Classic Oscar Moments Day 4

Seven years later and it's still cringe-inducing to watch.

Classic Oscar Moments Day 3

Battle of the child stars! Which one is cuter?

Paquin?

or Tatum?

I'm going with Paquin.

I WANT ONE!!!!

Introducing the WTF blanket....

Gay-B-C

Funny.

Classic Oscar Moments Day 2

A genuinely surprising - and surprised - winner. Always makes for good watching. He's also strangely hot, no?

Classic Oscar Moments Day 1

Sure, this guy was a deserving winner, but it's a travesty that Stewie Griffin didn't win anything for his role in the musical version.

Quote of the day

Tina Fey slyly addresses the ongoing dispute within the Screen Actors Guild while accepting her SAG award for 30Rock.

"And I want to thank [my daughter] Alice for her patience. Someday, she'll be old enough to watch 30 Rock reruns on the internet and understand where mommy was going at 6 a.m. every day for all that time. And she'll look up at me and say, 'What do you mean, you don't get residuals for this?' I love you, Alice. Take care of me when I'm old and broke!"

SAG winners

Winners of last night's Screen Actors Guild awards. These gongs add a few twists. Best Actor is tightening up, with Penn edging out Rourke to win his first SAG award. Similarly, Streep's victory as Best Actress, and Winslet's in Supp Actress both complicates the Lead Actress category at the Oscars, and leaves the Supp Oscar race completely open. Regarding the latter, the BAFTA result will probably hold a lot of sway, but as for Supp Actor, the other four might as well not turn up on the night: it's Ledger's.

Film
Ensemble Cast: Slumdog Millionaire
Lead Actress: Meryl Streep, Doubt
Lead Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Lifetime Achievement Award: James Earl Jones

Television
Lead Actress, Comedy Series: Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Lead Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ensemble Cast, Comedy Series: 30 Rock
Lead Acress, Drama Series: Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Lead Actor, Drama Series: Hugh Laurie, House
Ensemble Cast, Drama Series: Mad Men
Lead Actress, Miniseries: Laura Linney, John Adams
Lead Actor, Miniseries: Paul Giamatti, John Adams

Sundance kids

The prize winners at this year's Sundance Film Festival. I particularly like the sound of Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire (above), starring rapper Mo'Nique in what's meant to be a brilliant performance.

Mad Woman

There's a good interview with Mad Men's Peggy Olson, actress Elisabeth Moss, in today's Observer. She's up for a Best Actress prize in the TV category at the Screen Actors Guild awards tonight. Despite all her recent success, she'll always be The West Wing's Zoey Bartlet to me.

If movie posters told the truth...

...I like.

Screen Actors Guild predix

My predictions for the Screen Actors Guild awards which will be dished out on Sunday night. They're important ones, voted for entirely by actors, who make up the biggest voting branch in the Academy.

Outstanding Motion Picture Cast Ensemble: The dazzling cast of Milk really should win, but I think the Slumdog Millionaire juggernaut will carry this one too.

Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role: The actors will support Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) over closest rival Sean Penn (Milk)

Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role: This is a tricky one. Kate Winslet needs to win this if she has any chance of landing the Oscar, but the actor voters seem to have problems with the admittedly-tough going Revolutionary Road. I still think Winslet will edge past her closet rival, Anne Hathaway.

Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Like at the Globes, I think the late Heath Ledger will win for The Dark Knight.

Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role: I don't think SAG will be as generous as the Globes and reward Winslet with two Actors in the one night. There is considerable buzz about Viola Davis' brief but blazing turn in Doubt, and I think she'll win here on Sunday night.

TV Awards:
Actor Mini-series: Paul Giamatti (John Adams)
Actress Mini-series: Laura Linney (John Adams)
Actor Drama Series: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Actress Drama Series: Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Actor Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Actress Comedy Series: Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Ensemble Comedy Series: The Office
Ensemble Drama Series: Mad Men

Tee hee hee...

...listen to what this Fox News talking head has to say about Barack and Michelle. They do what together?

2009 Oscar nominations

Quite a few surprises in here...nominations can be viewed in full here.

