Mandated

This is obligatory, so here we go:

I'm calling Picture and Director for No Country for Old Men.

The three best movies I saw this year were No Country, There Will Be Blood, and Zodiac.

Blood wins for actor.

Julie Christie is my guess for actress, but I'll hedge and say it could go to Cottillard or Linney as well. I haven't seen Juno, and the way it's advertised and put forward decreases my desire to do so. Blanchett does good work, but she didn't get an oscar for playing Elizabeth the first time, and this second film is, by all accounts, a lot worse.

Javier gets a statue, and maybe Cate gets one too. I really don't know about the actresses.

I'm going to go with Paul Thomas Anderson for adapted screenplay, and Tony Gilroy for original. This is the academy throwing a bone to the writer/directors that won't get the big prize.

Persepolis will not beat Ratatouille, but wouldn't it be nice?

If Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova don't get an oscar I will become enraged and possibly overthrow the academy. By the way, a lot of the songs in Once were created originally for this picture.

Taxi to the Dark Side wins documentary.

Also, I would like to mention that if that trailer put you in the mood for Czech, this is a good place to soak up some of that culture and actually understanding it.

Also, while I'm out linking stuff all over the place, let me mention someone I'm in love with who has things to say that are not all about movies.

MUSIC: What's the best album of the year? The first track is