"In popular culture, things are getting worse. You know, I can give you -- I could sit here and give you examples all day. Let me just give you this example, and this is a controversial example. This gay cowboy movie -- and it's going to win, you know, a lot of awards all over, and they're -- the media is pushing this like crazy." - Bill O'Reilly

While some are complaining that Hollywood's "liberal" agenda led to the serious and controversial Best Picture Oscar nominees, they'd should first step back and consider whether any film that had more mild or family-friendly content was as well-executed or on the same par as the nominees. Sure, you might have liked End of the Spear - though I can't imagine why - but you must admit that technically, it sucked. If conservatives are so angry about this so-called agenda of a business almost purely in it for the money, then maybe they should venture into the business themselves or support filmmakers with their values. All the Best Picture nominees deal with pertinent cultural issues in our society. These issues are everywhere - in our churches, schools, work places and in the news. Shouldn't we be discussing homosexuality, the role of the media, the role of politicians, and terrorism in our art? Or is it because the conclusions the the artists come to don't line up with what the conclusions of the conservatives, hence the latter's anger? Can you really not learn anything from one of these movies, even if you don't completely agree with all the subject matter? Quit whining that Hollywood doesn't follow mainstream American "values." Get off your keister and do something about it yourself.

Now, for the Oscar picks. My brother and I are having a competition, though I haven't chosen winners from quite as many categories, and a lot of our picks are the same. If I win, I get a new video iPod. If he wins, he gets bragging rights. Sounds fair.

Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain
Best Original Screenplay:
My pick: Noah Baumbach for The Squid and the Whale.
Who will probably win: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
Best Original Score:
My pick: Dario Marianelli, Pride & Prejudice
Who will probably win: John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Original Song: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Hustle and Flow
Best Animated Film: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Best Foreign-Language Film: Paradise Now, Palestine
Best Visual Effects: King Kong
Best Cinematography:
My pick: Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck
Who will probably win: Rodrigo Prieto, Brokeback Mountain
Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood, Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Film Editing: Claire Simpson, The Constant Gardener
Best Makeup: Howard Berger and Tami Lane, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Best Art Direction: Jim Bissell and Jan Pascale, Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins
Best Documentar Short Subject: God Sleeps in Rwanda
Best Sound Editing: Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn, King Kong
Best Sound Mixing: Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland, Walk the Line