My husband and I  spent yesterday in the movie theater at the Best Picture Showcase. We saw all of the 2008 Oscar Nominees. It was a long day, and the theater was a lot more crowded than I had expected. Were you there too?

My predictions are the following:

Actor

Will Win: Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Want To Win: George Clooney, Michael Clayton

Support Actor:

Will Win: Javier Barden, No Country For Old Men

Want To Win: Casey Affleck, Really Long Jesse James Movie

Actress:

Will Win and Want To Win Ellen Page, Juno

Support Actress:

Will Win: Ruby Dee, American Gangster

Want To Win: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Directing:

Will Win: Toss up between No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood

Want To Win: Juno or Michael Clayton

Best Picture:

Will Win: No Country For Old Men

Want To Win: Michael Clayton

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Gone Baby Gone

I love the movies! I am a huge movie fan, but I am an even bigger fan of the movies that are nominated for an Academy Award. Each year I watch as many of those movies that I can from the time they are nominated right up to the awards ceremony, keeping careful track of each and every movie I see by highlighting them on my printable ballot. This year my deadline is this Sunday, February 24th, at 4:49 p.m. -- which is approaching fast, by the way. 

I admit that trying to see all the movies is somewhat crazy, but I do it each and every year. I'm thankful for Netflix and Blockbuster, and that I have a husband who goes along with me on this ridiculous quest each season. He's had to sit through a long list of movies that he might not have normally watched as a result.

So far this year we have watched the following Oscar nominated movies: Michael Clayton, Eastern Promises, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Away From Her, Gone Baby Gone, Ratatouille, Surf's Up, The Golden Compass, The Bourne Ultamatum, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, 3:10 To Yuma, and Enchanted. He's watched Transformers, but I opted out of that one. (my reviews of these movies and others can be read here)

What left to see? I have Norbit and Once on their way via Netflix, and I have American Gangster and In The Valley of Elah checked out from Blockbuster which I'd like to watch tonight. Since this is crunch time, I'm trying to catch Atonement, Juno, No Country For Old Men, and There Will Be Blood on Saturday at the Mayfair May 18 for their 2nd annual AMC Best Picture Showcase (all 5 Oscar Nominees for only $30). I know I'm still missing some, but that's just they way it'll have to be.

Of all the movies so far, my favorites have been Michael Clayton, The Bourne Ultimatum, Gone Baby Gone, and of course, Disney's Ratatouille. What are your favorites this year? Are any of the readers also on the same quest that I am?

I've spent some time in front of the movie screen lately, here's a recap of what I've been watching:

The Game Plan, starring Dwane "The Rock" Johnson, and a super cute little girl named Madison Pettis. This is a Disney movie, which I didn't realize until we decided to see it. I absolutely loved this movie! It's great for all ages, my 6 year old daughter enjoyed it, as did my husband. The Rock plays a bachelor football player who doesn't know he has a daughter until she shows up on his doorstep. Kyra Sedgwick is fantastic as his agent.

Bee Movie, starring Jerry Seinfeld and a bunch of other big name actors. In all honesty, this was a cute movie. I enjoyed it, but I don't think it lived up to the hype. If I were you, I'd go to a matinee, or wait until it came out on DVD.

The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. Why didn't I want to see this movie last year when it was nominated for an Oscar??? I have no clue, but I finally got on Netflix and I loved it! I spent most of Sunday morning watching it. By the time it was over my face was wet with tears -- I'm sure I needed a good cry anyways. Will Smith's performance was definitely worthy of his Oscar nomination.

Now onto wine. Tomorrow night is my monthly wine club night. The wines we are tasting are 'weird and wacky wines'. It'll be interesting because every one has a different idea of 'weird and wacky'. Yesterday I visited Vintage in Germantown, where the owner, John, is always ready with a good suggestion. Off the top of his head he had about seven choices for me, but we finally narrowed it down to a red from Hungary. I purchased a 2006 Donausonne Blaufrankisch, the label calls it a Quality Red Wine. We'll see on Friday night just how 'quality' it is, and of course, if I have managed to bring the weirdest and wackiest wine. A close second, which I purchased just because, was a red from the France. As I was paying for my bottles I stumbled upon the wine I'd been searching for ever since trying it at Balzac on Brady St. in July: Zaca Mesa US Red Blend "Z Three". It's amazing! I bought one of the two bottles left, and told John to not even say what the total was out loud, just hand me the receipt and I'll sign it!

At 10 a.m. this morning I stood in line at the Brookfield Majestic to purchase tickets to the 2:40 p.m. showing of Bee Movie for my family. It's on the UltraScreen and I wanted to sit in the VIP Reserved Seating, which costs a little bit more, but is very nice. I had tried to purchase my tickets on line however their website stated:

"The UltraScreens® feature VIP reserved seating and general seating.
When you buy a VIP reserved seat the best available seats will be automatically selected. In case of sell-outs, the VIP reserved seats automatically selected may not be next to each other. If you purchase your tickets online, neither reserved nor general admission seats can be guaranteed to be together for sell out showings."
 

Since we wanted to have seats together, I didn't purchase our tickets online, but was well aware of the price of the tickets, which their websites states is $1.50 more than the ticket price. The matinee price for children is $6.00 and the price for adults is $6.50. When I include the $1.50 for the VIP seating the prices are $7.50 for children and $8.00 for adults. This was not what I was charged at the box office. I was charged $11.50 per person, regardless of age. When I questioned the discrepancy this morning I was disregarded by the woman at the box office. I checked the pricing on the computer just now and it's indeed what I described.

I called the box office and asked to speak to a manager about this, and he told me that the prices were increased as of today and they are having a problem updating the website. There was no offer to refund the difference, in fact there wasn't even an apology for the pricing error on their website. What ever happened to the customer always being right? Even a little bit of empathy would have gone a long way.

Hey, you know what, it's not my fault that their price is wrong online -- but's that's the price I expected to pay.