Your Winning Oscar Office Pool Entry - Part 2

Oh, good, you came back to see what I am guessing will be your big winners on that pesky Oscar office pool.   I am betting there will be a lot of tears, a few references to people who "are on this journey with me," and more than several shots at Donald Trump.   Hey, I cried too when Gwyneth Paltrow won her Oscar.   Tears of disbelief.

Today we do the major categories with bloated egos galore.

Director:  They handed out this award as soon as his movie came out.   For some reason, Hollywood is in love with this hack for his films that are incomprehensible and frequently downright anti-American.   Yep, you will have to endure this fat slob's broken English during an acceptance speech.   The winner is GUILLERMO DEL TORO for the almost comically bad "THE SHAPE OF WATER."

Supporting Actor:  Personally, it would be neat for Christopher Plummer to win this award for a movie ("All The Money in the World") that he wasn't even in until late November.   I'm not that torn up about the others in this category, although I really thought Ray Romano deserved to be here for his work in "The Big Six."   But there is a winner more worthy than the rest and that is SAM ROCKWELL for "THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE OF EBBING, MISSOURI."  Hollywood likes to honor the busy actor and Rockwell's done something like 1500 films since 2003.

Supporting Actress:  And I am "Big Sick" bummed out all over again as the fabulous Holly Hunter didn't even get nominated.   This is a rich category this year and the fight is between two acting veterans both worthy of recognition.  Personally, I thought Laurie Metcalf's work in "Lady Bird" was very nuanced and quietly phenomenal.   ALLISON JANNEY's work in "I, TONYA" was a lot showier and Hollywood gobbles that shit up.   She deserves to win, too, and will.  I would love a tie here.

Actor:  I will contend that James Franco had a nomination in this category for "The Disaster Artist" but it was switched out at the last minute when he got nailed for sexual harassment.   How else can you explain the slimy Denzel Washington's nomination for a movie that only he and whoever is his current mistress saw.   This one has been locked down for a while.   The winner is GARY OLDMAN for "DARKEST HOUR," although I will argue that John Lithgow's turn as Winston Churchill in "The Crown" was a much better portrayal.

Actress:  Except for the overhyped work of Sally Hawkins in "The Shape of Water," this is a strong group this year that includes Meryl Streep's 1,000th Oscar nomination.   For me, one performance shone a little brighter than the rest.   The winner is the always dependable FRANCES MCDORMAND for 'THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI."

Picture:   You may remember my blog entry from the other day when I announced that this year's crop of nominated pictures might be the worst in Oscar history.   Self-serving, pretentious, and preachy.   There's not a lot of entertainment value in these nine films.   For me, the best picture of 2017 was the not-even-nominated "The Big Sick."   To give you the right answer here, I resort to listening to industry buzz.   The word is that "The Shape of Water" may be losing steam to "Three Billboards..." and "Get Out."   Okay, the latter is a horror movie that is elevated to lofty platitudes because its director is Black.  I am thinking and hoping that the winner will be 'THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI."

Maybe they should just rectify last year's mistake and give it to "La La Land."

Dinner last night:  Chicken noodle soup.