Ahoy, squirts! Quint here anxiously awaiting Jack Driscoll to appear on the telly and give us this year's nominations for the Academy Awards. It feels a bit like being Steve Martin getting the new phone book... "The new phone book is in! The new phone book is in!" I've always loved the Oscars, even on the boring years. Sure, it's a bunch of people patting themselves on the back, but since I'm not into sports this is my chance every year to root for a team. Last year my team swept the floor with the competition.

So, according to the official Oscar webpage Adrien Brody and Academy President Frank Pierson will be announcing the nominees of 10 of the 24 total categories with the rest of them being simultaniously released to press at the event and all over the world. I'll do my best to get the nominees up as soon as I hear 'em.

We're about 15 minutes away now and the speculation is running strong. I think we all know who's likely to get in. I don't think we're going to see any surprises in terms of who's nominated, but there may be some surprises in who ISN'T nominated. I've heard that THE AVIATOR score by Howard Shore is going to be disqualified because somewhere in there he incorperates some other music of some kind. We'll see if that's true soon, I guess, but that's a little bit of bullshit. I don't think Shore's score is the best of the year (that goes to Michael Giacchino's score for THE INCREDIBLES), but Shore's score is still damn strong.

Anyway, enough of this... we're about 5 minutes away now. I'm gonna shut up and wait!

Alright, one commercial break away... Almost there!

Frank Pierson gives a tribute to Johnny Carson, who hosted many Academy Awards in his time... And Brody goes in for the kiss! That never gets old!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

*Cate Blanchett - THE AVIATOR

* Laura Linney - KINSEY

*Virginia Madsen - SIDEWAYS

*Sophie Okonedo - HOTEL RWANDA

*Natalie Portman - CLOSER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

*Alan Alda - THE AVIATOR

*Thomas Haden Church - SIDEWAYS

*Jamie Foxx - COLLATERAL

*Morgan Freeman - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*Clive Owen - CLOSER

BEST ACTRESS:

*Annette Bening - BEING JULIA

*Catalina Sandino Moreno - MARIA FULL OF GRACE

*Imelda Staunton - VERA DRAKE

*Hilary Swank - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*Kate Winslet - ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

BEST ACTOR:

*Don Cheadle - HOTEL RWANDA

*Johnny Depp - FINDING NEVERLAND

*Leonardo DiCaprio - THE AVIATOR

*Clint Eastwood - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*Jamie Foxx - RAY

BEST DIRECTOR:

*Martin Scorsese - THE AVIATOR

*Clint Eastwood - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*Taylor Hackford - RAY

*Alexander Payne - SIDEWAYS

*Mike Leigh - VERA DRAKE

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

*John Logan - THE AVIATOR

*Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth - ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

*Keir Pearson & Terry George - HOTEL RWANDA

*Brad Bird - THE INCREDIBLES (!!!)

*Mike Leigh - VERA DRAKE

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

*Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke; Story By Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan - BEFORE SUNSET

*David Magee - FINDING NEVERLAND

*Paul Haggis - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*Jose Rivera - THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

*Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor - SIDEWAYS

BEST FOREIGN PICTURE:

*AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

*THE CHORUS

*DOWNFALL (this one got applause from the press covering the telecast)

*THE SEA INSIDE (this one, too)

*YESTERDAY

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE:

*THE INCREDIBLES (YAY!!!)

*SHARK TALE (BOO!!!)

*SHREK 2 (eh...)

BEST PICTURE:

*THE AVIATOR

*FINDING NEVERLAND

*MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*RAY

*SIDEWAYS

Alright, I'll be back in a moment with the rest of the Academy nominations from makeup to score (yep, no AVIATOR), cinematography and so on!

So, this wasn't the event to try to cover live. To be honest, it was the first time I ever stayed up to listen to the nominations and I expected them to be a little more... dramatic. They read that list super-fast! But we also got the rest of the nominees! Let's go!

ART DIRECTION:

*Dante Ferretti (Art Direction); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration) - THE AVIATOR

*Gemma Jackson (Art Direction); Trisha Edwards (Set Decoration) - FINDING NEVERLAND

*Rick Heinrichs (Art Direction); Cheryl A. Carasik (Set Decoration) - LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

*Anthony Pratt (Art Direction); Celia Bobak (Set Decoration) - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

*Aline Bonetto - A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

*Robert Richardson - THE AVIATOR

*Zhao Xiaoding - THE HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS

*Caleb Deschanel - THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

*John Mathieson - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

*Bruno Delbonnel - A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

COSTUME DESIGN:

