Award season (updated with result)

I am always a sucker for movies. Especially Hollywood movies. And Oscar is something that I crave every year, although I don't bet on its outcome or really watch it, even when its on TV. It seems that it is a norm in offices across USA to bet on the outcome of the Oscar which may not garner THAT much of a following in Malaysia. Heck, some may not even know what time is the Oscar being shown on TV.

Some may know that last year in 2008, there was no live telecast and I was left with the internet to see the Oscar and the Grammy being handed over. Thanks to Yahoo! for that. The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences Awards and the Grammy Awards are nowadays have been losing audiences and with another change in the lineup of hosts, with an untested Hugh Jackman, who may be there more to promote his 'Australia' the movie than really hosting the show, I wouldn't bet on a reversal of fortune of TV ratings.

This year, the Dark Knight may just be the dark horse in the Oscar as it is successful commercially. Commercial and Oscar just don't mix. They usually are mentioned in the same sentence but are never given the same weight. Heath departure from this world may just be his ticket to more fame and I want to bet my shorts that he will be a shoo-in for the Best Supporting Actor. That may also be why Jackman is there to host. Its a kind of a set-off for Australian actor to be given recognition, in a big way, finally.

It is early season still, we may see more of these Oscar thingy being discussed leading to the event and all the bridesmaid awards like Hollywood Foreign Press and the Golden Globe, I am watching now on TV on a Monday, at 9.00 in the morning, here in Malaysia, on 12.1.09, will just stoke the interest of Hollywood fans to the max before the Oscar will go on air...

Heath in all his Joker glory on the cover of Empire January 2008

(picture from Empire website - http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/)

Updated at 2pm Malaysia time -

Kate Winslet finally won a significant award after a few nomination heartache; Slumdog Millionaire shows people that what it meant to be underdog by winning four awards including Best Director for Danny Boyle and Best Drama; Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are winners due to '30 Rocks'; The Wrestler won Mickey Rourke and Springsteen an award each; and a posthumous award for Heath Ledger...