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'The Cove's' Rick O'Barry holds up his activist sign during their Oscar speech after winning Best Documentary Feature. (Academy Awards 2010)

Just a photo-of-the-day sort of post. I promise, a real post is coming soon. (For anyone who’s waiting for it, that is!)

5:27: Watching E!’s live red carpet coverage. I hate Giuliani Rancic. She bothers me. Also, Ryan Seacrest still does not understand how Avatar was made, apparent by his interview with Zoe Saldana (whose dress is AWESOME, by the way.)

5:46: Just filled out my ballot, though I may make revisions before the show…Am I the only one who still cares about comparing ballots?

5:52: OMG, Tina Fey!!! *fangirl*

6:03: Why do I have Ke$ha’s awful “P. Diddy” stuck in my head? …Oh right! Because E! insists on playing it during all of their Oscar commercials! WHY.

6:31: Meryl Streep is standing WAY too close to Ryan Seacrest. Funny that she called him out on “secretly” telling Sandra Bullock she’s gonna win the Best Actress category. But…GABBY SIDIBE FTW!

6:38: Tried to watch the Barbara Walters special. Got bored. And now Keanu Reeves is on E!’s red carpet coverage?

6:40: “If fashion was porn, this dress is the MONEY shot!” Gabourey Sidibe just said that. She looks incredible. She’s so bubbly. And she just did a sassy toe-to-head shot with the camera guy, ordering: “Get this! Get ALL of this!” Please, please, please win the Oscar.

6:42: Just had an “a-ha moment” watching that bit with Gabby Sidibe.

7:23: There might not be much to update on until the show starts…Although, a group of us agreed SJP looks awful. Sorry, Sarah.

7:31: What’s with this useless “best actor and actress” line-up onstage?

7:34: WHOA. Antonio Banderas’ beard.

7:48: Awkward opening with the hosts, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin…Who wrote their one-liners? But yay for Christoph Waltz!

8:03: Miley Cyrus. WHY.

8:03: And is it just me, or are the nominations going in a weird order tonight?

8:08: Poll request from a fellow Oscar-watcher: “Who’s more attractive: Helen Mirren or Meryl Steep?”

8:12: Tina Fey and Robert Downey, Jr. are hilarious. Especially Downey. Tina looks FIERCE! Great rapport between the two.

8:14: Also, I’m glad they are doing the same screenplay format as last year. I like seeing the writing on screen.

8:17: Molly Ringwald?!?! ….MOLLY RINGWALD?!?! Amazing. But wait, Molly – What are you wearing as jewelry?

8:18: Appreciating the John Hughes tribute though.

8:19: A little late for this, but…I am glad The Hurt Locker won Best Original Screenplay. Will it sweep this year?

8:21: Macaulay Culkin! Enjoying this 80s/90s actor line-up. Culkin still looks TWELVE.

8:23: OMG, John Hughes’ kids look JUST. LIKE HIM. Twilight actors are all, “Oh…I guess I’ll clap…But who’s John Hughes?”

8:34: Is that woman in the purple supposed to be up there for the Prudence short win? She’s getting weird looks like, “Who ARE you?!” Is she pulling a Kanye?

8:35: I love Zoe Saldana’s dress, even though it’s kinda flashy…

8:37: I am not doing well in all of these Shorts categories.

8:39: Okay, Ben Stiller in Avatar costume and making fun of James Cameron’s Golden Globes speech. HILARIOUS.

8:43: Cute! Jeff Bridges presenting the Serious Man preview.

8:52: Short but sweet speech by the writer of Best Adapted Screenplay, Precious. Though Morgan Freeman looked like he dying/falling asleep when they cut to him.

9:00: WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! MO’NIQUE!!!! Like her quote about it being about the talent, and not the politics. WHOOOOOO!!!

9:05: Just seriously got pissed about a few people watching the Oscars with me…Let me just say, it involved Mo’Nique. MO’NIQUE 4EVA!

9:10: “What award is this?” Will Haley (friend): “Best Cut-Outs.”

9:12: Wow, European Woman Who Won for Best Costume Design…THAT was rude. “I already have two of these, so…”

9:18: Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin Paranormal Activity “homage”… Funniest thing they’ve done all night.

9:19: Horror tribute? Unnecessary.

9:20: “Hey, horror movies – you’re entertaining and everything, but…we’d never give you a nomination. Here’s a nice little all-time tribute in 2 minutes to make up for it though.” – The Academy

9:22: They haven’t announced an award in a long time, have they?

9:23: Is it just me, or does the Morgan Freeman voice-over and overall sound suddenly SUCK as they introduce the SOUND nominations?

9:27: So far, The Hurt Locker has more awards than Avatar…….. *Team Bigelow*

9:29: Another cutesy thing: Travolta announcing the preview for the Inglourious Basterds nomination.

