The Pot and The Kettle

It's Oscar time, baby! But just like Christmas, the days leading up to it are the more magical and fun; the actual ceremony is usually a total snooze. But I have a good feeling about Ellen. Not so much about the winners, where predictability has taken over and is not letting up. (Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Forrest Whitaket, and Helen Mirren will all win, as they have won everything else.) Still, the media is pushing the fact that the Best Picture race is up in the air, there is no certain winner. God forbid there be an actual surprise at this scripted ego-masturbation brouhaha.

Who will win?
Letters from Iwo Jima: I haven't seen it. Never count out the academy's love affair with Clint, but this doesn't seem to be much of a factor at all anymore. It was the last place nominee, most likely.
The Queen: Its clout seems to all lie with Helen Mirren, even though it is a great movie, not merely one great performance. It has wilted from this race and all the "small-movie" votes it might have syphoned have quickly gone to....
Little Miss Sunshine: This is a contender. And I feel it may win. Been cleaning up many awards lately and I think with the DVD out for some time now, everyone has seen it. Which always helps.
Babel: Buzz was way down on this movie when nominations came out, right? Somehow this movie is frighteningly in the running, despite being a total snooze and having a mediocre storyline. Does anyone want to see this movie again? I find that hard to believe.
The Departed: I feel like this movie might simply be the frontrunner by default. Critically acclaimed all around, huge box-office, the potential year of Scorsese, you can't find any reason not to like it.
But! The academy really doesn't seem to have a problem breaking up the Best Picture/Best Director anymore. They doesn't have to go hand in hand. And if Scorsese is winning Best Director, that may be enough. Can Little Miss Sunshine win without having its directors even nominated though? Does Babel now surge ahead, as a result? ACK! I don't know! Am I longing for some predictability to calm me down?

Final Answer: Sunshine