Oscar Goldman said,

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

Let the annual tribute begin.

As long as Avatar doesn't win best picture I'll be a happy man. I'm tired of James Cameron. He belongs behind a camera inventing new ways to sell crappy scripts.

I agree. Why should Avatar win? I thought the Oscars established a precedent that awesome affects and bad acting wont win best picture back when Star Wars lost.

I wouldn't be surprised if The Blind Side took Best Picture.

Bigelow will be a shoo-in for best director, though. And you'll get the Hurt Locker critics saying it's because she's a woman.

My predictions (for what it's worth):

Best picture: Hurt Locker
Best director: Bigelow
Actor: Jeff Bridges
Actress: They'll give it to Bullock
Supporting Actor: Christopher Waltz, hands down... See More
Supporting Actress: If they don't give it to Mo'Nique, it'll be a crime. But this has always been a wonky category, so can go anywhere.
Original screenplay: I'd love to see Tarantino get this but I really think it'll go to Boal.
Adapted Screenplay: It would be AWESOME if Blomkamp and Tatchell get this, but it'll go one of 2 ways: if Mo'Nique DOESN'T win, Precious will get this. If she does, then it'll go to Up in the Air.

I'm still holding out for Up to win best picture.
Most likely won't happen, but I think it deserves it anyway.

Oh, more drama--Cablevision pulled ABC as of midnight last night. No Oscars for most of my surrounding area. For once in my life, I'm glad I have Comcast.

SilentStrider: I'm still holding out for Up to win best picture.
Most likely won't happen, but I think it deserves it anyway.

Agreed. Up was great.

brigid_fitch: Oh, more drama--Cablevision pulled ABC as of midnight last night. No Oscars for most of my surrounding area. For once in my life, I'm glad I have Comcast.

Careful. If a Comcast Xfinity employee sees that statement, they may use it as a testimonial.

The English Major: brigid_fitch: Oh, more drama--Cablevision pulled ABC as of midnight last night. No Oscars for most of my surrounding area. For once in my life, I'm glad I have Comcast.

Careful. If a Comcast Xfinity employee sees that statement, they may use it as a testimonial.

LOL--Yeah, "Comcast is better than Cablevision because they're not ENTIRELY run by Palin-Americans."

brigid_fitch: Oh, more drama--Cablevision pulled ABC as of midnight last night. No Oscars for most of my surrounding area. For once in my life, I'm glad I have Comcast.

How can they pull one of the 4 major networks, that's absurd.

Was "Blindside" really that great? From the commercials and everything it just looked dumb and contrived, true story or not.

I think "Don't Care" should have been nominated in every category because that is who I'd pick.

brigid_fitch: LOL--Yeah, "Comcast is better than Cablevision because they're not ENTIRELY run by Palin-Americans."

IT'S COMCASTIC!

The Icelander: SilentStrider: I'm still holding out for Up to win best picture.
Most likely won't happen, but I think it deserves it anyway.

"Monsters vs. Aliens" was better than "Up"

HeartBurnKid: "Avatar" or "The Hurt Locker"?

District 9.

/haha, kidding, I know they won't pick the actual best movie of the year

District 9 is my vote as well. Of the nominated movies, I saw District 9 and Avatar, and if Avatar wins I'll...well, just be really cross.

Insert witty reference to said topic (new window)

I pretty much gave up on the Oscars the minute "Crash" won "Best Picture."

Mugato: brigid_fitch: Oh, more drama--Cablevision pulled ABC as of midnight last night. No Oscars for most of my surrounding area. For once in my life, I'm glad I have Comcast.

How can they pull one of the 4 major networks, that's absurd.

Likely has something to do with the cable company's right to re-transmit the station's signal. Every few years, cable companies have to re-negotiate their right to carry a given channel. In the past, most cable ops and station owners would just re-up the contract at roughly the same rate listed in the previous contract or lower it if the number of stations they owned which were carried by the cable co went down.

As of late, a lot of station owners have been playing hardball with cable companies and have been asking for more money than usual, often times more than the channel being carried was actually worth. This puts the cable companies into a rock and hard place situation as were they to agree to the increased contract price, they would have to hike monthly rates accordingly so they could pay for it. Of course, this will upset a lot of customers and it's why the cable companies don't want to do it and try to negotiate a lower rate. Knowing that they have the cable companies at a disadvantage, it is the station owners, not the cable companies, who pull their broadcasts from the cable customers per FCC regs but also as a move to get the cable companies to pay up. Once one party or the other budges (cable co. agrees to pay more, thus a rate hike or the station owner lowers their price) then the re-transmission agreement is renewed and broadcast of the stations is restored.

There's a lot more to this than just that, but that should give you a general idea. A lot of station owners have been dicks about this as of late, the most prominent would be a company called Sinclair Broadcast Group. They have been involved in several large re-transmission cases and are a thorn in the side of many cable operators. Wikipedia entry (new window)

Dallymo: District 9 is my vote as well. Of the nominated movies, I saw District 9 and Avatar, and if Avatar wins I'll...well, just be really cross.

THE SMURFS DESERVE THEIR DAY IN THE SUN, DAMMIT!

/I keed
//I want either District 9 or Up

Is it just me or do the Oscars this year suck? I can't think of anyone I'm rooting for other than Christoph Waltz, and there's no chance he loses.

I would like to see District 9 win Best Picture, but failing that I'm happy with Avatar getting it.

DamnYankees: Is it just me or do the Oscars this year suck?

It's better than last year, IMO. Not crazy about the hosts though. Steve Martin is obnoxious and I don't know how funny Alec Baldwin will be live.

homarjr: I'll watch it and I'll discuss it, but considering "Shakespeare in Love" beat "Saving Private Ryan", the Oscars are a load of shiate.

That and "The English Patient". That movie was horrible.

I'll still watch every minute.