If you hear a very loud "Nooo!!!" emanating from the downtown Salt Lake area on Oscars night, it'll probably be coming from the mouth of yours truly.
I'm already preparing to be disappointed and upset when the 81st Academy Awards are announced Feb. 22.
Mind you, it's not in regard to the Best Motion Picture Oscar. I'm usually disappointed when that award is given out. (Probably the only, really deserving recipients of late, in my estimation, were "The Departed" and "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.")
No, I'm guessing I may be angry when the Best Animated Feature category is announced. The nominees are Disney's "Bolt," DreamWorks' "Kung Fu Panda" and Disney/Pixar's "WALL*E," which was my favorite movie from last year.
There's evidence to suggest that the film might not win the Oscar, though.
It might go to "Kung Fu Panda" instead. After all, that film practically swept all the categories for the animation industry's top awards, the Annies, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Voice Acting (Dustin Hoffman).
Now, look, I'm not saying "Kung Fu Panda" was a bad movie. It was pretty fun, but it's just not in the stratosphere as "WALL*E."
Nor was any other animated movie, save for perhaps the Israeli documentary/animation hybrid "Waltz With Bashir."
(For those who have been waiting for that film, it finally arrives locally Feb. 27 at the Broadway Centre Cinemas.)
HOWEVER: I'm guessing I'll be more pleased when the 29th Annual Razzies are announced … the same weekend as the Oscars.
The Golden Raspberry Awards Foundation has compiled a strong field of contenders for its bad-movie awards, the Razzies.
Worst Picture nominees are "Disaster Movie," "The Happening," "The Hottie and the Nottie," "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale," "The Love Guru," "Meet the Spartans" — all deserving recipients.
More information on the Razzies is available at www.razzies.com.
BY THE WAY …
The five Best Picture Academy Award nominees are still playing in the Salt Lake Valley.
But one theater up north will be showing them all, at least for one day.
On Feb. 21, the day before the Academy Awards are announced, AMC's Loews Layton Hills 9 location will host back-to-back showings of "Milk," "The Reader," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Frost/Nixon."
All-day passes for the AMC Best Picture Showcase are $30. The admission price also includes a souvenir lanyard featuring artwork from all five movies, as well as free popcorn refills.
The showings start at 10:30 a.m. with "Milk" and the above list shows the order in which the movies will be shown. More information on the event is available at www.amctheatres.com.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com