Oscar Picks

UPDATE: ugh...not one of my better years. 4 for 6 on the big awards and 10 for 17 overall. About as dismal as that godforsaken telecast...holy Christ, do I miss David Letterman and his earnest awkwardness as opposed to the excruciating, interminable song/dance numbers and the WTF-montages of films in 2008. Did I really need a 7-minute treatise to inform me that there were a bunch of dramas released last year? They need to get Jon Stewart (or even Steve Martin and Tina Fey) to host next year and quick.

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona

Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir (Israel) Departures (Japan)

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Art Direction: Nathan Crowley & Peter Lando, The Dark Knight The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Costume Design: Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Duchess

Best Documentary Feature: Man On A Wire

Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Makeup: Greg Cannom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song: Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman, "Down To Earth", WALL-E "Jai Ho" Slumdog Millionaire

Friday YouTube Nugget

We bid a bittersweet Happy Birthday to Kurt Cobain, who would have been 42 years old today. Here's his haunting cover of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" from Nirvana's "Unplugged" appearance in November 1993.

Friday YouTube Nugget

Here's Joaquin Phoenix committing career suicide on The Late Show....Letterman is a genius.

Friday YouTube Nugget

The late, great Sylvester was a pioneering electronic dance performer and one of the highlights of the disco era in the late 70's. Though he's best known for his signature tune "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", I've always loved this Hi-NRG classic, "Do You Wanna Funk?". Some of you may recognize it as the song played during the house party scene in Trading Places (1983).

The Boss Teabags America

In a game replete with drama, excitement, intrigue and one of the greatest finishes ever, what do I choose to remember from last night's Super Bowl?

Oh yeah...some enterprising NBC director made sure that 100 million viewers got up close and personal with Bruce Springsteen's ballsack



I've never gone nuts-first into a TV camera, but I can't imagine it's a pleasant experience. Bruce is a pro.