9:36: WHOA. James Cameron’s wife looks old and anorexic. James Cameron still looks like a penis.

9:37: Another catty fashion comment: Not crazy about Demi Moore’s dress color.

9:41: DID THEY NOT SHOW FARRAH FAWCETT IN THE DECEASED TRIBUTE?!?!?!?!

9:42: Farrah Fawcett’s death – forgotten because she died on the same day as MJ. Even at the Oscars.

9:47: Dear Oscars: I don’t WANT to see the original score of The Hurt Locker or Sherlock Holmes danced out onstage. It’s awkward.

9:54: My Ballot Update: Not doing so well. 8 for 16. Yikes.

9:57: George Clooney has been SO over this ceremony since it started. Love him.

10:05: YAY! The Cove won! Though I need to see it still. It looks really good. LOL @ the “TEXT DOLPHIN” sign guy! Hahahaha.

10:08: Damn. I wanted Inglourious Basterds to win Best Editing. But The Hurt Locker deserves it, I think. Not mad about it. My ballot is just hurting from it. And that lady could’ve worn something that didn’t look like messy, oversized lingerie. (Catty. Sorry.)

10:15: Whoa! Almodovar presenting the Best Foreign Language Film, though Broken Embraces was totally snubbed in the Spain selection for the category!

10:19: The Oscars: “Hmm…who can we get to present the Avatar nomination preview who’s worked with James Cameron?…Leo? No, he won’t do it. Kathy Bates.”

10:26: GEORGE CLOONEY.

10:27: OMG! George Clooney smiled!

10:30: Slight OT: The Onion – “Sources: George Clooney Looking Good.”

10:32: Do we really have to re-announce the actors we just talked about individually for 10 minutes?

10:34: The Dude has a cute little laugh.

10:35: Kelly Cutrone tweet from a few minutes ago: “Quentin should not speak Spanish.” I love that Kelly Cutrone is live tweeting the Oscars!

10:41: OPRAH! I hope I have another “a-ha moment.” (See: 6:42)

10:43: Moment of truth: GABBY FTW!!!!!!

10:44: I’ve been pronouncing Gabourey Sidibe’s name wrong this. whole. time. Also, she looks so honored/shocked to have Oprah do her introduction!

10:45: Aching for Gabby to win. Seriously.

10:47: NERVOUS. Go Gabby!

10:48: Sandra’s alright. But eff this. Why is she getting a standing ovation? Gabby deserved it. End of story.

10:50: Ebert tweet from just now: “And now the voters are thinking: But it would have been something if Gabby had won.”

10:52: Lame.

10:53: Everyone wants Bigelow to win. Hear that applause when Steisand alludes to her?

10:55: KATHRYN BIGELOW! FIRST WOMAN EVER TO WIN BEST DIRECTOR! EVER!! AMEN, SISTER!

10:58: Wow. That was quick. Hurt Locker wins it. Not mad about that.

10:59: Seeing Bigelow hold 2 Oscars makes me very happy.

11:00: Take that, James Cameron. THE. END.

11:01: Ebert tweets, poignantly: “‘Well, the time has come,’ said Barbra Steisand, before naming BIgelow. We’ll see that moment replayed for years.”

11:03: My final ballot count: 13. Did not win. Again…

11:04: Well, that’s all, folks. Any final thoughts, comments, or rants and raves?

11:28: Final thought (promise): I am proud of women tonight. We need more women in film, making the big decisions in film. That is all. Congrats, Kathryn Bigelow. Thanks everyone for tuning in and sharing your comments as well!

Cuba Gooding Jr., winning in 1997 for Jerry Maguire – Jovial and genuinely ecstatic, Cuba Gooding Jr. is enjoyable to watch during this speech. Unfortunately for him, that year’s Oscars were heavy-handed with the rude “hint to get off the stage” music during everyone’s speeches. But Cuba? He doesn’t care – he just keeps on going. As one YouTube commenter said, “It’s almost like the music was designed to go with his speech.”

George Clooney winning in 2006 for Syriana – “Alright, well I guess I’m not winning DIRECTOR,” the charming Clooney jokes. While he won for this role in Syriana, he was also nominated in the Best Director category that year for Good Night, and Good Luck. It starts off on a light note, but Clooney takes the opportunity to also give Hollywood more credit than it’s usually given – “This academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when Blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters.” This probably gets the award for least “all about me with 1,000 people to thank” acceptance speech. Clooney used his time in a different way.

Tom Hanks winning in 1994 for Philadelphia – Tom Hanks gave one of the classiest, yet profoundly candid speeches with this one for Philadelphia. Since his role in the film was a gay male living with AIDS, he was very careful to speak respectfully and appreciatively of gays and people living with HIV or AIDS. This one is a tear-jerker, especially when he pays homage to his two gay theatre teachers.

