Killing It Back'Stage

I know we all love Sandra Bullock's speech, and I couldn't agree more. Beautifully played, Sandra. But I just want to say that I love this nearly as much. Mo'Nique just refuses to be endearing in any uncomplicated way, but I adore the shot-calling, especially when she explains why she's doing it. The final Q&A exchange is a sensational kicker. She has every right to say what she says, and I'm so glad she's able to say it from the position she's suddenly/finally in.

But I love it almost as much when she cracks herself up:

The Ten (Not That Ten)

No time like early March—indeed, no time like Oscar morning—to finally announce a Top Ten List for 2009. I can't possibly see how this will get lost in the shuffle of Oscar blogging, can you? But since I don't have time to write any fuller endorsement of these titles, and since the top half of the list has been evident in other ways for a couple of months, I figure it'll help me get through the evening to have this little photobook to look through. If that doesn't work, I'll have to pull out all the stops on those Na'Vi Martinis I'm supplying to the viewing party I'm attending. Never has Bombay Sapphire gin been put to such noble use. Hopefully I'll still be cognizant when Bigelow blasts that gold-plated glass ceiling off the Best Director Oscar. I'm really looking forward to that.

Best wishes for that and other moments worth revisiting (or even visiting!) in tonight's Oscar show, but if they prove few and far between, that's okay, too. Once awards season is finally over, we can all settle down and study the movies we really love, and those that have the most to teach us. For me, they were these: