Oscars, Oscars, Oscars!!!!

It's Oscar time again and I wanted to officially post my picks. Rian and I did a great job this year in seeing the nominated films. We had a ton of them seen before the Golden Globes so that gave us a good head start for the Oscars. Other than the documentaries, short films and foreign language films, we saw everything except "Australia", "Happy-Go-Lucky" and "Defiance." We had the opportunity to see "Defiance" on Thursday but I hurt my back on Wed night and have been laid up ever since. I am writing this while lying on the couch with the laptop in my lap. I tell you what, you never really realize how much your back does until you hurt it. I have hardly been able to move for 3 days. It's really getting annoying since 800mg of Ibuprofen and a low-dose steroid has yet to cause me a moment of relief. And, we are scheduled on a flight out of Buffalo at 8:25am on Mon heading to Grand Cayman. I am NOT looking forward to that flight. I took a short car ride today and feel like I've taken 2 steps back. Oh well, I will suffer through the plane ride in order to begin my 5 weeks in Cayman. I suppose the diving, however, will have to be postponed until I'm feeling better. Anyway, I digress. Here are my picks for this year's Oscars:

Best Picture--
"Slumdog Millionaire" will take this one. I really enjoyed all of the nominated movies but this one will win. It is the golden child of this year's award season and the Oscar will be it's final prize.

Best Actor--
Sean Penn for "Milk" He did an amazing job portraying Harvey Milk and it was a movie with a powerful mesage. The Oscar people love those movies. Of course, they love a good comeback as well so I really won't be surprised if Mickey Rourke walks away with the award. But, my pick goes to Sean Penn.

Best Actress--
This one is a toughy for me to pick a clear winner. So, for the sake of who I think will win, I'm going with Meryl Streep for "Doubt." However, I'm not sure she deserves the award in my opinion. I honestly think that all of the nominees were standouts in their own way but I would like to see Kate Winslet take home the Oscar.

Supporting Actor--
Heath Ledger will take this one, hands down. Once again, I feel all the actors in this category gave enjoyable performances (although, Robert Downey Jr for "Tropic Thunder"??? Seems like a stray from the usual "Oscar movies"). Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" almost made the movie but the Oscar will go to Heath Ledger.

Supporting Actress--
All good performances but I'm going to vote here for who I THINK should win. Taraji P. Henson absolutely deserves the Oscar in my opinion. I will say, however, I have absolutely no idea if she will indeed take home the award.

Animated Film--
"Wall-E"

Best Director--
"Slumdog Millionaire" As I said before, this is the golden child this year and should win this award easily.

Adapted Screenplay--
"Slumdog Millionaire" You can't have a movie with as much buzz as this if it didn't have a great screenplay to begin with.

Original Screenplay--
"Milk" I had tears in my eyes more than once during this film and tears running down my face at the end. I feel that it deserves the Oscar. The writer/s on this film did an incredible job telling the story of Harvey Milk.


The next several categories I really don't know much about what they are looking for but Rian and I still make our picks...just for the competition. So, I really can't claim much expertise in these categories:

Art Direction--
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Cinematography--
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Costume Design--
"The Duchess"

Film Editing--
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Makeup--
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Original Score--
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Original Song--
I only know that it will be one of the 2 nominated for "Slumdog Millionaire." I know, I know, that is a cop out but I need to hear them before I make an educated guess and right now, I can't remember either one.

Sound Editing--
"The Dark Knight" From what I read on Wikipedia and understand about this category, it's the selection and assemblage of the sound recordings in preparation of the final sound mixing. So, I would assume "The Dark Knight" will take this one due to the difficulty of all the action sequences. But, that's a total guess.

Sound Mixing--
"The Dark Knight" This is the mixing of speech, ambience, sound effects and music so I feel this one will win this award as well if it's the final product of Sound Editing. Again, a total guess.

Visual Effects--
"The Dark Knight"

Well, that's it for me. I'm not making any predictions for Documentaries, Short Films or Foreign Language Film since I have not seen them. Any picks I make in these categories would be blind. And, that's not even worth it.

So, tomorrow is the big day! I need to pack for our trip as carefully as I can as to not irritate my back any further and then will send Rian off to the kennel with the dogs while I settle in and watch the Red Carpet arrivals with my friend, Gina. 8:30pm and it will be "Ladies and Gentleman, please take your seats. The show is ready to begin." Yay!