Admittedly, there have been quite a few comments about how the Oscars are in decline, but am I seriously the only one here who cares? Regardless of the quality of the films (and frankly, I think this year had much better films than last year), it's the Oscars! Red carpet fashions!

I'm pretty excited for this year's Oscars, not only because I do like quite a few nominated films but because Jon Stewart is hosting it! I love Jon Stewart! And Stephen Colbert! Who should've totally been president! :D But, I digress.

Since I am a lazy *** who doesn't really feel like copying and pasting nominations:
http://www.oscar.com/nominees/

SOME OF MY THOUGHTS

BEST PICTURE: Atonement (and TWBB and Juno...god this is such a hard choice)
-- This category is hard for me to pick this year for two main reasons. One is that I only saw three of the five nominated films on account of wasting a lot of time this year watching really bad sequels. The second and more important reason is that of the three I did see (Atonement, There Will Be Blood, and Juno), I loved all of them. Which is why films are not in decline! TWBB's an excellent film overall. I loved Juno with its hip Gilmore Girlsesque script as well as its portrayal of teenagers as responsible people. And I do think the Academy should show a bit more appreciation for comedy! But Atonement has JAMES McAVOY!!!!! :luv: Well of course it has other merits too, but I ultimately picked it from this three-way tie because of James McAvoy.

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood")
-- Okay first of all, what happened to my dear James McAvoy?!? But moving on, I think Daniel Day-Lewis really deserves this one. His performance was top class.

BEST ACTRESS: Ellen Page ("Juno")
-- As someone who considers herself very similar in personality and age to Ellen Page's role in Juno, I thought Ellen Page nailed her character dead on! The delivery was very natural too.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War")
-- This one is totally random for me because I didn't see ANY of the five films with actors nominated in this category! But I like Philip Seymour Hoffman so I'll stick his name in here for the sake of sticking SOMEONE's name. In reality I have no opinion.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett ("I'm Not There")
-- Besides the fact that I'm going to have a hard time ever watching this film again because Heath Ledger is in it (actually this one isn't too bad - I can't watch The Patriot because his character actually dies in it), Cate was amazing in this role! And she played a guy! That deserves props! By the way I thought Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the other film she's being nominated for, SUCKED. I mean, Cate was good but the film sucked.

BEST DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman ("Juno")
-- While Jason Reitman might not be the favourite for this category, I thought the juxtaposition in this film was excellent, and I just loved the overall way the movie was set up. It also helps that Jason Reitman directed another of my favourite films - Thank You for Smoking.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Juno
-- The script for this film is amazing!!! As a Gilmore Girls fan, I love the wit ("what's the prognosis, fertile Myrtle?") and while the film had other merits, I felt the script was what made it really special.

BEST ANIMATED FILM: Ratatouille
-- Oh, this one's easy. One word: Food. ;)

For the rest of the categories, I don't recall enough about the movies I saw to judge. Or in the case of foreign films, I just never saw them.

Okay now that I'm done ranting, please do express your opinions on the 80th Academy Awards :D