I'm always excited about the Academy Awards — yeah, there are still a few of us left out there — but I'm guessing there won't be a whole lot of thrilling and/or shocking moments this year. (Most any upset would go thusly: Oooh, the frontrunner didn't win! Which means...someone or -thing completely undeserving did.)
But for [...]

You know it's the same every year: You swear you're going to see all the Academy Award-nominated films before the big day. You put the chosen ones on your to-do list as soon as awards season kicks off. You've got plenty of time!
Then suddenly it's Oscar night, and you're left shrugging at all the opening-monologue [...]

I've still got rum balls to roll, people. So let's make this run-down of the week's openings quick, using an easy-to-understand grading system that's both familiar and festive:
The Wrestler: NICE
Gran Torino: NICE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: NOT AS NICE AS IT THINKS IT IS
Marley & Me: NAUGHTY
Bedtime Stories: REALLY NAUGHTY
The Reader: BORDERLINE, BUT I'M [...]

OK, so that quote is actually from Extras' Kate Winslet, when her character is giving a Tropic Thunder-esque speech on a surefire way to win an Academy Award. The full clip of her appearance on Ricky Gervais' show is here, with the Holocaust talk around the three-minute mark:
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to [...]