Photograph of Queens native Amy Ryan, nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Gone, Baby Gone
At 8:30PM (following a half-hour red carpet special), the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will begin, finally putting an end to the "There Will Be Oscar" or "Oscar Country for Old Men" type headlines.
You can prep yourself with the Oscar nominees list as you watch (or avoid) red carpet coverage. You could read NY Times movie critic A.O. Scott's slightly curmudgeonly but totally valid essay on the Oscars: "I am nonetheless bothered by the disproportionate importance that the Academy Awards have taken on, and by the distorting influence they exercise over the way we make, market and see movies in this country." (Scott does make it clear he enjoy the Oscars; NY Times' David Carr, aka the Carpetbagger, has a companion essay about just reveling in the Oscarness.) The Daily News' Jack Matthews has his guesses about who will win tonight - for instance, he thinks Daniel Day-Lewis will win Best Actor, but Viggo Mortensen should win for his work in Eastern Promises. The Post offers up alternative awards - Best Bloodbath goes to Sweeney Tood.
We'll be back later to liveblog Hollywood's biggest night. We can't bear to watch Ryan Seacrest on E! - he was talking to the great actor Tom Wilkinson (nominated for best supporting actor in Michael Clayton, previously nominated for In the Bedroom) and all Seacrest could discuss was Wilkinson's fondness for the TV show Friends and talking about George Clooney.
source : www.gothamist.com