YAY!:
Melissa Leo, Richard Jenkins and the brilliant Michael Shannon get nominations - a great day for character actors

Josh Brolin: At last gets some award recognition after an incredible year.

Martin McDonagh lands a screenplay nom for In Bruges

Milk gets nods for Best Picture and Director - I was afraid it was just too gay for the Academy

BOO!:
The Reader - Best Picture? Really?? Ditto for its Best Director nod

Angelina Jolie - boooo!

No Sally Hawkins or Kristin Scott Thomas

WTF?:
The Dark Knight is totally snubbed in all major categories with the exception of Ledger as Supporting Actor

Kate Winslet is bumped from Supporting to Lead for The Reader - and ignored for her Golden Globe-winning/SAG nominated role in Revolutionary Road

Suits you, Mr President

First full day...

Waiting for Ikea

If you fancy a spot of theatuh this month, I highly recommend Waiting for Ikea, a spiky new comedy written by and starring Jacinta Sheerin and Georgina McKevitt (nominated for Best Actress during the 2006 Fringe Festival for her role in thisispopbaby's Danny and Chantelle: Still Here).

The plot is as follows: "Waiting for Ikea is the story of Chrissie and Jade, two best friends in north inner city Dublin, who spend their days waiting; waiting for the postman, waiting for the kettle to boil and waiting for Coronation Street. They won't shop in Argos 'cos we're waiting for IKEA'.

"Pimlico flats is akin to Cheers: everybody knows your name, your business, your record and what you are having for dinner. Nothing much changes in Pimlico, each day begins and ends the same; it's what happens in between that keeps the neighbours interested. The only current affairs these girls are concerned with is whether Mrs Dignam is having it off with Gunner Eye Gilby. The Celtic tiger has been and gone and they never even stroked it. 'Recession? Is that a new fragrance by Calvin Klein?'."

Dates and venues are as follows:

The Mill Theatre, Dundrum Town Centre.D.14
Jan. 27th - 31st 2009, 8pm.
Tickets: € 16/ €14
Booking & Info: 01 296 9340 or visit www.milltheatre.com

axis:Ballymun, Main St, Ballymun,D9.
Feb 2nd - 6th 2009, 8pm.
Tickets: €15/€12
Booking & Info : 01 883 2100 or visit www.axis-ballymun.ie
Complimentary underground parking available

Lost is back

TONIGHT BABY!

USA Today has an overview here.

Best visual metaphor

Darth Cheney is wheeled from the White House: a perfect metaphor for the crippled NeoCon movement now so thoroughly discredited and comprehensively rejected by American voters.

President Obama

Okay, so nerves got the better of him during the oath, but click here to read the text of Obama's Inaugural address.

Bye bye Bush

Opening today, on screens across the globe, a momentous theatrical event eight years in the making!

Good god, it felt like we'd never get rid of him, didn't it? When he was first (s)elected in November/December 2000, I was just after starting university, which really puts the last eight years in perspective. That really drives home to me how long it's been. Check out an overview of Bush's impact on pop culture here.

President Obama: you're the man. I smugly feel proprietorial of you, having told my friend Dowdy after the 2004 convention that you'd be the next president. If (when?) it comes to it, please break our hearts gently.

Salon has a piece on the dawn of the Age of Obama here. Plus here's a profile here of Obama's speechwriter Jon Favreau (not the actor/director!) - he's only my age (27) so naturally I hate him.Quirky fact of the day: did you know he wrote the first draft of today's speech in a Starbucks?

Pitcure of the day

With just 14 hours left in his presidency, the waxwork model of George Dubya is removed and sent to the archives of Madam Tussauds in Amsterdam, making way for No 44.

Ultimate coming of age story

Last night I got to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's a Dorian Gray-esque tale, starring Brad Pitt as a man who is born as an old man at the end of WWI in 1918 and ages backwards, dying as a baby in the spring of 2003. It takes a Forrest Gump-ian look at his picaresque adventures at home in New Orleans, where he is raised by retirement home nurse Queenie (Taraji P Henson) and further afield, taking in his epic love affair with his "childhood" sweetheart Daisy (Cate Blanchett).

