the simplicity of its storytelling got lost in favor of grander tales.

1. The Hurt Locker
Simply magnificent. Suspense is created in such an organic way, and I am appreciative of any movie that picks characters over message. THL did not seem like it set out to be a "war movie," and yet it has become such for a new generation. Everything about it: story, acting, cinematography, editing, everything is top notch and I cannot imagine how it can be improved upon. This has easily been the Best Picture I've seen all year, and it would be a lie to say anything else.

My Pick for Best Director

5. James Cameron- Avatar
He would rank higher if he had not won already for Titanic, and if I liked the movie more. He clearly executed his vision better than anyone could have thought, and his victory is in making Avatar the biggest, most well-liked and obviously best movie of all time, as thought by everyone who has ever existed.

4. Lee Daniels- Precious
His genius in casting Mo'Nique as Mary Jones is nothing short of genius, and I'm sure she'd say that he helped her with that performance. Hell, look what he did with Mariah Carey (see: Glitter). I felt that Precious had serious flaws in editing and in the fantasy sequences, but I am excited to see what he does next, and what genius casting he will make in his next film.

3. Jason Reitman- Up in the Air
Jason has one hell of a track record- Thank you for Smoking, Juno, and now this? What can he possibly do to top himself? He is redefining dark comedies, and has a long Oscar-fueled future in front of him. He will be compensated by winning Adapted Screenplay (with Sheldon Turner).

2. Quentin Tarantino- Inglourious Basterds
Quentin has created his magnum Nazi-opus, and his mastery of every single detail for this movie is just completely ridiculous. It's too long but there is absolutely nothing of substance I would cut out, and the fact that he was able to rewrite history and make it work on such a magnificent level without making it too corny or campy is quite an honor. Hopefully he'll win for his next movie.

1. Kathryn Bigelow- The Hurt Locker
For a movie about explosives it has very few, and so the suspense comes through Bigelow's superb camerawork and long, unedited takes. Picking the right actors for the right role helped, and somewhere along the way she made a new kind of war film that takes our current situation as a nation and turns it into a character study about how war affects the individual.

My Pick for Best Actress

5. Helen Mirren- The Last Station
She is so explosive and wonderful in this movie, an exact opposite of her performance in The Queen, but there is no way she is going to win so close to her last win. She completely makes the movie, and every scene seems dry without her, but I still cannot pick her. But she works it.

4. Gabourey Sidibe- Precious
Considering she had never even acted before Precious her talent is really impressive. I'm more excited to see what she can do post-Precious in order to confirm that she is no one-hit wonder. Gabourey cannot compete with Mo'Nique in the movie, but considering her (Mo's) attention-grabbing performance, the level of realness she brings is a welcome balance to Mo'Nique's aggression. Gabourey's honor is being nominated for a first-time performance; quite a rare feat.

3. Sandra Bullock- The Blind Side
A year ago, if you had told me that the star of The Net would win an Oscar, I would have laughed till I peed and then pretended to throw up (on your face, natch). Well, Hell has frozen over and pigs are flying right outside my window because she is the clear frontrunner for Best Actress, and I'm not even mad about it. She does an admirable job in The Blind Side, and the Academy will reward her because she was able to mask her cutesy romantic comedy self and instead be a strong, quiet Southern woman. Is it one of the great performances? Certainly not. Could another actress have played it as well or better? Absolutely. But that does not mean that Sandra does not deserve an accolade for playing a role against-character for her and making you forget that you are watching her in the process. Plus, she gives great speech.

2. Carey Mulligan- An Education
It is shocking to realize that An Education was Carey's first starring role; she is so poised, so sure in the movie that she almost comes across as a seasoned vet who has finally stumbled upon the perfect role. At the ripe old age of 24. While watching it you can see her blossom onscreen, and later I marveled at what a wonderful career she has ahead of her. Comparisons to Audrey Hepburn are unfair and I do not see it, but perhaps instead she can carve out her own niche of strong, clearheaded roles.

1. Meryl Streep- Julie & Julia
Someday Meryl will win the third Oscar she so obviously deserves. In the first few minutes of her role as Julia Child in Julie & Julia, I was genuinely concerned because I thought with that voice and her exaggerated expressions how easily she could become a caricature. Before I even knew it I had fallen in love with her joy and her infectious nature. Beyond that, her real triumph for me in the movie was when she opened a letter. She does it several times, and each time you could plainly see a wide range of emotions in just a flash of a second- hope, fear, vulnerability, strength- and then a quick shrug of shoulders and it was opened, and full emotions runneth over. None of the other actresses nominated even came close to doing so much in such a fraction of time, and thus she proves why she is La Streep.

Images via Google search.

Razzies! Razzies! Razzies!

As is tradition, the Golden Raspberry Award winners were announced last night, and they did not disappoint. Click here to see who earned a nomination. As promised, Sandra Bullock showed up to accept her award for "Worst Actress" for All About Steve and "Worst Screen Couple," which she shared with Bradley Cooper for All About Steve.

