And the nominees are. Oh Boy, another group of Oscar contenders, and another group made up mostly of films I haven't seen. LOTR:The Return of the King, and Master and Commanderare the big epic films, Seabiscuit is the crowd pleasing "family" movie, Mystic Riveris the lone "serious drama" and Lost in Translation is the token quirky indie. Of the best picture nominees, I've only seen Seabiscuit and Lost in Translation.

Seabiscuit was a well done movie, and I enjoyed it immensely, but it was nothing special; a sweet, feel good treat.

Lost in Translation is my pick for best picture based on what I've seen so far. Not a "great" movie, but very unusual and challenging. A movie about two bored people doing very little for 2 hours shouldn't be entertaining or interesting, but this one is. Granted, it is slow moving, but this film lets the actors say volumes with silence. Bill Murray is wonderful, and is my pick for best actor. Scarlet Johansson was totally robbed by not getting a best actress nomination for this film.

The snubbed movie this year for me is American Splendor. All it gets is an adapted screenplay nomination. This was by far the most creative, off-beat and emotionally effective movie of the year in my opinion. In telling the story of underground comix icon and hospital file clerk Harvey Pekar, this film broke all the rules. Mixing live action, animation, and actors with their real-life counterparts, the film is very funny, emotionally wrenching and sweet.

And Johnny Depp for best actor? I can think of ten better performances he's given than his ultra-camp turn in Pirates of the Caribbean! What was the Academy smoking?

Oh well, we'll all find out the winners a month from now and forget all about them two days later.

Oh Hell, New Hampshire. Kerry wins big in the NH primary. Is Dean done? There's always been something I've liked about Kerry, even though I still don't totally trust him. Not that I've ever found a totally trustworthy politician, mind you. I think it's that he just comes off as the most Presidential, and the most electable (one who may be able to beat Bush). Some of his early post-Viet Nam politics still bug me, as does his waffling on the Iraq war, but I think he seems fairly solid overall. Dean is too gruff and emotional, Edwards is too much of an unknown quantity (though he could be a soccer mom favorite like Clinton), and Wesley Clark (who has Clinton backing) is kind of likeable, but TOO military. By next weeks Super Seven events, maybe the field will narrow.

I have a "Kinky Friedman for President" bumper sticker on my car, and at this point I'd probably still prefer the Kinkster over any of the current crop. (For those who don't know, Friedman is a Jewish country singer and mystery writer from Texas, and founder of the band The Texas Jewboys). No, he is not actually running.