I did a very dumb thing. I went home on Spring Break and I seem to have left the notebook with our Oscar picks at Denison, so basically I cannot continue that thing until I get back to Denison. I'll have to go two at a time or something.

Yesterday Laura and I went to the mall and then we saw Chicago. It's not bad. It's fun. I liked Catch Me If You Can better, but the cinematography is quite good. The sound editing needs some work, though. Plus, Richard Gere does NOT have a leading man singing voice. He sounds like Albert Finney in Annie. However, he fully deserved the Golden Glode for embarrassing himself like that. The next movie musical is going to be Phantom of the Opera. Rumor has it that Antonio Banderas is going to star, presumably as the Phantom (I think he's played it before. He has a very breathy voice, but it works in a weird way. Michael Crawford is much better though). No word on who'll play Christine or Raoul yet...

One last thing: Would the House of Represenatives please GROW UP?

I’m in the mood for a storm today. I don’t know why. It’s raining and kinda dreary outside, so maybe that’s it. I love storms, and we didn’t have very many last year, so I have to use those sound effect nature CDs. It’s hard to find ones where the thunder doesn’t sound like it’s from a bad movie, though. Anyways, today’s category is:

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Nominees Are:

• Bowling For Columbine


• Daughter From Danang


• Prisoner of Paradise


• Spellbound


• Winged Migration

Erin’s Pick: Bowling For Columbine

Marisa’s Pick: Bowling For Columbine

The Winner Last Year Was: Murder on a Sunday Morning

Alliteration seems to be popular this year. Neither of us have seen any of these, as usual, but we both like Michael Moore, so we went with that.

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! Hope you all partied heartily (but safely). As for me, I’m glad that I don’t have to go to Ash Wednesday mass anymore (I’m not Catholic, but I went to a Catholic high school, so we had mass at least once a month), but I miss paczkis (sp?). No one down here knows what they are. If you don’t know, they’re a Polish delicacy. They’re kind of like custard or jelly filled donuts except the bread is much lighter and there’s usually more filling. By the way, they’re pronounced “poonch-keys.” I’m not Polish, but there’s a large Polish community in Toledo, and paczkis are somewhat of a Mardi Gras tradition there. I had taken it for granted that everyone knew the tradition, so I was surprised last year when I went to the bakery and they had no idea what I was talking about. Oh well. I go home Friday, and they can keep four days, so there isn’t much loss this time. I am in mourning for the Styx concert I cannot attend. Laura and Chris’s mom is going, which kind of frustrates me more. I’ll be stuck here, studying for a Molecular Biology exam that I have tomorrow. Ick. Okay, today’s category is:

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

The Nominees Are:

• The Collector of Bedford Street


• Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks


• Twin Towers


• Why Can’t We Be a Family Again?

Erin’s Pick: Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks

Marisa’s Pick: Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks

The Winner Last Year Was: Thoth

Marisa and I do not frequent documentaries, so we can’t make very educated picks on these. I have no idea what the first and last ones are about, and my feeling about September 11 documentaries is if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I can’t keep them straight. Maybe in about 50 years. Anyways, we both decided to go for Mighty Times since it seems to be about someone we’ve heard of.

I like having snow on the ground. I like having no snow on the ground. It’s that in-between part that I hate. Seeing half-melted snow is like watching someone die a slow and painful death (without all the emotion). Get it over with! Anyways, I go home on Friday (a few days too late, but you already knew that). Okay then, onto today’s category:

BEST FILM EDITING

The Nominees Are:

• Chicago


• Gangs of New York


• The Hours


• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers


• The Pianist

Erin’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Marisa’s Pick: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Winner Last Year Was: Black Hawk Down

I’m actually getting to the point where I can truly make an informed decision on this one, provided I see all the movies first. I now notice things like pointless shots and sound edit seams. However, I can’t put those skills to use here because I haven’t seen any of these. I’ll just go for the genre film (which, in the past, has done moderately well in this category).