9:02 – alright, that was fun. after 6 hours of live-bloggin’, i’m done-zo.

8:59 – THE HURT LOCKER wins best picture!! wow! what a big upset!! director kathryn bigelow thanks all the men and women serving in any capacity in our country… “they’re there for us, and we’re there for them.”

8:58 – tommy hanks is here to present for best picture. love him!

8:53 – best director: kathryn bigelow for the hurt locker. the first time a woman has ever won in this category!

8:44 – best actress in a leading role: sandra bullock for the blind side. “did i really earn this, or did i just wear ya down?” what a great acceptance speech!

8:27 – and now for the big dogs… best actor in a leading role: jeff bridges for crazy heart. it’s THE DUDE! how cute, he thanks his wife of 33 years.

8:16 – quentin tarantino is weird.

8:12 – sidenote: the first academy award ceremony in 1929 lasted only 15 minutes. we’re now going on 3 hours. HA!

8:06 – quick shot of the hosts backstage… wearing matching orange snuggies, of course.

8:02 – i heard this afternoon that academy award hosts only get about 15-20 minutes of screen time during the 3-hour broadcast. boo! i need more steve martin & alec baldwin.

7:56 – “remember, the world we created for you is just as amazing as the one we live in.” – winner for visual effects, from avatar.

7:52 – best original score: up!

7:47 – just realized farrah fawcett wasn’t included in the memoriam! MAJOR mistake on the producer’s part.

7:38 – JAMES TAYLOR!!!! singing RIP to patrick swayze, brittany murphy, roy disney, michael jackson, natasha richardson, etc…

7:36 – and avatar picks up it’s first oscar of the night, for cinematography.

7:35 – sandra bullock to the cinematographer on her movie sets: “dude, make me look good.”

7:28 – elizabeth banks is funny!

7:23 – “yeah, yeah, it’s me.” – morgan freeman, when announced that a famous voice would help narrate the sound editing “how-to” video. effective, because i don’t think anybody knows what sounds mixing/editing even refers to!

7:19 – ooooo a tribute to horror films: jaws, the exorcist, chucky, psycho, the shining, scream, silence of the lambs, etc…

7:17 – steve and alec in a film short… “i can’t believe they didn’t get us our own rooms!” as they share a bed the night before their hosting duties…

7:11 – the young victoria wins for costume design. take a look at the trailer. did the film deserve to win?

6:58 – best supporting actress: mo’nique for precious. i saw that comin’ from a mile away! “thank you to my husband for showing me that sometimes you have to forego what’s popular to do what’s right. and baby, you are so right!”

6:55 – “later, the governor’s ball will be held. just one of the many balls that will be held in hollywood later tonight” – robin williams

6:52 – good choice of dress, queen latifah! very flattering.

6:48 – best adapted screenplay: precious.

6:39 – ben stiller comes out in full avatar gear… “this seemed like a better idea in rehearsal…”

6:38 – i HATE when they cut people off, especially people who aren’t well-known. it’s just sad.

6:30 – zoe saldana, again, what the heck are you wearing?!

6:18 – “hey ferris, it is your day off?” paying tribute to legendary director john hughes. so cool, got all the old gang together to celebrate him!

6:15 – best original screenplay: the hurt locker. well-deserved.

6:04 – miley slips up while presenting… “it’s our first time here, we’re a little nervous!” the winner for best song: “the weary kind” from crazy heart.

5:57 – cameron diaz & steve carrel with a HIIIIlarious dialogue about being so “dazzling” that it’s hard to look at them. going through the nominees for best animated feature film… and the award goes to: up!

5:46 – best supporting actor award goes to: christoph waltz for inglorious basterds. YES!

5:41 – “christoph waltz [of inglorious basterds] plays a nazi obsessed with finding jews. well, christoph (motions to the audience)” HAHA!

5:40 - penelope cruz steals the show in that donna karan couture gown of hers!

5:39 – the boys pull out their 3-D glasses to take a peekeroo at avatar director james cameron.

5:37 – “oh look, it’s that damn helen mirren.” “steve, it’s dame helen mirren.”

5:35 – paying honor to the most nominated actress of all time… meryl streep!! or, as steve martin put it, she’s got the “most losses.”

5:34 – i love steve martin & alec baldwin. and i loved it’s complicated. so funny!

5:32 – alright, neil patrick harris is now in a sparkly tux, singing his little heart out. wow, this is a big theatrical number! complete with showgirls and kick lines…

5:31 – the curtains open, and all the best actor & actress nominees are on stage! that’s new.

5:30 – okay, thanks ABC for the last of the red carpet coverage. let’s get on with the show!!

5:26 – meryl looks incredible! favorite part of the night, she says? “getting inside, sitting down & slippin’ off the jimmy choos!”