Luckily, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (or, as the Razzies call it, Trannies 2) picked up three awards for Worst Picture, Director and Screenplay. Bullock would have been the surprise winner (over Megan Fox) if she hadn't announced she would show up to accept her award, which I imagine was too tempting for the Razz members to resist. Classy lady she is, she threatened to read her dialogue until 4:00 a.m. if the members did not watch the movie again (she brought dvds for everyone- just like Oprah!), and she said if they watched it they would realize she was not the worst and she would come back next year to give back her award. Steel cojones!

Click here for a full list of winners.

Image via Daily Mail.

We Take a Break From Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

This year I was accepted into an organization called CAMPP- Columbus Academy of Motion Picture Pickers- which is spearheaded by writers from The Columbus Dispatch. I was one of six people inducted and we all got to make our picks of who we thought should win, which were then tallied up and compiled in order to compare our winners with tonight's. Surprisingly, the group's winners are: Inglourious Basterds, Kathryn Bigelow, Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz. As for the picture, my excuse is that the only shirts they had to give out were XL and I was wearing a blazer and t-shirt underneath- I am not actually three hundred pounds heavier than you think (making me a nice 390 pounds ;) ). Bonus points and snaps if you can spot me in the group picture.

Links to full article and pictures also click on "New Blood" link for more!

My Picks for Best Actor

Best Actor is really stacked this year. If these five roles were nominated over the course of five different years I could see each one winning. Unfortunately, there can only be one.

5. Morgan Freeman- Invictus
Morgan Freeman is clearly the only working actor allowed to play Nelson Mandela, and he does a perfect job. If he had not already won two Oscars I would say he was a shoo-in but alas, he is surpassed by flashier and career-defining performances this year.

4. Jeff Bridges- Crazy Heart
In a few long hours he will probably be crowned Best Actor, but not for this role. Mr. Bridges has had such a wonderful career that his fellow actors will probably have decided that "it's time" for him to win. It's unfortunate that it is for this and not something else (The Dude!) but I'm not too bitter, and on the bright side it is not as similar to The Wrestler as I feared it would be.

3. Jeremy Renner- The Hurt Locker
When he first comes onscreen (replacing Guy Pearce, no less) I was convinced he was going to play his role the cowboy caricature way, but he quickly dispelled any thought of that. I cannot imagine any other actor playing his role, and giving it the kind of treatment he does. He redefines the American soldier cowboy formula by making his character intense and modern enough where you truly cannot tell whether or not he really is suicidal, or just an addict who has picked a horribly dangerous drug.

2. George Clooney- Up in the Air
This is his career-defining him-at-his-peak performance, and it's a damn shame he won't win. He makes it look effortless, which may be to his disadvantage, but he somehow makes a movie about firing people funny (at least to me). His character could have easily been villain of the year but he makes Ryan Bingham multi-dimensional and, in the process, likable and human. Whereas most voters are looking at Jeff Bridges's entire career when they vote for him, those voting for Clooney are looking singularly at this performance, perhaps as it should be.

1. Colin Firth- A Single Man
I consider Colin in this role a firm career resurgence, as he was previously as likable as could be in romantic comedies and dramas, but he never really got to stake a movie on his performance alone. He brings such a soul to this character that you forget that he is, in fact, trying to kill himself, and instead focus on the fact that he is reuniting with his one true love, however backward that may be. His marriage with Matthew Goode is easily the most believable coupledom of all those onscreen marriages this year (beating out my number 2: Meryl & Stanley), which makes his thought-process all the more believable. Again, I cannot imagine another actor performing this role to the level that he has.

Images via Google search.

My Picks for Best Supporting Actor

5. Stanley Tucci- The Lovely Bones
For the life of me I do not understand why Mr. Tucci was nominated for this and not Julie & Julia, or any of his previous wonderful roles. It cannot even be said that he was playing against type by playing a serial killer, because he plays one much more convincingly and eerily in The Pelican Brief. My biggest problem with his character is not even his fault, and that is the atrocious hair, makeup and contact lenses that they gave him. I understand that they wanted to make him look completely average, but those lenses were so incredibly distracting that I wondered why they could not just stick with his regular brown eyes. Nominating him for Julie & Julia would have been inspired, as he has proven he is one of the only actors who can hold a candle to La Streep, and together they create a wonderful and believable marriage, where he balances out her infectious energy, whereas in The Lovely Bones he is lost in the otherwise muck of the movie.

4. Christopher Plummer- The Last Station
It's hard to compare anyone to Helen Mirren and Christopher is no exception. Her character's explosiveness is hard to counter, but Christopher does as best he can by creating a quiet and almost giddy soul in Tolstoy. Best Supporting Actor was stacked this year, and I'll take a time out from critiquing Christopher to say who I think should have been nominated instead of him and Stanley: Anthony Mackie from The Hurt Locker and Alec Baldwin from It's Complicated. I think they are the only two who could have made this a multi-horse race instead of a one stallion win (Christoph). But I digress.

