Oscar, Oscar OSCAR!

In 2003 Scott and I wrote down the things we'd learned from watching that year's Oscars telecast.

To win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, it really helps to be an old white guy.

If you want to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, play someone's mother, or a hooker, or, if at all possible, both.

The Academy Awards ceremony has never, ever included a tasteful musical number.

I've taken a break from the Oscars for the last few years, tuning in briefly if at all, but tonight I'm prepared to soak it in. I even set up a real-time chat and Oscars pool over at the B-Movie Message Board. Hell, maybe Scott and I will even write about the lessons we learned this year.

Why the renewed enthusiasm? I'm not sure. Maybe it's the fact that I've seen a few more of the contenders this year than usual, or maybe I'm just psyched that the WGA strike is over. (I really want to see what Jon Stewart and crew come up with under this much pressure.) Last night the Indie Spirit Awards rewarded Juno and Diablo Cody in particular, which warms my heart, but it's too much to hope that the same film will fare as well at the Academy Awards. Wouldn't it be cool to see Cody give an Oscars speech though?

I notice that the Razzies went out yesterday as well, and that the Lindsay Lohan "thriller" I Know Who Killed Me swept the bad-movie awards, setting yet another record for most Razzies won. According to the Razzies, I Know is officially worse than Showgirls or Battlefield Earth. Somehow I doubt it. I haven't delved into the way the Razzies work, but it seems to have evolved into a flavor-of-the-month celebrity schadenfreude contest instead of a real examination of the worst movies made each year. But hey, it's their event -- let 'em run it the way they want.

Me, I'll be watching tasteless musical numbers on the Academy Awards.