Catherine Zeta-Jones winning in 2003 for Chicago – This one’s just cute. Catherine Zeta-Jones gets up onstage – extremely pregnant, but looking gorgeous – and admits that the combination of things is too much for her hormones, which gets a laugh. The other great part is when she tells her husband, Michael Douglas, that she shares the award with him “and this one too.” Though the camera cuts away in a most untimely manner, we can only assume she’s pointing to her belly.

Dustin Lance Black winning in 2009 for Milk – When Dustin Lance Black got onstage to accept the award for Best Original Screenplay for the biopic about gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, the first thing I was struck by was how young and handsome he appeared. Then, I proceeded to bawl my eyes out as he gave a very touching (understatement) speech about how Harvey Milk helped him personally growing up as a gay male in a conservative family. He also shares some empowering words ensuring young gay Americans that one day they will have the federal rights they deserve. A truly beautiful and incomparable speech. It makes me cry every time I watch it.

Halle Berry winning in 2002 for Monster’s Ball - You really can’t talk about Oscar speeches without mentioning Halle Berry’s. “74 years here, I gotta take this time!” she shouted as she became the first Black woman to ever win an Academy Award for Best Actress. In her shocked and vulnerable state, she poured her heart out and made all of her fellow nominees cry along with her. This is now a historical Oscar acceptance speech, and might just be the most memorable and noteworthy of them all. Not only did she fully deserve the award for her amazing performance in Monster’s Ball, but she made history when her name was called.

Originally posted on my Open Salon blog.

When I think of the best foreign films of 2009, the very first film to come to mind is Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos). Starring his muse Penelope Cruz and actor Lluis Homar, this Spanish film told the story of love and the love of film in the style of neo-noir.

Though I had a personal beef with Almodovar for being one of the first to sign the “Free Polanski” petition at the end of last year (a whole ‘nother story all in itself), I’ve been a long-time fan and have a special place in my heart for this particular film of his. The story behind my first viewing of this movie is somewhat magical: I was a senior in college studying film, and I got into this studio’s 2-week Cannes Program. Ecstatic and beyond honored, I got to stay in the South of France with ten other filmmaking kids, work on the studio’s screening, and best of all – attend some of the events at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival.

I’ll stop the bragging here, I promise. My only reason for bringing it up is that I somehow lucked out in getting into the premiere of Broken Embraces. (And by “lucked out,” I mean “clicked refresh a hundred dozen times on the ticketing webpage.”) Anyway, the experience and the film were both glorious.  It was very Almodovar-esque in terms of beautifully ridiculous plot twists and turns, but overall it was just…scrumptious. Cruz was at her best since Volver (another recent Almodovar masterpiece), and the director himself got to really express his love for cinema and writing in this movie about a blind writer and filmmaker who gets the chance to finish his last movie from 14 years ago.

But, le sigh, this all means nothing to the Academy, seeing as how the film was completely overlooked from the nominations for the 2010 awards. Alright, alright, the snub from the Best Foreign Language category is not the Academy’s fault. It’s Spain’s. No, really. For whatever reason, Spain did not include Broken Embraces in its submissions to the Oscars in September. The writers are Incontention.com covered this and explained that “Almodovar and the Spanish Academy selectors have an on-and-off relationship.”

Okay, fine. So the Academy really had no control over the lack of nomination for Broken Embraces as Best Foreign Language Film. But what about all the other categories? The ones that would make the most sense would be, maybe, Best Original Screenplay, or Best Director, even Cinematography, or Best Actress. Oh wait! Penelope is nominated for Best Actress! But…for her role in Nine? Is that some kind of consolation prize? No one really cared about Nine this year anyway! Why not just nominate her for her brilliant performance in Broken Embraces? (Not to mention that the general opinion has been that French actress Marion Cotillard deserved it, if anyone, for that film.) Why, Oscars, why did you have to overlook Almodovar’s film completely?

I’ll start taking deep breaths now and put an end to my stream of consciousness rant. But the point is this:

Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces got screwed by Spain and snubbed by the Academy. And for that, I am eternally confused and disappointed.

Another snub, in my opinion, is in the Best Original Score category. A Single Man definitely deserved to be recognized, but wasn’t.

But enough of that. Here are the 2010 Academy Award nominees after the jump! Share your thoughts and comments.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

ART DIRECTION

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

COSTUME DESIGN

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

DIRECTING

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

• “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
• “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

FILM EDITING

• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• “Ajami” Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
• “Un Prophète” France
• “The White Ribbon” Germany

MAKEUP

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

BEST PICTURE

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

SOUND EDITING

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

SOUND MIXING

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

VISUAL EFFECTS

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Now, I’ve seen both films. Precious because I knew it was a very important work of 2009. And The Blind Side because – well, frankly – my mother dragged me to it. The latter movie was not as awful as I expected it to be, though I found it to be too preachy. Bullock’s performance as a rich Southern housewife (though based on a true story) came off as campy, and yes, sometimes humorous. The Blind Side may deal with issues of race, acceptance, and social class, but come on – it’s no Precious. I think we can all agree on that. Without making this a two-in-one movie review, I just found Precious to be unlike anything I’ve ever seen before: unnerving, uplifting, raw, emotional, revealing, gritty, and beautiful all at the same time. It hit me in a way that no film has ever hit me before. And while many of the performances and aspects were incredible, I believe it was Sidibe’s first-time performance (ever) as Claireece “Precious” Jones that made it so uniquely impacting.

