WILL Win: “Cold Mountain” SHOULD Win: “Girl with a Pearl Earring” Even though the first “The Lord of the Rings” film won in this category in 2001, the third installment failed to garner even a nomination this year, leaving the cinematography race a little more open. Read more...

Charles Bissell is a natural born rock singer. His chords don’t have an effortless cool like Lou Reed’s, but instead a kind of natural brashness, an every-word-counts urgency that can turn even the most pedestrian lines into a keening credo. Read more...

WILL Win: “Lost in Translation” SHOULD Win: “Lost in Translation” While “Lost in Translation” is nominated for a total of four Oscars, it will probably lose Best Picture and Best Director to more glaring blockbusters like “Lord of the Rings.” To prevent Sofia Coppola and the film’s fans from feeling completely shafted, the Academy will most likely honor the subtly poignant film with Best Original Screenplay. Read more...

As illogical as it may sound at the outset, Los Angeles-based band My Barbarian is in fact the logical result of the combination of an actor, a filmmaker, a video director, a playwright and a trained artist. Read more...

WILL Win: Charlize Theron, “Monster” SHOULD Win: Keisha Castle-Hughes, “Whale RIder” Theron will undoubtedly take home this prize, as the Academy loves to reward really hot women who make themselves look ugly for parts. Read more...

When casting for his company, Stephen Petronio looks for dancers who have a fearless attitude toward dancing awkwardly and probably even looking stupid. Luckily for the eight dancers who performed at Royce Hall last Friday, only the fearless energy shone through. Read more...

WILL Win: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” SHOULD Win: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” There’s just no arguing with the power of the “Ring.” Just as one fabled Ring of Power ruled over every species of Middle Earth, so will one trilogy rule over the entire Academy Awards ceremony this year. Read more...