*Sandy Powell - THE AVIATOR

*Alexandra Byrne - FINDING NEVERLAND

*Colleen Atwood - LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

*Sharen Davis - RAY

*Bob Ringwood - TROY

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

*Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski - BORN INTO BROTHELS

*Luigi Falorni and Byambasuren Davaa - THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL

*Morgan Spurlock - SUPER SIZE ME

*Lauren Lazin and Karolyn Ali - TUPAC: RESURRECTION

*Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt - TWIST OF FAITH

FILM EDITING:

*Thelma Schoonmaker - THE AVIATOR

*Matt Chesse - FINDING NEVERLAND

*Joel Cox - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

*Paul Hirsch - RAY

*Jim Miller and Paul Rubell - COLLATERAL

MAKEUP:

*Valli O'Reilly and Bill Corso - LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

*Keith Vanderlaan and Christien Tinsley - THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

*Jo Allen and Manuel García - THE SEA INSIDE

No HELLBOY? Sigh... But on the up side THE PASSION nomination probably marks the first gore make-up nod in the history of the Academy! Alright, still chuggin' along. Be back in a few minutes with the rest, including score!

MUSIC (SCORE):

*John Williams - HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

*Jan A.P. Kaczmarek - FINDING NEVERLAND

*Thomas Newman - LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

*John Debney - THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

*James Newton Howard - THE VILLAGE

MUSIC (SONG):

*"Accidentally In Love" - SHREK 2

*"Al Otro Lado Del Río" - THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

*"Believe" - THE POLAR EXPRESS

*"Learn To Be Lonely" - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

*"Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" - THE CHORUS

SOUND EDITING:

*Michael Silvers and Randy Thom - THE INCREDIBLES

*Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard - THE POLAR EXPRESS

*Paul N.J. Ottosson - SPIDER-MAN 2

I remember as a kid SOUND EDITING and VISUAL EFFECTS (coming up in a moment) were always my favorite categories because it seemed the movies I loved could only ever win in these categories! TERMINATOR 2, JURASSIC PARK, etc. Glad to see SPIDEY get some love, even if it is barely a hug. Anyway, got more comin'!

SOUND MIXING:

*Tom Fleischman and Petur Hliddal - THE AVIATOR

*Randy Thom, Gary A. Rizzo and Doc Kane - THE INCREDIBLES

*Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis Sands and William B. Kaplan - THE POLAR EXPRESS

*Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamessa - RAY

*Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Joseph Geisinger - SPIDER-MAN 2

VISUAL EFFECTS:

*Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson and Bill George - HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

*John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash and Joe Letteri - I, ROBOT

*John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier - SPIDER-MAN 2

Alright, only got the shorts (animated, live action and doco) left...

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT:

*Gerardine Wurzburg - AUTISM IS A WORLD

*Hanna Polak and Andrzej Celinski - THE CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY

*Hubert Davis and Erin Faith Young - HARDWOOD

*Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston - MIGHTY TIMES: THE CHILDREN'S MARCH

*Oren Jacoby and Steve Kalafer - SISTER ROSE'S PASSION

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED):

*Sejong Park and Andrew Gregory - BIRTHDAY BOY

*Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller - GOPHER BROKE

*Bill Plympton (!!!) - GUARD DOG

*Mike Gabriel and Baker Bloodworth - LORENZO

*Chris Landreth - RYAN

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION):

*Gary McKendry - EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY MUST

*Ashvin Kumar - LITTLE TERRORIST

*Nacho Vigalondo - 7:35 IN THE MORNING

*Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner - TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT

*Andrea Arnold - WASP

Well, thems the nominations. While I was on the phone reading off the noms to Harry as he's stuck in a seedy Dallas hotel with a mixture of frustration, pain and something involving ice (I'm sure he'll fill you in on all the juicy details of that later) he told me to make sure to mention the absolute worst nomination of the day. It's actually a dual nomination. Condoleeza Rice of course is nominated for Secretary of State as well as grabbing the WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS nod (against such stiff competition as Carmen Electra, J. Lo, Britney Spears and Sharon Stone) at the Razzies. Good luck, Condy!

The Oscar noms this year are pretty typical. I'm glad to see Alan Alda get some love for THE AVIATOR. He was wonderfully nasty in that flick. I'm pulling for Marty Scorsese to take home the gold for THE AVIATOR. I seriously think no one else could have directed that film except for Scorsese. His love for that era of filmmaking saturates the film and is evident in every look at Hollywood in that film. Other than that, go INCREDIBLES! Go Clive Owen! Yay for a Richard Linklater nom! Who are you folks rooting for?