Oscar thoughts...

I went 15/21... pretty solid considering some of the surprises.

Very quickly:

-- Happy for Daniel Day-Lewis.
-- Fine with "No Country for Old Men" being the big winner... would have rather had "There Will Be Blood" win, but "No Country" would haven been my second choice, and it's a very dark and unusual pick for the Academy, so that's cool.
-- MOST UPSET about Marion Cotillard winning Actress over Julie Christie. I have nothing against Cotillard, but I felt "La Vie en Rose" was a wildly uneven biopic, and that Cotillard failed to make me care for singer Edith Piaf. Cotillard's babe factor probably helped her win. At least she seemed genuinely thankful to win.
-- Very pleased with "Transformers" getting nothing. I thought it would win the 3 technical categories it was up for, but I was thrilled to see Michael Bay's annoying movie lose them all (although poor Kevin O'Connell, the film's sound mixer, has now gone 0 for 20).
-- Tilda Swinton winning Supporting Actress... much deserved.
-- BEST MOMENT - Without a doubt, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova winning Best Song for the lovely "Once." And their performance of the song was pure bliss too.

And that's it for now. I need to type up my notes from the red carpet... maybe post more later?

Final Oscar Predictions

Picture: No Country for Old Men (alt. Juno)
Director: Ethan & Joel Coen (alt. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (alt. George Clooney)
Actress: Julie Christie (alt. Marion Cotillard)
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (alt. Hal Holbrook)
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton (alt. Ruby Dee)
Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men (alt. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Original Screenplay: Juno (alt. Michael Clayton)
Art Direction: Sweeney Todd (alt. There Will Be Blood)
Cinematography: There Will Be Blood (alt. No Country...)
Costume Design: Atonement (alt. Sweeney Todd)
Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum (alt. No Country...)
Makeup: La Vie en Rose (alt. Pirates of the Caribbean)
Original Score: Atonement (alt. Ratatouille)
Original Song: Once, "Falling Slowly" (alt. - none)
Sound Mixing: Transformers (alt. No Country...)
Sound Editing: Transformers (alt. No Country...)
Visual Effects: Transformers (alt. - none)
Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille (alt. Persepolis)
Documentary Feature: No End in Sight (alt. Taxi to the Dark Side)
Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters (alt. Beaufort)

The Fall - Trailer

"The Fall" is the new film by Tarsem, the director of "The Cell."

It has been complete for over a year now, but no U.S. studio would touch it. Then directors David Fincher and Spike Jonze stepped in to help distribute the movie, and it's now scheduled to be out this April in limited release.

I have no idea if "The Fall" is any good or not, but one thing is certain about the film: it'll be beautiful. Tarsem, who's most famous for directing REM's "Losing My Religion" video, has an amazing cinematic eye, and I look forward to watching this on the big screen just to bask in the stunning images.

You can watch the trailer here.

Guillemots - Get Over It

Wicked new video for one of the best bands around...

I'm Oscar Bound

I picked up my press badge for the Oscars today.

Unlike last year, where I was inside the backstage press room, this year I'll be on the red carpet. I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing there yet, but just watching the procession of celebrities should be entertaining enough.

I was going to post a photo of my badge, but then I realized the AMPAS probably discourages that, and I'm not a guy who wants to get on their bad side.

I'll let you know how it goes Sunday night!

Animal Phone

Cute...

Vampire Weekend - A-Punk

Video directed by Hammer & Tongs.

Beirut - Elephant Gun

Splitting the Oscar vote

My newest EW PopWatch post is here.

I Voted For...

Mechanical Calculator

This gadget would have entertained me for hours when I was young...

Sarah Silverman + Matt Damon

In case you're the only person alive who hasn't seen this: