..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

FOUR DAYS TO GO

It all seems to be coming down to Fight or Flight.

But let's hope for some surprises on Oscar night… if for no other reason than to keep it interesting between ads for The Longest Yard.

I have filled out my Oscar ballot. I'm making bad guesses in all 24 categories. And if my guesses are right (which I won't be... not completely), it will be:

The Aviator - 5 wins
Million Dollar Baby - 4 wins, inc Best Picture
Sideways - 2
Spider-Man 2 - 2

And 11 individual Oscar winning films - 7:30 In The Morning, Autism Is A Word, Born Into Brothels, Finding Neverland, Hotel Rwanda, The Incredibles, Lemony Snicket, Lorenzo, The Polar Express, Ray, The Sea Inside

In the meanwhile, with nothing much left to say, I thought I'd get ahead of the curve. Not with a list of next year's contenders, which I covered in The Hot Button a couple of weeks ago, but with a list of 50 Headlines For Monday Morning.

I encourage you to add your own ideas and the good ones will go up in The Hot Blog in the days to come.

Have a great time watching the Oscars. And look forward to next year, when the musical comedy about Hitler, The Producers, takes on the heavy drama about terrorists killing Israeli Jews at the Olympics, Munich Dollar Baby (expect that title to change) and a musical man in black is challenged by Pocahontas' boyfriend who fights off The Cinderella Man only to be seduced by a geisha and sold down the river by Huey Long.

If 2004/5 was the quirkiest Oscar year in a while, 2005/6 may be the most competitive studio year in history. Heck... maybe it already is.

And now…. some of Monday's possible headlines…

• Aviator Gets Props
• Baby Is Lethal
• Oscar Mad About Virginia
• One For Kaufman to Remember
• Side By Side By Oscar
• Foxx Blind Sided
• Sunday Is For Church
• Staunton Aborts Baby
• Sideways Won't Settle For Dregs
• Graham King For A Night
• Clintus Interruptus
• Marty Gets To Party
• Baby Love
• Oscar Compulsive Disorder
• Best Things In Life Are Freeman's
• Baby Scores Late Round Knockout
• Aviator Is Oscar's Billion Dollar Baby
• Oscar Smiles On Miles
• Ray To Go!
• Man A-Clive!
• Five If By Air, Four If Baby
• Aviator Wins Battle, Loses War
• Grape Gosh A-Mighty!
• Linney Win-y
• Cate Great As Aviator Takes Eight
• Yes Sir, That's My Baby!
• Payne Loves Company
• Harvey Has Left The Auditorium
• Eastwood Gets The Gold Pacifier For Baby
• Never Say Never
• Sideways Leaves Baby In Payne
• Here's to The Whiners
• The Blind Leading The Half-Blind
• A Hughes Step For Mann Kind
• Two Swank!
• Foxx Takes One For Each X
• Forgiven
• Rwanda Hold Your Man
• Hughes-mongus!
• Cheadle Checks In To Foxx's Suite
• Hitler Beats Quadriplegic Spaniard
• Baby Needs A New Pair Of Oscars
• Of Alda Unexpected Surprises
• Charlie Tries To Forget
• Baby Fights Off Hughes To Take Crown
• Down Goes Marty… Down Goes Marty!
• Pinot Pic Pours A Stiff Won
• Oscar Flies High
• Leo's Big O
• Maria Full Of Surprises

My Final Ballot

Last Week 's Charts
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor/Supporting Actor
Best Actress/Supporting Actress
Original Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay

Previous Columns:
The Case for Sideways
The Case for Million Dollar Baby
The Case for The Aviator
Week Fifteen: February 3, 2005
Week Fourteen: January 27, 2005
The Post Nominations
Week Thirteen: January 20, 2004
Week Twelve: January 13, 2004
Week Eleven: January 6, 2004
Week Ten: December 30, 2004
Week Ten: December 23, 2004
Week Nine: December 16, 2004
Week Eight: December 9, 2004
Week Seven: December 2, 2004
Week Six: November 25, 2004
Week Five: November 18, 2004
Week Four: November 11, 2004
Week Three: November 4, 2004
Week Two: October 28, 2004
Week Two: October 21, 2004
Week One: October 14, 2004
23 Weeks To Oscar: September 23, 2004
Oscar Preview: August 4, 2004

- br David Poland