I wasn't sure at first what to make of this movie. Technically, BB is simply awesome: the reverse aging of Brad Pitt is just amazing - at one point he looks younger than he did in Thelma and Louise back in 1991. Yet for a movie so technologically advanced, it is very old fashioned: a whimsical, evocative, lyrical and melancholy drama. It's also visually stunning, with faultless period detail.

My gut reaction was that it was a movie to admire, rather than love; intriguing more than engaging. But having slept on it, I find myself unable to shake off many of its set pieces and ideas, and so am officially upgrading it to status of grower, not shower. It truly is a haunting movie, raising all sorts of questions about ageing, family, love, the nature of time and, more importantly, timing. It also confronts, head-on, the mantra that youth is wasted on the young.

It also features an array of incredible performances: Blanchett has rarely been better in a leading role, while in Henson, a star really is born. But best of all is Brad Pitt, subtly acting his socks off in the role of a lifetime - literally. His performance is sensitive, quietly commanding, charming and ultimately moving, profoundly so.

BB is a bit too long (2 hrs 40 mins), and sometimes there really isn't enough story to justify such a running time. But this really is a movie that, I believe, will be one for the ages.

On the piste

My travel piece on skiing in Austria in last Saturday's Independent...

I would like to think of myself as being a man of the world, yet when it comes to that tricky three-letter ‘s’ word, I must confess to being a late bloomer. All of my friends had done it, and loved it, and yet here I was, still a virgin at aged 27. I guess I had kept putting it off because of the usual anxieties. What if I wasn’t any good at it? What if I’m laughed at? What if I get hurt?

Yes, skiing for the first time is a milestone in every person’s life, and last month I finally became a man (so to speak) when I took part in a group ski trip to Austria, which has been voted Ireland’s favourite ski destination for the past three years.

Being a complete ski virgin, I had no gear or equipment whatsoever, but managed to cobble together what was needed from my more travelled-friends and from the Great Outdoors store on Chatham Street in Dublin (01 679 4293, www.greatoutdoors.ie) where I was able to rent my ski jacket and salopettes (pants) for e59, with a refundable deposit of e30.

My group took the two-hour flight to Munich on a Saturday morning and then had a three-hour coach transfer to Salzburg in Austria (the break-taking Apline scenery en route eases the pain considerably).

Later that afternoon we arrived in the village of Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang, one of Austria’s most popular ski destinations, comprising of 200kms of interconnected piste known as the Ski Circus.

The next morning it was time for my first lesson. My trip was last minute, but if you have time, I’d strongly recommend packing in some lessons in either the Ski Club in Kiltiernan (01 295 5658 or www.skiclub.ie) or the brand new Ski Centre in Sandyford (01 293 0588 or see www.skicentre.ie).

Luckily for me, Saalbach boasts an excellent ski school run by Hannes Furstauer (http://www.skischule-saalbach.at or call 0043(0)6541 8444) and I was promptly assigned my own instructor named Anneka. “Be gentle,” I begged of her.

A private instructor for a four hour session will cost about e160 depending on the season. In my view that’s a steal, but sweet mother of all that’s holy, do you have to work during those sessions. Skiing is an incredibly fun activity; learning to ski, on the other hand, is hard graft and requires a lot of patience.

After one session I discovered muscles that I never knew I had. You especially feel the burn in your thighs, knees and shins (from leaning forward so much into the clunky, heavy ski boots).

When I started my first lesson I couldn’t even stand upright on my skis. I fell, I screamed, and there may have even been a tantrum as I lay flat on my back in the snow. However, by lunchtime, I could do my left and right turns on the beginner slopes, with little eight-year-old Austrian natives whizzing by me just to keep me humble.

Whatever doubts I had about my ability to learn skiing, I never for one second doubted my abilities to master the après ski. That afternoon, we set up shop in the hopping Ski Bauer Alm for some hearty, carb-loaded food (skiing is not the time for dieting or the pursuit of haute cuisine), washed down with gluhwein and pints of Edelweiss, all while the sound system pumped out the kind of glorious, manic Europop you can only find in the Germanic countries.

