The 81^st annual Oscar nominees have now been announced and are as following: *The ones in bold are my favorite to win the award

Best Picture: Curious as to why The Wrestler isn’t here? Curiosity I feel turning to rage, rage to hate, hate to fear and well you know where it goes from there…

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,”
• “Frost/Nixon,”
• “Milk,”
• “The Reader,”
• “Slumdog Millionaire.” – Best film I’ve seen besides the aforementioned movie dealing with wrestling.

2. Actor:

• Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”;
• Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”;
• Sean Penn, “Milk”;
• Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”;
• Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.” – Would have given it to Penn but this needs to be retribution for the Best Picture snub. Oh and not to mention the fact that the Boss isn’t getting one for best original song!
  

3. Actress:

• Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”;
• Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”;
• Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”;
• Meryl Streep, “Doubt”;
• Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

4. Supporting Actor:

• Josh Brolin, “Milk”;
• Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”;
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”;
• Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”;
• Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”

5. Supporting Actress:

• Amy Adams, “Doubt”;
• Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”;
• Viola Davis, “Doubt”;
• Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”;
• Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler.”

6. Director:

• David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”;
• Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”;
• Gus Van Sant, “Milk”;
• Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”;
• Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

7. Foreign Film: Yet to see any of these but my guess is,

• “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany;
• “The Class,” France;
• “Departures,” Japan;
• “Revanche,” Austria;
• “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.

I realized recently that a large part of my vocabulary consists of entire film quotes that represent not only the current situation upon which they are commenting upon, but also reference some great moments in film. With that thought in mind I thought it prudent to start a running theme here pertaining to such quotes as I remember or make use of them.

• “Give a big round of applause to my band, Sexual Chocolate” Eddie Murphy, Coming To America (1988), see video below
• “Damn that boys good!”, Eddie Murphy, Coming To America, one of my most treasure film experiences,
• “Do you know how to make a red eye young Mr. Flannigan?”, Doug Coughlin, Cocktail (1998) to Brian Flannigan, aka Tom Cruise, unfortunately not to be found on the internet, you’ll have to buy the DVD!
• “The man’s tongue didn’t come through customs“, Carl Weathers, Rocky 4 (1985), in reference to Ivan Drago’s stoic nature at their pre-fight press conference,
• “Easy on the hardware”, Arnold Schwarzenegger, End Of Days (1999),

My mission, that I subsequently have accepted, is to bite off 12 films in 11 days. Impossible some say, he’s going to have to eat like those people in Cinemania I’ve heard people whisper. I tell people it’s what I do, it’s my “thang”, and that further more my attempt at this feat pales in comparison to one of my former classmates who will be watching 25 films in 11 days. I fear for his bowels along with already stocking up on cheese as I’m afraid there may be a run on it before the festival. I now present the aforementioned films I will be taking in at the festival along with some short quips pertaining to my expectations and choices.

• I.O.U.S.A – Since I’m moving back to the states in a few months i thought it best to bone up on the economy, documentary style!
• Waltz with Bashir – Looks fiendishly animated coupled with a fantastic premise. Being shown and watched by myself in my favorite movie theater of all time, Draken aka the Dragon.
• Sauna – Set in 1595 but strangely enough a film out after my own heart by containing some of my favorite things: a sauna, an academic, and some guy who killed 73 other people in some war.
• Idiots and Angels - “Angel is a bad man and his routine is simple: drink, sell guns and smoke cigarettes”, and it’s animated!
• Prince of Broadway – I guess I got lured in by the “one of the year’s most celebrated American indie films”, remains to be seen if the word suckah is applicable.
• Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot – One of the Beastie Boys, Adam Yauch, made a film about basketball. I like basketball, my soul craves it and unfortunately this is the only place it really can be watched in Sweden. I’m gonna monster jam on someones face after this film i think, that is if I am not the only one in the theater.
• Our Children Will Accuse Us – A documentary about a small french town where the mayor is determined to make everything 100% ecological. Funny enough it inspires people, I am hoping it rubs off on me!
• Chicago 10 – My guess is that Nick Nolte is only allowed to voice act after that infamous mug shot, so this is my only chance to “see him”. Truth be told the same thoughts about Waltz With Bashir are applicable here, minus it being shown at the Dragon.
• At the Edge of the World – Right, this is a car crash i cant look away from. I’ve seen the documentary series on Animal Planet about these people and have sworn never to watch these disgustingly imbecilic fundamentalists again, alas I find myself this time watching them on the big screen.
• It’s Not Me, I Swear! – The imdb tag line sold this one for me, “an over fertile imagination”. I was under the impression “over fertile” was only used to describe young people living in section 8 housing in the US. Waiting to see how the young French Canadian boy handles his girlfriend who is “always right”, that kind of info is handy.
• The Hurt Locker – Directed by Kathryn Bigelow part of an unfortunate minority of female directors in Hollywood, not to mention female directors who do action films. Two words: Point Break!
• Three Monkeys – Final film I’ll be watching at the festival, a Turkish “political thriller” that develops into an “existential drama” sounds like a typical weekend at the Higgins and Ricknell household.