It's A Wonderful Night For OSCAR!!

So I'm thinking I would be remiss if I didn't devote a blog to my Oscar night predictions for tonight's ceremony. Taking the lead from my friend Bradley, who made some very sound predictions on Facebook, here is what I think will happen and what I think should happen:

Best Picture
If The Hurt Locker doesn't win I will be amazed. If Avatar does win, I will drink an entire glass of milk in shit-filled protest!! (I know that will hurt me more than anyone else, but you get my point). I refuse to watch James Cameron tell the world how great he is, again. The Hurt Locker was tension-filled storytelling, directed beautifully by Kathryn Bigelow. Of the other nominees, the only movie I think should win is Up.

Best Actor
I've only actually seen two of these nominees in action; George Clooney in Up In The Air and Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. I will go with the buzz, though...Jeff Bridges will win for Crazy Heart. He is an awesome, over-looked actor who has been nominated 5 times previously and will finally win tonight. I must say, I am curious to see if Colin Firth will sneak in there, another great actor in which I've heard was a fine performance in A Single Man.

Best Actress
Again, I've only seen two of theses nominees in action; Gabourney Sidibe in Precious and Meryl Streep in Julia And Julia. I must say, I loved Streep's performance! She was mesmerizing as Julia Child. I hope she wins, but I think Sandra Bullock will take it for The Blind Side. Bullock, for me, has always been solid as a romantic comedy leading lady and if the Academy decides to compare her work in The Blind Side to her work in All About Steve, they should name the statuette after her!

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. He will win; he should win! His performance was the best I've seen in any movie in 2009/2010. From his very first appearance in that movie I wanted to see more and more of him. Phenominal!

Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique for Precious will win and I'm thinking should win as well. I just saw Precious a couple of days ago and was amazed at the power of her performance. I hated her character with such passion, but felt incredibly sorry for her at the same time. It was her brilliant performance that made me feel that. Before seeing Precious, I was firmly set on Vera Farmiga winning for Up In The Air. Things changed a couple of days ago...

Best Director
I have no idea who will win this award. I feel three nominees have a good shot at it; James Cameron for Avatar, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker; Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds. Again, I don't want to hear from Cameron at all tonight, but his film did revolutionize 3-D viewing. Tarantino, although in my eyes not his best film, will definitely be in the running simply for the two most powerful scenes in Basterds (the opening 20 minutes is still remarkable!). But, when it comes down to it, I think Bigelow will become the first woman to win the Best Directing Oscar.

Best Adapted Screenplay
I believe Jason Reitman will win for Up In The Air, but I'm praying enough of the committee saw In The Loop and will reward it as being one of the funniest movies EVER!

Best Original Screenplay
Build a fable of Hitler getting his during WWII, add some violence and comedy to the mix, plus a meaty role for Christoph Waltz and you'll see Quentin Tarantino ramble on for twenty minutes tonight as he accepts his award for Inglourious Basterds. I feel The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man is too "out there" for Academy voters, and I doubt they'll award an animated film best screenplay, although Up should get it.

Best Animated Feature
Up...that is all.

Everything else will be won by Avatar, technically speaking that is. I'm looking forward to seeing Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin play off each other tonight. I have a feeling it will be a great broadcast that should end sometime around 4:30 in the morning. So enjoy....