First, the picks. Then, the methodology: PICTURE: *Milk* DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, *Slumdog Millionaire* ACTOR: Sean Penn, *Milk* ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, *Doubt* SUPPORTING ACTOR: Josh Brolin, *Milk* SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Marisa Tomei, *The Wrestler* ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: *Frozen River* ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: *Wall-E* ANIMATED FILM: *Wall-E* ART DIRECTION: *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* CINEMATOGRAPHY: *The Reader* COSTUME DESIGN: *Australia* DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: *Encounters at the End of the World* DOCUMENTARY SHORT: *The Final Inch* FILM EDITING: *The Dark Knight* FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: *The Class* (France) MAKEUP: *Hellboy II: The Golden Army* ORIGINAL SCORE: *Wall-E* ORIGINAL SONG: "Jai Ho" from *Slumdog Millionaire* ANIMATED SHORT: *Oktapodi* LIVE-ACTION SHORT: *The Pig* SOUND EDITING: *Slumdog Millionaire* SOUND MIXING: *Wanted* VISUAL EFFECTS: *The Dark Knight*
So sue me: When packing for my current convalescence, I forgot to bring my Magic 8-Ball. When I realized this, I seriously considered forgoing the picks this year. I mean, does anyone really win pools with them? Since it's the same voters every year, we all know how to pick the acting winners: Top priority in each category goes to portrayers of real people, the more recent the better. Supporting Actor is the lifetime achievement award. The only thing that can stop the giver of a true breakout performance from winning Supporting Actress is a nominee from a Woody Allen movie. And when in doubt on Best Picture, count the technical nominees. Yeah, so we all know that. But when it comes to the technical categories, you need an oracle. And that's usually my Magic 8-Ball. Which could be a problem. Fortunately, I have way too much time on my hands. So I pulled apart an old project <http://www.sometimeyesterday.net/8ball> and concocted the Quick 'n' Dirty Magic 8-Ball <http://www.sometimeyesterday.net/qndball/>. That still seemed too impersonal, so I decided to go old-school and pull dominoes from a bag. (No, seriously, it is *too* old-school. What was frequently used to cast lots back in the day? Bones. What do people often call dominoes? Bones. Therefore, domino-pulling is the modern equivalent of casting lots, and if that's good enough for that "God" person the winners keep thanking, then it's good enough for us.) For the most part, the dominoes backed up the 8-Ball. Here's where it didn't: ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, *Rachel Getting Married* ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: *The Reader* ART DIRECTION: *The Dark Knight* (with *Changeling* and *Revolutionary Road*right behind) COSTUME DESIGN: *The Duchess* MAKEUP: *The Dark Knight* ORIGINAL SONG: "O Saya" from *Slumdog Millionaire* LIVE ACTION SHORT: Toss-up between *Manon on the Asphalt* and *Spielzeugland * SOUND EDITING: *The Dark Knight* SOUND MIXING: *Slumdog Millionaire* And there you go. Choose your oracle and take your chances. If you win anything, just remember who consults 'em for you. --Rose --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wnndl?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
