Hi All,

Time for my favorite contest on the ChipBoard---Andy's yearly Oscar contest has become on of my favorite Oscar traditions! I am the self-declared Susan Lucci of the pool, I have been the runner-up quite a few times, but I am hopeful that this may be the year I get to hoist my statue----or chip, in this case!
I am a bit of a movie geek, and I am fortunate to have friends who work in the industry. They get to vote, so they get all of the nominated movies sent to their homes on DVD for consideration. As a result, I get to see almost everything! I also get some pretty good insider voting tidbits. One I will pass along this year----don't bet on "Zero Dark Thirty" in any category. There was some serious backlash among the voters regarding "Zero". They didn't like the alleged "glorification" of water boarding, and the director, Kathryn Bigelow, to put it mildly, is despised by many of her contemporaries. Evidently she is a very difficult person to deal with. My sources say sell, it won't happen for "Zero".

A few other observations:

Bet the ranch on Daniel Day Lewis and Anne Hathaway tonight. No way either lose.

How could the Academy snub Ben Affleck? I hope Argo wins just to highlight how wrong that snub was.

My personal rooting interest----Jennifer Lawrence is "Silver Linings Playbook", a WONDERFUL movie that somehow ties together mental illness, football wagering and ballroom dancing. All that, and Robert DeNiro too!! She played a lot older than her age, and her performance was perfect. I really hope she wins.

I don't know about Seth MacFarlane as host, my expectations are low so maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Billy Crystal will always be my ideal host.

OK, gonna finish a few chores, fire up some popcorn, and check my picks!!!