Usually I post a list of all the films nominated for Academy Awards some time prior to the event. This year it just didn't seem to be worth the effort. Not that there aren't worthy films in the list, as there are. I just have a harder time each year mustering enthusiasm for watching a gigantic Hollywood circle jerk.

Although now that I think of it, watching the celebrants at the Kodak Theater tonight engaging in public masturbation would probably be more entertaining than watching z-list interviewers kiss their asses.

So why bother watching? Well, sometimes interesting things happen, and while the best parts would probably end up on Google Video or You Tube [warning: video links], you can't count on that. Also, while I saw fewer of the nominated films this year than any year in the last five — a whole four films — there are still some people I'll be rooting for. The awards don't mean much in terms of the quality of the craft, but they mean a lot in terms of potential exposure for deserving artists or creators, and I'd like to see these guys get their due.

So yes, I'll be watching Robert Altman get a long overdue Oscar, even if it is the lifetime achievement "you might die soon and we have to admit you stuck it out even though we snubbed you for 50 years" award. I'd love to see Corpse Bride win animated feature, even though it's almost a given that Wallace & Gromit will prevail. Although I haven't seen it, the very idea of a documentary short about Norman Corwin warms my heart. But other than those, I'm mainly curious to see if Brokeback Mountain sweeps the awards. If so, will Monday's papers and blogs be filled with shrill editorial screeds about this final proof that Hollywood is pushing an unpopular gay activist agenda down Red America's collective throat? (Pun fully intended.)

So I'll watch Jon Stewart (and cheer him on, too, I suppose, since he's one of the good guys), and probably work at the same time, since there won't be enough happening to require my full attention. And some time late in the evening it'll mercifully end and I'll know whether or not it was worth staying up just to have something to talk about at the water cooler.

But that's show biz.