Oscar Night!

I love Oscar night. Even though I never see any of these movies until they come out on DVD, I love watching the entire (four-hour-plus-long) show. I'm not even sure why. I think that, unlike the Emmy awards, I'm not terribly invested in the outcome (with some exceptions: Lord of the Rings, The Departed, Martin Scorsese, Leo, Kate Winslet....ok, maybe I am invested) but I don't feel a strong pull toward any of the nominees this year, so hopefully I'll just be able to enjoy the show and the sights (Clooney, Pitt, McAvoy, etc.).

Of course, this also means I can make another round of sure-to-be-wrong predictions. There are many, many people on the Internet better at this than me, but here's my stab at it:

Best Pic: No Country for Old Men. I've actually only seen this and Juno of the nominees, because Netflix let me down re: Michael Clayton. I just think There Will Be Blood is a little too strange, so the academy will go for No Country, which has won pretty much all of the precursors. I think Juno could surpirse, but if Little Miss Sunshine couldn't win last year, I don't think Juno can pull it off this year. (Alt: Juno, If I had a vote: No Country)

Director: The Coen Bros. They've won everything so far. (Alt: Schnabel, My pick: Coens)

Actor: Day-Lewis. The guy makes a movie once every four years and everyone falls all over themselves to honor him for it. (Alt: Clooney, My pick: Viggo)

Actress: Julie Christie. To continue the trend of honoring women who still look amazing in their 60s, started by Helen Mirren last year. And all of this buzz for Cotillard came a wee bit too late, I think. (Alt: Cotillard, My pick: Linney)

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem. The guy creates the greatest movie villian since Hannibal Lector; of course he's going to win. (Alt: Holbrook, if they want to honor the old people, My pick: Bardem)

Suppoting Actress: This category is a total toss-up, but here's where I think they'll honor the old people. Ruby Dee wins, on the sentimental vote. But Blanchett, Ryan, or Swinton could easily win this one. (Alt: Swinton, My pick: Ryan)

Original Screenplay: Juno

Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men

Costume Design: Atonement

Animated Feature: Ratatouille. Duh.

Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Documentary: No End in Sight (Unless they really want Michael Moore back up on that stage, and then: Sicko)

Art Direction: Atonement

Editing: Bourne Ultimatum

Visual Effects: Transformers (Giant robots rule all)

Make-up: Pirates 3

Original Score: Atonement

Original Song: "Falling Slowly" Once

Sound Mixing: Transformers

Sound Editing (what's the difference?): Bourne Ultimatum

No one actually cares about the animated short or foreign film awards, so those don't get predictions. I'm looking forward to seeing Amy Adams and Kristen Chenowith perform the songd from Enchanted, and of course, what good are the Oscars without some insane fashion choices? AND: Jon Stewart.

In much, much more depresing news, we'll have the recap/reaction to Episode 8 of 'The Wire" up sometime in the next 24 hours as well. If I'm feeling particularly inspired, I might post from tiem to time during the show tonight, if something pleases me a whole lot, or disappoints me, or shocks me.