3. Matt Damon- Invictus
He plays a convincing sports hero/leader without making him seem saintly, which is a welcome relief. And he holds his own against Morgan Freeman, the only actor here on out allowed to play Mandela. I think Invictus got an unfairly bad rap and I'm not sure why, but Matt's performance is definitely worth seeing and worth recognizing.

2. Woody Harrelson- The Messenger
Being introduced to Woody's character and then discovering that he is a full-blown alcoholic midway through is almost shocking- his character is so strong and intimidating- he seems unaffected by reporting the deaths to next of kin- realizing that he is, in fact, a vulnerable person is a triumph of Woody's abilities as an actor, and he's the only person besides Christoph who I would want to win.

1. Christoph Waltz- Inglourious Basterds
Supervillians kind of have a lock on Best Supporting Actor at this point, and Christoph's Hans Landa is no exception. He makes speaking quadrilingually look easy and seamless, and his quiet moments are his most terrifying. Plus, anybody who is that into milk and dairy products in general is a character I can get behind. I'm torn between picking the opening as his triumphant scene or where he confronts Bridget von Hammersmarck, knowing full well that he will be turning himself in shortly. More than any of the other nominees in this category, I wanted to learn and see more of Christoph than what IB shows. Here's hoping for a prequel/sequel!

Images via Google search.

In Before the Buzzer: My Picks for Best Supporting Actress

Let me just get this out of the way before I dive right in: These are not my predictions of who I think will win because 1. That would be way too easy this year and 2. It's not as much fun. So here goes, the following are who I want to win, from least to most.

5. Penelope Cruz- Nine
Being the best thing about a film like Nine, which was so desperately trying to be great while failing at all levels, is a bit like being the least covered in snow in a blizzard. I was so excited for this movie, partially because of Pene, but also because of Dame Judi and Grand Dame Sophia, but it really missed the boat. Pene has her Oscar, and for the time being Julianne Moore for A Single Man and not she should be in this position.

4. Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
I'm so glad she got recognized for this role, because she really is terrific in everything I've ever seen her in (Down to the Bone, The Departed, even Orphan!), but the sad truth is that she should be nominated for Best Actress and I think she was chosen to be pitted against her costar just so she could get a nomination as Best Actress is an otherwise crowded categories will several snubs already. Matching George Clooney in charm and wit is not an easy task, and for that she has already won.

3. Mo'Nique- Precious
Clearly going to win- and deservedly so. I've been trying to decide whether she or Christoph is more of a lock in their respective category. I really love her as a comedian and host of VH1's Charm School, and her transformation from comedienne to amazingly aggressive actress is extraordinary. The whole movie rested on her performance and she delivers.

2. Maggie Gyllenhaal- Crazy Heart
Yay she finally got nominated! I'm a bit of a minority in the Oscar pickers community in that I thought the supporting cast from Crazy Heart (she and Colin Farrell) gave stronger performances than Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake. We'll go there later. Maggie's character could have been a gigantic cliche but instead she is filled with soul, longing, ambition and love. I doubt she has even a tiny kitten's chance of winning, but hopefully she can settle for her first nomination.1. Anna Kendrick- Up in the Air
Anna's Natalie Keener is easily my favorite character of the year (even more than Julia Child!). My criteria for favorite character usually goes as follows: 1. Realism- could she walk off the screen and actually exist in real life? 2. Is she multi-dimensional- does she do more than just be the male lead's love interest or plot stimulator? and 3. Does she hold in her own- do you leave the theater remembering her character or does she fade away? The sharp delivery of her incredible dialogue gave her character the assumed confidence it needed to compete with Clooney, yet her moments of hesitation toward the end gave her the vulnerability necessary to show she was not the cold terminator after all. In an interview Anna summed up her character perfectly by saying that (paraphrasing) her character was trying hard and thought she could be Faye Dunaway in Network, only to find out that it was not to be.

Images found via Google search.

10 Nominees, 6 Days, God Knows How Many Hours Long...

The Oscars are here! And because we've missed them so much they've decided to reward us with ten Best Picture nominees! When in years past it was down to a frontrunner and an underdog to compete for Best Picture in a field of five nominees, now it's between a frontrunner and an underdog in a field of ten nominees! So twice the fun!!

In all seriousness, let's thank the Academy for giving a movie such as The Blind Side the honor of forcing movie buffs and Oscar pickers to watch a sports movie in the theater (horror!) because it's a serious movie now, y'all. Its DVD case will now say "Nominated for Best Picture" just like Fargo, Citizen Kane, Network, All the President's Men, Star Wars, etc. Only time, and a hefty sense of optimism, will tell if The Blind Side will prove to be as influential as the aforementioned movies.

The Academy will know in just a few short days whether or not their blunt whoring will have paid off in the form of customers begging for more or a hefty sense of regret at what one once was.