Being an entertainment blog I suppose I should mention something about the Oscars, which are on Monday morning Australian time. I only managed to see, embarrassingly, 3 of the contenders for best picture this year, being Les Miserables, Life of Pi (review soon), and Argo. After the Batman experience I was put off going to the cinema for awhile somehow. And while I had opportunity to watch Lincoln on my long haul flying recently, the purist in me said to wait until I could see it on the big screen.

Still, for what little my opinion is worth, I hereby predict an Oscar for Anne Hathaway who was simply wrenching in her performance, a couple of technical awards for Pi, perhaps for sound and visual effects – I think the use of HD cameras on the ship scenes was a little lacklustre to me, but it was a visual treat so hard to say on cinematography. For Argo, possibly a screenplay award and a technical award. That it doesn’t have a director nomination makes it harder to win for picture, and that it is up against Les Mis and Pi, which was dazzling, it will be tough, but by far the best of the films I watched on the long haul trip my wife and I did recently.

Having only seen a few of the contenders I will withhold judgement on the top prize. And on that, I’m not sure I’m a fan of the large number of best picture nominations. I suppose in some ways its an acknowledgment of all the fine work that’s been produced in the year, and may be just a way of generating interest for the TV audience too, if someone was more cynical than I. It does make the job of picking a winner slightly more difficult, but regardless of any of that the event is interesting if only for understanding the way in which we discuss, analyze and enjoy this art form.