ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Don Cheadle – HOTEL RWANDA
Johnny Depp – FINDING NEVERLAND
Leonardo DiCaprio – THE AVIATOR
Clint Eastwood – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Jamie Foxx – RAY

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Alan Alda – THE AVIATOR
Thomas Haden Church – SIDEWAYS
Jamie Foxx – COLLATERAL
Morgan Freeman – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Clive Owen – CLOSER

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Annette Bening – BEING JULIA
Catalina Sandino Moreno – MARIA FULL OF GRACE
Imelda Staunton – VERA DRAKE
Hilary Swank – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Kate Winslet – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Cate Blanchett – THE AVIATOR
Laura Linney – KINSEY
Virginia Madsen – SIDEWAYS
Sophie Okonedo – HOTEL RWANDA
Natalie Portman – CLOSER

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

Richard Linklater et al. – BEFORE SUNSET
David Magee – FINDING NEVERLAND
Paul Haggis – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Jose Rivera – THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor – SIDEWAYS

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

John Logan – THE AVIATOR
Charlie Kaufman – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
Keir Pearson & Terry George – HOTEL RWANDA
Brad Bird – THE INCREDIBLES
Mike Leigh – VERA DRAKE

DIRECTING

Martin Scorcese – THE AVIATOR
Clint Eastwood – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Taylor Hackford – RAY
Alexander Payne – SIDEWAYS
Mike Leigh – VERA DRAKE

BEST PICTURE

THE AVIATOR
FINDING NEVERLAND
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
RAY
SIDEWAYS

###

Huh. I am so completely out of the loop, I’ve managed to see none of those. Not one. (Amusing to see Jamie Foxx competing in both Actor categories — having won the Globe, is that a good sign for a Best Actor Oscar?) But I guess the short answer is, if I have even one prayer of competing in our little ballot contest this year, it’s time for me to head to the theater…

Complete nominee list here.

Your friend and mine: Google now has a video search (beta search of closed caption text available online — no actual video yet, but how much do you want to bet that’s in the works as more and more video is made available online?)

So I was thinking, why worry about keeping the vacuum in the closet when we can just cover it up?

[via boingboing]

“Intelligent Design” seems to be the buzzword du jour.

This makes me angry. Very angry. Terrified that suddenly, we could be teaching our children science using theories and ideas that aren’t based in any kind of science.

Frankly, religious education is the place to teach these ideas, not the same classes that dissect amphibians and learn the basic principles of chemistry. Science is–and always has been–grounded in research, in discovery, in experimentation. In theory, yes, but theories that just so happen to have a lot of EVIDENCE that makes them credible.

Religion doesn’t belong in that classroom. Period.

Ed. to Add: Thought I’d add a quote from the Time piece that sums up how I feel about this. “[Intelligent Design] appalls the many scientists and science teachers who believe in evolution and also believe in God. ‘I accept evolution as the best scientific explanation for life as we know it,’ says Jeremy Mohn, a self-described “very religious” Methodist who teaches biology at Blue Valley Northwest High School, just a few minutes’ drive from Bingman’s school. ‘I also believe that God is ultimately responsible for the process. But it’s not our job to dust for fingerprints.’”

Mark Frauenfelder at boingboing points out author Mark Dery’s hilariously over-the-top yet absolutely dead-on rant on “Not One More Damn Dime Day”, the “economic boycott” intended to “protest” yesterday’s Presidential inauguration. Awesome.

The Catholic church defrocked the Irish-born priest who upset the men’s Olympic marathon in Athens last summer by leaping on the front-runner.

…Earlier Horan arrived at the Archbishop’s House armed with press releases and a mini tape recorder. Before going into the meeting he performed an Irish jig and preached the importance of the bible.

Horan was given a one-year suspended sentence by a Greek court last September after leaping on Brazilian runner Vanderli de Lima during the marathon, ruining his chances of winning the gold medal.

The Roman Catholic priest claimed that he was highlighting the “second coming” of Jesus Christ.

[via Warren]

Outgoing Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in an interview with The Australian, on his reflections and thoughts about the ups and downs of the last four years:

And Armitage’s disappointments? Not a lugubrious person, Armitage doesn’t nominate disappointments spontaneously. But he’ll answer a question honestly: “I’m disappointed that Iraq hasn’t turned out better. And that we weren’t able to move forward more meaningfully in the Middle East peace process.”
Then, after a minute’s pause, he adds a third regret: “The biggest regret is that we didn’t stop 9/11. And then in the wake of 9/11, instead of redoubling what is our traditional export of hope and optimism we exported our fear and our anger. And presented a very intense and angry face to the world. I regret that a lot.”

That’s probably the best summation of the last three years that anyone has ever made.

[via Kevin Drum]