With Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin hosting the 2010 Oscars, how these two are going to perform together is almost as intriguing as the awards themselves. I know that at least one of our staff members thinks that Baldwin just might take a chomp out of Martin if he gets a little hungry along the way. While I can’t say that I think Baldwin will mistake Martin for a Maxibon, I do have my suspicions that the stage simply won’t be big enough to fit the both of these egos. And with Baldwin, there’s always the chance that the cops may be called or that he’ll lose control and shoot his mouth off (who could forget the “rude little pig” remark that he spat at his daughter?). Only time will tell but until then, I’m going to have a stab at who I think will emerge victorious.

Steve Martin couldn't be this tasty, could he?

Could there be any more juice in the Best Picture category? Not only do we have the babies of an ex-married couple going head-to-head in James Cameron’s Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, but now something else has added a little bit of fuel to the fire. One of The Hurt Locker’s producers, Nicolas Chartier has been banned from the Oscars after sending out emails, urging academy members to vote for his movie. Usually, I’m all for getting what you want, however you want but this is the Oscars so maybe Chartier should’ve thought twice (or been a little bit smarter about how he went about getting what he wanted. Hey, just putting the thought out there).

Sam Worthington's Avatar for top honours? With those looks, he ain't too fussed either way!

Okay, I sure have gotten sidetracked here but back to the actual award. I’m pretty sure it’s a two horse race between the biggest movie in history (Avatar) and one of the few movies about the Iraq war that people have flocked to see (remember, The Hurt Locker only got a cinema release in Australia after its box-office success in the US). With ten movies nominated, it’s a tough category to pick and every one of these movies is definitely worthy of the gong (come on, balloons were used to make a house fly in Up and hey, ick factor aside, An Education was wonderfully done considering the notion of a much older man romancing a 16-year-old girl didn’t make me want to hurl). I’m going to put my faith in Avatar based on the fact that it has two things that certainly excite me: Sam Worthington and blue creatures!

Is it just me or does Jeff Bridges look a bit like Nick Nolte?

I guess the next logical talking point now would be to talk about who will be crowned Best Director. But hey, since when did I ever do anything logical? That said, I’m going to jump into my thoughts on the Best Actor award. When I read that Jeff Bridges has been nominated but denied Oscar glory five times in the past, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor guy. Then I thought of George Clooney and his sincere attempts to sell me coffee (Nescafe, I believe) and I was swayed. That said, I still reckon Bridges will emerge victorious and even I’ll say that his performance as a broken-down country singer in Crazy Heart was fantastic so I’ll give him this one (aren’t I generous).

Look at Goldy Locks!

Moving onto the Best Actress accolade and after seeing Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, I just can’t see how she could possibly be beaten. Her performance as a feisty do-gooder Christian woman who gives a poor boy a chance at living up to his potential, is phenomenal. And hey, so was seeing Bullock with that blonde tint in her hair (personally, I think she looks better as a brunette). The only person I can see trumping Bullock is Meryl Streep whose portrayal of Julia Child in Julie & Julia was pretty impressive (I just think it takes less ability to act like a joyous French cook than to carry an entire film like Bullock did). Carey Mulligan’s chances to cause an upset for her role in An Education aren’t bad either but let’s face it, this ain’t the BAFTAs!

Why the sour face?

Claiming the award for Best Supporting Actor in pretty much every other awards ceremony has been Christopher Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. Therefore, it’d be a pretty stupid person (which is usually me) to bet on anyone else winning this one but not even I’m going to fall into this one, this time! With Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Matt Damon and Christopher Plummer also nominated, there certainly is some stiff competition for Waltz to overcome but I’m pretty confident that he’ll manage to do so.

There's no doubt about it, she's one tough woman!

Now I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it until the Oscars is over. If anyone else but Mo’Nique wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, I’ll be flabbergasted (yes I will!). I know this next point is completely off topic but before she found success as a comedian, Mo’Nique was actually a phone sex operator (hey, don’t ever say I never give you anything!). Believe me, she’s every bit as monstrous as she’s supposed to be as the abusive mother of Mary (Gabourey Sidibe) and has you wanting to jump into the screen and put her abuse to an end. In my opinion (although it may sound harsh), the other nominees are simply making up the numbers but kudos has to go out to Anna Kendrick (yep, the Twilight chick) for her performance in Up in the Air (yep, taking the attention away from George Clooney is no small feat!)

I don't want to be mean here but once upon a time, someone did quite well for himself!

And for the big finish! James Cameron versus Kathryn Bigelow (aka: ex-husband versus ex-wife). With all of the hype surrounding this match-up, I’d find it highly comical if one of the other nominees did topple this feisty duo. After all, it’d be a brave soul to completely discount Quentin Tarantino out of anything. That said, I’m going to place my bet of Bigelow. It’s time for a female winner and quite frankly, I’ve taken it a bit against Cameron that he’s had so many wives (five of them… yes, five!). You’d think that after your second or even maybe third wife, you might be questioning whether the whole marriage thing is for you. Then again, maybe not.

Well, that’s me done for now. Check back on Tuesday to see how I did with my predictions. Bonjour!