Kinematoscope

7:08 AM: I wait for the livestream.com thing to load. Here's hoping my connection can take it!

7:10 AM: Ach! Thanks for the feedback noise in the earbuds! Right now I get a beeping noise and an empty stage. Switching to the faceook feed.

7:13 AM: Okay, no more sound at all. Look! People milling about! I thought there would be some sort of preamble, but I guess they didn't feel the need to hype up the super-nerds who are tuning in to this in the first place. I guess I get to kill the next 25 minutes.

7:16 AM: Playing some music to make sure my sound is, in fact, still on. It's "Aside" by The Weakerthans up first, if you were wondering.

7:19 AM: Couldn't they have gotten Bill Murray to announce these, on Groundhog Day?

7:22 AM: On a related note, I hear that if AMPAS president Tom Sherak sees his shadow today, we get FIFTEEN nominees next year.

7:30 AM: Guy with a think Bronx accent is telling us the rules. Ten categories to announce, press kits, blah blah blah.

7:31 AM: Apparently there's a big problem with the press loitering when this is over, 'cause the guy stresses that they need to be OUT of the parking garage in two hours' time.

7:32 AM: That was it? Now we get to listen to restless crowd noise for five minutes before the real show.

7:37 AM: One minute! The excitement is palpable. Will Anne Hathaway look tired at all at 5:38 in the morning? Will she surprisingly read her own name for Bride Wars?

7:38 AM: Orchestra! Boom! Tom Sherak begins by making Sid Ganis look suave, and brings on Hathaway, lookin great at any hour.

7:39: S. Actress: Penelope Cruz? Damn! Kendrick, Farmiga (which Sherak butchers), Gyllenhaal? and Mo'Nique.

7:39: S. Actor: Matt Damon? Curses! Waltz gets a mild applause. Also, Plummer, Tucci, and Harrelson.

7:40: Actress. Scattered cheers for Bullock. No surprises. Streep, Mulligan, Sidibe, and Mirren.

7:40: Actor. Raises fist: FREEMAN!! Hooray for Renner. Firth, Bridges (no time for another standing O) and Clooney.

7:41: Director. Lee Daniels makes it as well. All of my gutsy calls ar going up in flames. Tarantino, Bigelow, Cameron, and Reitman.

7:41: A Serious Man and the Messenger in Orig Screenplay. Basterds, Locker, and Up. Ooooh, no Avatar!

7:41: Adapted. Boom! In The Loop! Called it! Nailed this whole category (and actress). District 9, An Education (Hornby five!), Precious, and Up In The Air.

7:42: I've only even heard of two of the foreign films.

7:42: The Secret of Kells? WTF?

7:42 AM: BP TIME! Avatar.. BLIND SIDE?-GAK! District 9! An Education! HUrt Locker! Basterds! Precious. A Serious Man. Up! and Up In The Air. No Star Trek? Ah, well.

7:45 AM: Aaand now it's back to milling around. I'm trying to check awardsdaily for the full list, but it's ofcourse crashed. Oscars.org it is. Full list up already.

7:47 AM: A disturbing amount of people on the "see what people are saying on facebook" thingy are all like "AVATAR!!!! YEEEESSSS!!!!" Cause for alarm?

7:51 AM: Overheard in the crowd: Some douche saying "So it's Jason [Reitman] versus James [Cameron] for best picture AND director!" Uh, where have you been, random guy? Not heard of a little Iraq-War movie and some lady that won the DGA?

Full post-mortem on the noms on the blogs later.