Everything you might have heard about apres ski is true, and for the initiated, all I can advise is to try and keep pace, and just go with the flow. That’s how I ended up with my gang in a pub high up in the mountains, dressed in Lederhosen, leading my table in a rendition of Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music, before hiring toboggans and whizzing back down to our hotel.

The next morning, I had my second lesson with Anneka. It was a glorious, sunny day, with ideal conditions, and within an hour, she decided I was ready for the T-Bar lift to the top of the beginner slope. Needless to say I fell more trying to master the lift, than the actual incline.

After that, we caught the cable lift up the mid-section of the mountain, where I managed to ski down in the snowplough position almost perfectly in her tracks. Not too bad considering it was only technically my fourth hour skiing. That’s the advantage of the private instruction.

The next day we moved on from Saalbach to the beautiful Bad Hofgastein in the renowned Gastein Valley, a town seeped in old world imperial architecture and charm. The Valley sports over 250km of piste and is a popular choice for intermediate and advanced skiers.

The Angertal area is the ideal spot for children’s ski school and general beginners. There are several superb schools in the Valley offering private instruction and ski guiding. For my first morning on these slopes I had my own guide, Patrick, and for the afternoon, I joined up with two others from my group and their instructor, Fritz Kettinig, the head of the Angertal Ski School (http://www.schneesportgastein.com or call 0043 (0) 6432 / 7475).

Fritz informed me that he actually taught President McAleese and her husband Martin to ski in recent years, and he graciously took me under his wing for the rest of my stay. If it’s good enough for heads of state, then it’s good enough for me.

There’s a different vibe entirely in Bad Hofgastein than in Saalbach. There are a wide variety of runs for all levels on the expertly groomed and maintained slopes that reach elevations as high as 2,700 metres above sea level.

Stepping up my crash-course in skiing, I managed to stay upright on one or two red slopes, but stuck mainly to the largely level blue runs that were just glorious to ski upon. The conditions were only tough on my last morning when there was strong wind and blizzards. I foolishly got ahead of myself and tried to master my parallel turns, and ended up with a bloody nose for my troubles.

That may have been my only injury (miraculously!), but at this stage in the holiday my body was aching all over. This is where Bad Hofgastein’s other big attraction comes in to play. The area is known the world over for its thermal springs and healing caves, and indeed offers full holiday health packages for specialist treatment of ailments like arthritis, asthma, bronchial illness, and skin disorders (see www.gastein.com).

We went to the AlpenTherme (www.alpentherme.com, 0043 0 6432/8293-0), a massive complex housing six health, recreation and adventure areas, featuring air bubble beds, thermal water massages, water slides, an enclosed children’s cinema and a sauna world, though this is one area where the cultural gap between the Irish and the Austrians is most pronounced: everyone using the sauna was completely naked. It’s worth casting off your inhibitions to give them a try.

A four-hour ticket costs e20.50, and there’s also a massage and beauty service upstairs. After a 25-minute half-body massage (costing just e28), there wasn’t an ache left in my body. All there was left to do that point was take in the stunning scenery, party in the cracking Silver Bullet pub (make a point of kissing the mounted bull on the wall) and be happy in the knowledge that my first experience as a skier just left me gagging for more.

GETTING THERE:

We travelled to Austria with Topflight (www.topflight.ie or call 01 2401700), flying to Munich and then transferring by coach to Salzburg. There are value deals available for those who can fly out on January 10^th, 17^th and 24^th, starting from e769, which includes Topflight charter flights to Salzburg, transfers and half board four star accommodation.

WHERE TO STAY:

In Saalbach, we stayed in the Hinterhag Hotel (http://www.hinterhag.at, 0043 06541 6291)), run by local artist Evi Herzeltanz and her son Seppe. Suites start from e75 for four people sharing. In Bad Hofgastein, we stayed in the five star Grand Park Hotel (www.grandparkhotel.at, 0043 0 6432 63560), which offers winter ski packages in January and February from e463 midweek rate (flights and transfers need to be arranged separately).

