Oscar: I've Got Your Prediction Right *Here*

[Film] This Sunday morning (Feb. 24) at 9:30 a.m., I'll be making my mostly-annual appearance as part of a pre-Oscars panel for Chris Vanocur's On the Record on ABC-4. I'm not sure why Chris keeps inviting me back, considering the way I inevitably turn into a curmudgeon about handicapping this film industry back-slapping party.

Don’t get me wrong--this year more than any other year, the Oscars ceremony served a useful purpose, in that the prospect of a picket line on the Kodak Theatre red carpet probably ended the writers' strike. But as I wrote a couple of years ago, I'm not the biggest fan of the emphasis placed on the Academy Awards. Additionally, I never win Oscar pools, for the same reason that sports writers never win NCAA basketball tournament pools: We know the subject too well, and over-think the bloody thing, so that we never pick the upset that someone else picks because they really liked the dress that Kiera Knightley wore in Atonement.

So I’ll join Chris’ panel because it will give me an opportunity to talk about the movies I love. And because my mother raised me to be a good guest, I'll answer when he asks who I think is going to win. I'm just not going to care too much when I'm wrong, so don't use me as the source in your pool.
Except for Live Action Short Film. Tanghi Argentini's got that one in the bag. Book it. (Scott Renshaw)