Oscar Night!!!

Every year I compete in some super cool Oscar pools (yep-for CASH!) and I usually rock at predicting the winners. I'm also a total braggart about it so my husband gave me a super hard time last year when I went down in flames. I think I got nearly everything wrong. This happens when I don't see the movies and vote based on instinct and what I read in Entertainment Weekly.

Well, this year I haven't seen any of the Best Pic noms except for UP or any of the performances except Meryl Streep's in Julie/Julia. So, these are my picks and my crappy reasons for choosing them. If they happen to coincide with what everyone else is predicting, well, that's just happenstance. Here goes:

Best Picture (Who came up with listing ten? Does this mean we have to suffer through ten stupid montages this year?)

--Avatar (The blue people freak me out and I HATE James Cameron, so no.)

--The Blind Side (I like Sandy--everybody calls her that, right?--but this movie just doesn't feel big enough for a Best Pic nod.)

--District 9 (What is this? Seriously, I never heard of it.)

--An Education (I love Britain in the sixties, but again, this seems like a small film.)

--The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow has the best arms and the sense to divorce James Cameron. And that guy Jeremy Whatshisname is hot. This one gets my vote!)

--Inglorious Basterds (Tarantino/Pitt, etc. are so full of themselves. Turns me off. Ugh.)

--Precious: based on the...oh, forget it. (This was my second choice, pretty much because the trailer made me cry.)

--A Serious Man (This is the Coen brothers, right? They hate the Oscars--why give them one?)

--UP (Bawled during the first ten minutes, but I have a thing against giving an animated film the Oscar for this category. There already is a Best Animated Film so it can win that one.)

--Up in the Air (Clooney looks too smug for his own good. Jason Reitman will probably win for his screenplay. That's enough.)


Best Actor:

--Jeff Bridges (YES! He is winning for everything he's ever done. My favorite? The Fabulous Baker Boys)

--George Clooney (Nope. It's the smug factor.)

--Colin Firth (Ooh, la-la, how I love Colin. But I still think it belongs to Jeff.)

--Morgan Freeman (He's been lauded enough, don't you think?)

--Jeremy Renner (Yep, he's a hot one. But too new to the Academy. The nomination is honor enough, yada, yada, yada.)


Actress:

--Sandra Bullock (She's my choice, but she shouldn't win for this. She was brilliant in Crash, though it was a small role. Again, this is a career win, and her career deserves it.)

--Helen Mirren (She's won too much already.)

--Carey Mulligan (I'm sure she's great, but like Jeremy "Hottie" Renner, she's too new.

--Gabourey Sidibe (What a beautifully expressive face. I really want to see this film but I'm a little scared to watch it around people. I've run into quite a few girls like Precious in my classroom and Gabourey gets that "I hurt so deep down" look perfectly. But, I feel like if someone wins an Oscar before they are established, it does them more harm than good. I hope we see her nominated again someday.)

--Meryl Streep (Great impersonation of Julia. It could have been totally Dan Ackroyd campy but she pulled it off. Oscar worthy, though? Um?)

The rest: Supporting Actor: That guy everyone is talking about from Inglorious Basterds. He does creepy really well. Supporting actress: Mo'Nique (There's a forcefulness about her). Screenplay: Up in the Air (adapted) and The Hurt Locker (original). And that song from Crazy Heart is awesome and should win (The Weary Kind.)

So, do you guys agree or do you think I'm going down this year too?