Well, the Oscars were a big success. Jon Stewart was hysterical (did anyone else fall out of their seat laughing at the Salute to Binoculars and Periscopes?) and some very talented actors, actresses, and film-makers got little golden statues to showcase that. I am not going to go into the specifics here, but if you would like to see the complete list of winners or ogle at the fashions you can follow the links. Instead, I would like to point out that we three reviewers suck at predicting the Oscars. As you can see from our winner-highlighted Oscar Predictions list, we barely made 50%. In fact, we did not even make 40%. The highest percent of correct guessing was done by me with 38%, which trumped Kevin's 33% and Steve's paltry 29%. So, as film reviewers, can we be be trusted? Well, I guess not when it comes to helping you pad your Oscar pool winnings. But, the Academy Awards are not the end-all-be-all film event they are marketed as, and I still stick by my guns that There Will Be Blood is the best picture of 2007 and Joe Kelly is should be holding gold for his incredible direction of Atonement. But enough sour grapes, at least we got the score and song right...

Well, the strike ended and that means that Jon Stewart is going to get a second chance at hosting the Oscars and we will not be forced to watch a repeat Golden Globe press conference award ceremony. There were a ton of great films that came out this past year and I am actually on edge for the handing out of awards; they could go in many different ways. Unlike last year's Departed-lovefest-Scorsese-deserves-one-before-he-dies event, this year there are actually a couple tight races. Just look at the Best Picture category. While I do not think Juno is going to be the film that breaks the comedy-drama divide, there is some serious disagreement over which drama Atonement, No Country for Old Men, or There Will Be Blood will win. Atonement won the Golden Globes, which is normally a sure sign it will win the Academy, but Blood is winning other big awards (DDL got the Golden Globe and SAG award for best actor...that Oscar is a shoe-in). Despite those wins, Country is the one that is getting the most hype. It is surely going to be an interesting night. Ok, so I did not see Michael Clayton and I may not be giving it fair judgment by just ignoring it, but honestly, does anyone think it has a chance at Oscar? What disappoints me most is a failed nomination of Joe Kelly or Sean Penn for Atonement and Into the Wild. That would have been a great race...

With the speculation about Best Pic and Director aside, I would like to turn to a category that does not get much Oscar attention: Best Original Score. If you have ever wondered how important music is to a movie, take Star Wars or Jaws hit mute. While you're at it...see if any of The Lord of the Rings can keep your attention without the soundtrack covering up the long moony-eyed staring scenes. Music is not simply a fantasy movie solvent though. Look at the pounding Dropkick Murphy's track that gave Boston a mean edge in The Departed or the gripping Gustavo Santoalalla score to Brokeback Mountain that allowed for both emotion and isolation. There are many elements that come together to make a great film, and yes acting, directing and cinematography are very important, but without a good score many films would hardly be considered worth watching.

This year's choices for Best Score leave little guesswork. Of the five nominees, Atonement, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, and 3:10 to Yuma, only one score transcends the basic elements of a film score. That score is Dario Marianelli's Atonement. With brilliant dexterity, the score manages to capture all of the emotions of the character and to weave in and out of the on-screen action, highlighting some of the novel elements of the film's construction. The pulsing typing is mirrored in Jean-Yves Thibaudet's reoccuring piano lines, at times jumping out of the soundscape and into a character playing the same note on screen. The other nominees just cannot compare to the level of nuance that Marianelli's score offers. While Ratatouille captures the aurora of Paris and 3:10 the old West, the two are just played out genre writing. The Kite Runner score should not be on the list at all; a horrible blend of '80s guitar riffs and trite emotional trappings, the score actually made me comment multiple times during the film for its lack of subtlety and craft.

What is most shocking, and yes disqualified for technicalities, is that two of the year's best scores are not even up for nomination. Johnny Greenwood's violent and stabbing score to There Will Be Blood and Carter Burwell's nonexistent score to No Country for Old Men. What I find most interesting about these two is that they work off of the same visual palette (both films were filmed in Marfa, Texas), but to two startlingly opposite ends. While Burwell's score is barely 10 minutes in length, his use of silence and balance with the sound designer creates a physical sense of dread that makes even the slightest creek of a floorboard meaningful and downright terrifying. Oh the opposite side, Greenwood's wall-to-wall score blending classical chestnuts, electronica, and crunchy string tone clusters that crescendo to punch-in-the-gut brilliance provides a searing, emotional sense of unease and grandeur. If these two were added to the five above, my choice would be near impossible as each three, while so different could not be a better fit.

Oh yes, and Once is up for an award for best song: Falling Slowly. It is sad that a movie that does such a novel and brilliant job of re-imagining the musical is out nominated by a Disney musical sensation (thank goodness it was not High School Musical 2). I have my fingers crossed that it will win, but am just excited at the prospect of seeing Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perform live.

Congratulations to Mac Carlson, winner of last week's Quirk Quiz. While not a scene from the movie, the band performing Stonehenge was none other than Spinal Tap. Congratulations to all who got it correct. We had a record number of answers this week; I guess Spinal Tap is one that everyone knows and loves. This week's question links both to the highly anticipated release (at least for us) of Be Kind, Rewind and to the Oscars. Best of luck!

Hopefully the movies will stay good and I will not be forced into a multi-week silence like The Hottie and the Nottie, Fool's Gold, and Step Up 2: The Streets brought on.

~Chris