5:23 – kate winslet always is “best dressed” in my book. gorgeous ensemble, and loving the canary yellow jewelry.

5:22 – miley cyrus, pull your darn shoulders back. bad posture is one of my biggest pet peeves!

5:19 – sidenote, ABC has some great new shows out this year… modern family, the middle, cougartown. love them all!

5:15 – watching the ceremony in high-definition is a whole new ballgame. no amount of make-up can’t help you hide from the cameras, ladies!

5:10 – kathy ireland is the most awkward interviewer i’ve ever seen. what were you thinking, ABC?

5:05 – i hate when hosts ask the celebs if they’re “happy to be there?” yeah, obviously!

5:02 – the five best supporting actress nominees are up on the platform. what a gorgeous array of dresses!

5:01 – sherri shepard & kathy ireland open the oscars. wait, why?

5:00 – did ya see my best & worst of the red carpet?

co-hosted by two of hollywood’s funniest – steve martin and alec baldwin – it’ll be a pretty entertaining show. and ladies, there’ll be plenty of eye candy. award presenters include such gorgeous men as ryan reynolds, keanu reeves, bradley cooper, chris pine & gerard butler.

an amazing line-up of movies are in the running for the night’s top honors… should be exciting! check out all the nominations below, with my picks in pink!

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Directing
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air

Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Writing – Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Writing – Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

Music (Original Song)
“Almost There” – The Princess and the Frog
“Down in New Orleans” – The Princess and the Frog
“Loin de Paname” – Paris 36
“Take It All” – Nine
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart”) – Crazy Heart

Music (Original Score)
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Foreign Language Film
Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

Film Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Documentary Feature
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

anything meryl streep touches turns to gold. so it would surprise me if her latest film ‘julie & julia’ doesn’t perform big. she always shines best when she’s immersed in character. this time, she becomes cooking extraordinaire julia child. but the flick is more than just a biopic on the late great chef. it intertwines the true story of unlucky-in-life julie powell (amy adams), as she embarks on a challenge to cook her way through julia child’s ‘master the art of french cooking.’

the movie flips back and forth through time between child’s journey as a chef & powell’s journey to self-discovery. the 30-something powell created an online blog, the julie/julia project, in which she catalogs the 365 days of recipes.

HOWEVER, upon some research into the true story of the two ladies, it appears there is a bit more to the story. turns out, the real-life julia child was not a fan of julie powell at all! judith jones, julia child’s editor and friend had this to say: “child did not approve of powell’s cook-every-recipe-in-one-year project. julia said, ‘i don’t think she’s a serious cook.’ flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn’t attractive to me or to julia. she didn’t want to endorse it. what came through on the blog was somebody who was doing it almost for the sake of a stunt. she would never really describe the end results, how delicious it was, and what she learned.”

innnnteresting. i’m sure for the sake of the box office, movie producers failed to include that detail. regardless, it will be worth it just to see meryl be meryl and kill it on-screen. the movie premieres august 7th.

forbes magazine just published their annual celebrity 100 list, which catalogs hollywood’s top-earning actresses among other things. the mag generated the list based off of info from agents, managers, producers & laywers to determine what these leading ladies have earned over the course of the year. of course they get big paychecks up front for their movie roles, but you can’t forget back-end bonuses for big box office hits.

angelina jolie tops the list, with jennifer aniston close behind. angie came in big from her role in ‘wanted’, which grossed $341 million worldwide. she also got a fatty paycheck for her upcoming spy thriller ‘salt.’

aniston’s ‘marley & me’ knocked her on up to the number two spot, as the family flick is still making a killing in the box office & on dvd sales. jennifer also gets plenty of residual money for her role as rachel in the tv series ‘friends.’ syndication dollars, anyone? here is a list of the rest of the ladies, with oscar winner kate winslet rounding out the top 15.

1 - Angelina Jolie, $27 million
2 – Jennifer Aniston, $25 million
3 – Meryl Streep, $24 million
4 – Sarah Jessica Parker, $23 million
5 – Cameron Diaz, $20 million
6 – Sandra Bullock, $15 million
6 – Reese Witherspoon, $15 million
8 – Nicole Kidman, $12 million
8 – Drew Barrymore, $12 million
10 – Renee Zellweger, $10 million
11 – Cate Blanchett, $8 million
12 – Anne Hathaway, $7 million
12 – Halle Berry, $7 million
14 – Scarlett Johansson, $5.5 million
15 – Kate Winslet, $2 million

here’s the biggest shocker, though. apparently there is quite a big difference between the earning of the top 10 actresses and the top 10 actors. the top 10 actresses earned $183 million, compared with $393 million for the top 10 actors. that’s a pretty significant gap! i wonder why?