Bad Hofgastein also has the four star Sendlhof Hotel (http://www.sendlhof.co.at, 0043(0)6432 3838), with prices starting from e1099 half board, with Topflight charter flights, transfers and rep services. There are also special offers for January 10^th and 17^th from e899.

WHEN TO GO:

January can be a good time to hit the slopes as it is quieter with less lift queues. There has already been excellent early snowfall in Austria so ski conditions are expected to be good right up until April.

THREE GREAT THINGS TO DO:

1. Pick your slope of choice and ski until 3.30pm, and then hit the bars for après ski. The boots become easier to walk in as the evening goes on!
2. Take a ski-doo up to a mountaintop pub like the Spielberghaus in Saalbach (http://www.spielberghaus.at) and then toboggan back down afterwards.
3. An afternoon in the thermal spas in Gastein restoring body and mind – and bombing down water slides.

Mmm hmm mmm

New promo pic for X Men: Origins Wolverine. Hugh, Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights) and Ryan Reynolds - tasty!

26.5 hours....

Almost there...

Dec's Oscar predix

My predictions for this year's Oscar nominations, to be announced on Thursday at 1.30pm Irish time...

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Watching out for: Doubt
Fingers crossed for: Wall-E

Best Director:
David Fincher (Benjamin Button)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)

Watch out for: Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)
Fingers crossed for: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler)

Best Actor:
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)

Watch out for: Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button)
Fingers crossed for: Colin Farrell (In Bruges)

Best Actress:
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

Watch out for: Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Fingers crossed for: Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long)

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Josh Brolin (Milk)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Robert Downey Jr (Tropic Thunder)

Watch out for: Ralph Fiennes (The Duchess/The Reader)
Fingers crossed for: James Franco (Milk)

Best Supporting Actress
Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Taraji P Henson (Benjamin Button)
Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Watch out for: Amy Adams (Doubt)
Fingers crossed for: Rosemarie Dewitt (Rachel Getting Married)

Best Original Screenplay
Milk
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
The Visitor
Rachel Getting Married

Best Adapted Screenplay
Slumdog Millionaire
Doubt
Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road

Lots of personality

Just watched the first episode of the new Diablo Cody-scripted TV drama series United States of Tara. It stars Toni Collette as Tara/Tina/Buck, a wife and mother with multiple personality disorders, a condition that is oddly tolerated and accommodated by her husband (Sex and the City's John Corbett), rebellious daughter and possibly-gay geeky son.

It would be hard for this show to go wrong considering its pedigree: written by Juno Oscar winner Cody, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and starring the astonishingly versatile and chameleon-like Collette as well as the glorious Rosemarie Dewitt (soon to be seen acting her socks off opposite Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married).

I really enjoyed this pilot: it's sassy, well written, funny,spiky and is an acting tour-de-force (if it survives, Collette will collect every TV award going). It will need a few weeks to hit its stride and explain some of its more peculiar narrative choices (how is her family so cool about the whole thing? Why did Tara go off her meds?), but this one has enormous potential and I'll definitely be coming back for more. Good work Diablo!

Bush's greatest hits

Glorious. Part of me is going to miss him.

"The best job in the world"

Apply here.

Obama flavour...

Ben and Jerry's win the prize for creating the best Obama-themed product in the run-up to the Inauguration. Pun-arific.

Being Jean Claude Van Damme

I cannot wait to see this! Come on someone, release it here!

Good riddance

Dubya gives his farewell address to the US after two catastrophic terms as President. It's a moment for quiet, humble, profound introspection on his behalf, as you can well imagine.

Full text here.

BaDec OCasha

Obama-ise your good self.

Can't frackin' wait

Tomorrow night, the final 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica start airing. It's going to be frackin' great. Who is the final Cylon? My bets are Doc Cottle or Roslin.

What Bush taught us

Bob Woodward lists 10 lessons from the Bush era, which comes to an end [tick tock] in just under five days.

