In case you forgot, Sunday is the single most important day of the year, and not just because it features an all-new episode of Big Brother 9: Watch Me Get Blown Beneath the Covers. It's the Oscars! The day assigned to reminding you what it was that you loved about movies in the first place, until Juno takes it all in a stunning upset, and you forget again. In anticipation of the big event--only four more wife-bartering days 'til Hollywood Christmas!--we compiled for you all the Oscar goings-on in one handy, bulleted round-up:
· Thanks to the war, the strike, and a batch of feel-bad contenders, this year's ceremony will herald a Return to Downer. [Reuters]
· But wait! There's still a reason to show up: No one seems to be able to call clear frontrunners in many of the major categories. Even the Coen Brothers expressed concern that their T-Chigurgh might turn off Terminator-averse voters. [AP]
· Want to spice up your annual pool? Play the Little Gold Men blog's "In Memoriam" Montage Pool. (And Charles Nelson Reilly better make it.) [vanityfair.com]
· Pushing Daisies star Kristin Chenoweth will be singing nominated song "That's How You Know," from Enchanted, and so impressed longtime telecast conductor Bill Conti that the red-faced maestro could barely keep his trembling hands from dropping the sheet music into the pit. She's that adorable and talented! [LAT]
· Boycotting this year's ceremony? We suspect that's because you're just JELLUS, h8r! Follow these 10 simple steps, and you collect your own Oscar! [timesonline.co.uk]
· "The documentary is the unwanted problem child of the Academy Awards...but consider the plight of the documentarians (you may get a glimpse of them on Oscar Night, huddled in the back of the Kodak Theatre like bridge trolls): How long can you respect the rules, when the parent keeps proving he has no judgment?" [WashPo]
· Fine, so maybe it's not the most stimulating 4 hours and 27 minutes of your life. The SF Chronicle (yes! The one from Zodiac!) suggests ways to liven up an awards show relic. [sfgate.com]
The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as this weekend, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday.
In the arena that night, the whole last minute was drowned out by cheers — and then when the soaring music swelled, the confetti rained down as the harbinger of balloons and the hopeful first family took the stage, forget about it — it was a perfect end to a convention that last Monday, no one even knew if it would happen. But it did, and I'm so glad to have been there.
