2009 OSCAR Nominees

Hosted by Academy Award Winner Forest Whitaker and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis, announced the nominees for the 2009 Oscars. The Ceremony will be held on January 22, 2009 (January 23 in Manila) still not sure if it will be at Kodak Theater in Hollywood. I was a bit disappointed that Leonardo Di Caprio wasn't nominated, no that I am big fan but I strongly believe he was really deserving of a nomination for the film Revolutionary Road.

My prediction on who might win:

Best Picture --- Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor --- Frank Langella
Best Actress --- Kate Winslet
Best Supporting Actor --- Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actress --- Viola Davis

Below is a list of nominees for the major awards:

Best motion picture of the year

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
• Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
• Sean Penn (Milk)
• Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Josh Brolin (Milk)
• Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
• Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
• Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
• Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
• Melissa Leo (Frozen River)
• Meryl Streep (Doubt)
• Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams (Doubt)
• Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
• Viola Davis (Doubt)
• Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

for a more complete list of nominees and info on Oscar Night:
Complete List of 2009 Oscar Nominees and the Ceremony

The Battle of the Rich, the Famous, and the Powerful

All over the newspaper today are the news about the Dela Paz and Pangandaman golf feud and the very controversial Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) against Alabang Boys. I have to say, this country may not be so cheap after all, this is the battle of the privileged.

On a tv interview, Umagang Kay Ganda at channel 2, Bambee dela Paz was trying to imply that they are poor and that they are up against a powerful man who happened to be Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman. I am not a witness to the incident but the way that the two parties told their versions of the story is really exaggerated. This is a simple violation of golf etiquette blown out of proportion and rich people so carried away by their angst. One more thing, Bambee should stop pertaining to their family as poor because that is an insult to the real poor people living in this country. Honey, just so you know, poor people doesn’t play golf, they are not brought to the US to study, they cannot afford Attorney Raymond Fortun to help them bring justice, and they definitely don’t have access to the internet to tell the world about their miserable life. Reality check sweetheart!

I feel so bad for PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago because the credibility of his agency is being questioned this is with regards to the arrest of the so-called Alabang Boys. PDEA has been working hard despite the controversy regarding the supposed bribery attempt on prosecutors from the Justice department by alleged drug pushers Richard Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph, and Joseph Tecson. The boys’ parents denied they are not “that rich” to come up with a 50 million peso bribe to the case prosecutors. For sure they will pull some strings just to get their children out of jail because if this case pursue, and they lost, a life sentence is up ahead. I can’t believe that the Congress has even made a special hearing for this case because these Alabang Boys are in big trouble, politicians shouldn’t involve themselves in this kind of issues because it will tarnish their reputation (as if they have a good one, hehehe!). Johnny Midnight, the father of one the accused says his son is not a drug addict but a social user ... yeah right! When you are poor, you are called a drug addict but when you are rich, you are a social user? Hello!? you must have been taking drugs too! I am so pissed off with DOJ Secretary Gonzalez, please stop picking on PDEA but instead kick the dirty butt of State Prosecutor John Resado, he is really irritating me and the rest of the nation.

This is all I can say, if they are real drug pushers, real drug addicts, and a menace to the society, then let them rot to hell.