Bafta noms

BAFTA nominations are in - Slumdog and Benjamin Button lead with 11 apiece.

Take your best shot

Cinematographers discuss the best shots of the year. Part 2 is here.

The above shot is from Gus Van Sant's sublime Milk.

Movie of and for the year

Slumdog is "the first movie of the Obama era".

Dustin, BB, Bebo and Newry

The top Google searches in Ireland for 2008.

Globes

Slumdog and the great Kate Winslet sweep the board at the Golden Globes.

Winslet, nominated for five Oscars, had never won a Golden Globe. And, in my all-knowing* pre-award predictions, I hadn't predicted her to win either. My bad Kate. She's now in the strongest position of any actor this year going into the Oscars. Nice (though she would want to recall that the last person to win two acting Globes on the one night was Sigourney Weaver back in 1989. She lost both prizes at the Oscars).

Plus, how great was it for Colin Farrell?! Did not see that one coming at all. He could very well sneak into the Oscar shortlist now, though competition is extremely tough.

*I don't know anything.

Obamarama in DC, January 20th

From yesterday's Weekend magazine in the Independent

United States of Tara

Toni Collette in a new Diablo Cody-scripted drama? I'm there!

Fair Fey

Just got round to reading this on the train today: Maureen Dowd interviews Tina Fey in Vanity Fair.

Man of the hour returns

Feature on the return of 24 in today's Independent.

FYC

Some of the latest Oscar campaign posters...

Track those all important first 100 days

Good resource charting the ups and downs of the last 12 US presidents' first 100 days in office.

Who needs friends? I want a burger!

Hungry? Too many friends on Facebook? Here's the solution!

Calculating W's wreckage

Salon crunches the numbers and produces a devastating assessment of Dubya's impact on the United States over the past eight years.

Obamaman, Obamaman, does whatever a spider can

I know Obama was ingenious in harnessing the power of the web to be elected, but this is ridiculous :)

The official Inauguration poster

Picture of the day

All the presidents' men. The current, future and surviving former US presidents meet for lunch.

2008 turkeys

Various critics make their cases to New York magazine for their worst movies of 2008. My personal picks are M.Night Shite-amalan's The Happening and Fernando Meirelles' insufferable Blindness.

What are your worst movies of the last year?

Globe predictions

Golden Globes are handed out on Sunday night. Let me read the tea leaves for you...

Best Motion Picture Drama:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Prediction: Slumdog will be the final answer.
Watch out for: Benjamin Button.

Best Actor Drama:
Leo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Prediction: This is a really tough race, but I'm betting on comeback kid Mickey Rourke to win.
Watch out for: Sean Penn in the role of his career in Milk.

Best Actress Drama:
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)

Prediction: This is also a very strong category. Winslet is disgracefully overdue, but there was a mixed reaction to her movie. I think Anne Hathaway is going to win for a career-changing performance.
Watch out for: Kate Winslet.

Best Director:
Danny Boyle (Slumdog)
Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
David Fincher (Benjamin Button)
Ron Howard (F/N)
Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road)

Prediction: I think this is the one race where Benjamin Button will pick up a gong. David Fincher to edge out Boyle.
Watch out for: Danny Boyle and the Slumdog juggernaut.

Best Supporting Actor:
Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder)
Robert Downey Jnr (Tropic Thunder)
Ralph Fiennes (The Duchess)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Prediction: Is there anyone who doesn't believe the late Heath Ledger is going to win this?
Watch out for: Downey Jnr had a great year - the only real competition here.

Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams (Doubt)
Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Prediction: An electrifying Penelope Cruz will go home with the Globe.
Watch out for: Viola Davis is building a lot of support for her small but pivotal turn in Doubt.

Other categories:
Best Picture Musical/Comedy: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Actor M/C: Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey)
Best Actress M/C: Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky)

Best Screenplay: Slumdog
Best Animated Movie: Wall-E
Best Foreign Language Movie: Gomorrah
Best Score: Slumdog
Best Song: 'The Wrestler', Bruce Springsteen