Oscars!

Just as things are settling down to normal back there on the East Coast, with Obama taking charge of everything, life just heated up here in LA.

Oscar time!

The Oscars were announced this morning. The LA Times has the complete list of nominees. It's pretty much what was expected, although some people are disappointed that Dark Knight didn't score a nomination for either Best Picture or Best Director. The Reader got one of each. I haven't seen it, but I haven't heard the best about it, either. But it's a Holocaust movie, and there are several out this year, so it's not a surprise that at least one of them was nominated for the big two.

Heath Ledger, of course, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Dark Knight, and I think he deserves it. There are some questions about whether or not he would have been nominated if he were still alive. My answer is yes. His Joker is, in my opinion, simply one of the best villians in the history of cinema. I think he'll win.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button scored 13 nominations, quite the haul. I still have to see it. Slumdog Millionaire was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director, which it richly deserved.

I am not going to make any predictions, other than Heath Ledger winning for Best Supporting Actor, because I haven't seen enough of the nominated movies. Although I do think Slumdog Millionaire will win at least one of either Best Picture or Best Director. I think Best Actor comes down to either Sean Penn or Mickey Rourke.

Let the gossip and arguing begin!