My Fearless Oscar Picks

The Academy Awards are being held tomorrow night, as that's really the only awards show I seriously pay any attention to. (It sure as hell beats the Grammy Awards, which comes off as the March of The Brainless Nitwits.) I'm not into all those "pregame" shows ( you know, the one that was hosted by Joan Rivers and her daughter), or those aftershow programs. For me, it just the award show itself that has any meaning for me.

And it does because for many years I've been involved in an Oscar pool run by two of my sisters. (First by Barbara, and now by Elizabeth.) I actually won the pool some years ago, and it was one of the proudest accomplishments of my life!!

The pool that I am involved in is based on points. The big awards for acting and directing get five points, and they go down on a sliding scale to one for awards like Sound Editing and Visual Effects (the categories that you basically have to take wild guesses at). The person who runs up the most points wins the pool and the pot of money that's been built up.

I made my choices earlier this week, and I consulted various web sites for people's opinions on who would win, like specific Oscar blogs, the official Oscar web site, Roger Ebert's site, and even a few online betting sites that offered Oscar odds. So without further ado, here's who I chose to win the major awards tomorrow night:

Best Picture: "The Departed"
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, "The King of Scotland"
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Departed"
Best Original Screenplay: "Little Miss Sunshine"

"The Departed" was simply a fabulous film, and I think this is Martin Scorsese's moment. He's been passed over six times, and the Academy can make up for all those past slights by honoring him and the film tomorrow night. Everyone seems to think Helen Mirren is an absolute slam dunk for Best Actress. (Although I'd love to see one of my favorite actresses, Kate Winslet, finally win, but I don't think that will happen. Kate's time will come one day.) I also think the Academy will make up for slight that "Dreamgirls" was passed over for Best Picture by giving both Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson the supporting awards. (Although I'd love to see Alan Arkin win for "Little Miss Sunshine" as he simply stole that film with his outlandish role as the grandfather in the film.)

Anyway, it's always a fun night to see who wins, and I'll be watching it at an Oscar party at Professor Thom's. Good luck to all the nominees, and I'll let you all know how I do in this year's pool.