And yet, there I am, watching Sandy hold up the Golden Globe and give her acceptance speech. Initial reactions that ran through me included something along the lines of, Are you kidding me?! and She better not win that Oscar over Gabby… While the Globes don’t always act as a prelude to the Oscar nominations and wins, it’s a definite possibility.

To further my agitation more, Sandra Bullock won for “Best Actress” at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards this weekend. Once again, Gabourey Sidibe was in the list of nominees. The SAG Awards are a big deal for actors in the industry, and it makes me wonder why they would also pick Bullock over Gabby. Do the panels think that Sidibe is too young and inexperienced to merit anything more than a nomination? Or do they really believe Sandra Bullock’s performance as an exaggeratedly ballsy Southern Belle is more deserving of the award? Part of me wonders if these people feel sorry for Bullock’s previous career, so they’re proud of her for doing something less mediocre this year.

I think it’s safe to say at this point that the Oscars will have to choose between the two. With the nominations announcement coming up on February 2nd, the 82nd annual Academy Awards have a chance to flip it on the rest of Hollywood and award the deserving and incredible Gabourey Sidibe. But alas, there’s a great chance now (especially with all the hoopla) that the Academy will also give it to Sandra Bullock instead.

I hope for the sake of cinema that the Oscars choose to turn things around and give it to the star of Precious. It would be glorious to see the young woman up on stage holding a statue for that role. Sure, Bullock did a good enough job in The Blind Side. But overlooking Sidibe’s first shot at acting with her powerful performance as one of the most challenging and socially important characters we’ve seen in years? That would just seem like a huge step back for film.

BEST:

• All of the NBC jabs. From everyone.
• The opening jokes from Ricky Gervais about the differences between the British and American Office
• Mo’Nique winning for Precious. Totally deserved it. Her speech was touching also.
• Alec Baldwin winning for 30 Rock
• Ricky Gervais: “I enjoy a drink as much as the next man…Unless the next man is Mel Gibson!”
• Christopher Waltz winning for his performance in Inglourious Basterds
• Martin Scorsese’s cute speech sounding more like a film school lecture than an acceptance speech for a career achievement award
• This tweet from Lizz Winstead of The Daily Show: “James Cameron is looking more and more like Bea Arthur.”

WORST:

• Most of Gervais’ hosting
• Alec Baldwin not being present to accept his award for 30 Rock
• Sandra Bullock winning for The Blind Side over Gabby Sidibe in Precious. Yes, you read that right. SANDRA BULLOCK won over PRECIOUS’s Gabby Sidibe.
• James Cameron winning Best Director and then quoting his own movie in the “Na’vi language”
• The poor layout of the awards ceremony making it difficult for anyone to get up to the front to accept their awards
• Cuing the music for everyone EXCEPT Meryl Streep
• A lack of awards for Inglourious Basterds, which I had expected
• A lack of awards for Precious, which I hadn’t expected
• A lack of George Clooney, just in general
• Chloe Sevigny’s dress, which apparently “got stepped on and ripped,” even though you couldn’t tell a difference because it was kind of a mess

I never regret watching the Globes, but this year I think I enjoyed baking cookies during the show more than I enjoyed the actual awards ceremony itself. (Crunchy fudge cookies, for anyone who’s wondering.)

Photo by: Peter Dutton, 2009 // CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikipedia Commons)

Yesterday the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominees for the 2010 Golden Globe awards.

Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air (starring George Clooney) led the award nods with six nominations. Precious followed close behind, earning three nominations, including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Both of the films are up for Best Motion Picture, along with Avatar, The Hurt Locker, and Inglourious Basterds.

You can see the nominees for all of the categories on the HFPA Golden Globe website.

I’m looking forward to the Golden Globes in 2010 for the same reason I look forward to them every year; and that is, they’re much more fun than the Oscars. The celebrities drink, mingle, and have a good time. And of course, you get to root for your favorite television series in addition to your favorite films during the ceremony.

Ultimately, I hope 30 Rock wins Best Comedy/Musical Television series (again), that a woman wins Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker), and that Precious gets some major recognition. Other than that, I’ll just enjoy watching the celebrities relax and enjoy themselves in a way that they would not if it were the uptight Oscars.