The Oscars Are Here - Liveblogging The 78th Annual Academy Awards

Despite all pretensions, dissensions, and interventions, the Oscars are still the awards to beat - in terms of shock and awe, in terms of name-brand appeal, and in terms of some pretty good films. Dissenters from the Oscar parade are as old as the Oscars. Whether it is the Razzies, people who have declined the Oscar, or all those other punk award wanna-be's, the Oscars rule, at least for one night every year, and tonight's the night.

The 78th Annual Academy Awards, awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences kicks off in less than an hour, this year from the Kodak Theatre on the corner of Hollywood and Highland, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST. Comedian/political satirist Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show, will host for the first time. He commented, when informed he would be the host, "As a performer, I'm truly honored to be hosting the show. Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal."

The Razzies, in case you were wondering:

WORST PICTURE: Dirty Love
WORST ACTRESS: Jenny McCarthy, Dirty Love
WORST ACTOR: Rob Schneider, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalo
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Paris Hilton, House of Wax
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Hayden Christensen, Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith
WORST ONSCREEN COUPLE: Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, Bewitched
WORST DIRECTOR: John Asher, Dirty Love
WORST SCREENPLAY: Dirty Love
WORST SEQUEL OR REMAKE: Son of the Mask
MOST TIRESOME TABLOID TARGET: Tom Cruise: Katie Holmes, Oprah's Couch, the Eiffel Tower and Tom's Baby

Chip in below with your thoughts on the Oscars as they proceed, trivia, and later, with your opinions on why the Oscar should have gone to...

The nominations, in case you missed them earlier:

Best motion picture of the year

Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)
A River Road Entertainment Production
Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers

Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
An A-Line Pictures/Cooper's Town/ Infinity Media Production
Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers

Crash (Lions Gate)
A Bob Yari/DEJ/Blackfriar's Bridge/ Harris Company/ApolloProscreen GmbH & Co./Bull's Eye Entertainment Production
Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producers

Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent Pictures)
A Good Night Good Luck LLC Production
Grant Heslov, Producer

Munich (Universal and DreamWorks)
A Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures Production
Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers

Achievement in directing
Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)
Ang Lee

Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Bennett Miller

Crash (Lions Gate)
Paul Haggis

Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent Pictures)
George Clooney

Munich (Universal and DreamWorks)
Steven Spielberg

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)

Terrence Howard in Hustle & Flow (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)

Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (20th Century Fox)

David Strathairn in Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent Pictures)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

George Clooney in Syriana (Warner Bros.)

Matt Dillon in Crash (Lions Gate)

Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man (Universal and Miramax)

Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)

William Hurt in A History of Violence (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Judi Dench in Mrs. Henderson Presents (The Weinstein Company)

Felicity Huffman in Transamerica (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)

Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice (Focus Features)

Charlize Theron in North Country (Warner Bros.)

Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line (20th Century Fox)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams in Junebug (Sony Pictures Classics)

Catherine Keener in Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)

Frances McDormand in North Country (Warner Bros.)

Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener (Focus Features)

Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)

Adapted screenplay

Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)
Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana

Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Screenplay by Dan Futterman

The Constant Gardener (Focus Features)
Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine

A History of Violence (New Line)
Screenplay by Josh Olson

Munich (Universal and DreamWorks)
Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Original screenplay

Crash (Lions Gate)
Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco
Story by Paul Haggis

Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent Pictures)
Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov

Match Point (DreamWorks)
Written by Woody Allen

The Squid and the Whale (Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures Releasing)
Written by Noah Baumbach

Syriana (Warner Bros.)
Written by Stephen Gaghan

Best animated feature film of the year

Howl's Moving Castle (Buena Vista)
Hayao Miyazaki

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Warner Bros.)
Tim Burton and Mike Johnson

Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DreamWorks Animation SKG)
Nick Park and Steve Box

Achievement in art direction

Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent Pictures)
Art Direction: Jim Bissell
Set Decoration: Jan Pascale

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
Art Direction: Stuart Craig
Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

King Kong (Universal)
Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright

Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau

Pride & Prejudice (Focus Features)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Achievement in cinematography

Batman Begins (Warner Bros.)
Wally Pfister

Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)
Rodrigo Prieto

Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent Pictures)
Robert Elswit

Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Dion Beebe

The New World (New Line)
Emmanuel Lubezki

Achievement in costume design

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros.)
Gabriella Pescucci

Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Colleen Atwood

Mrs. Henderson Presents (The Weinstein Company)
Sandy Powell

Pride & Prejudice (Focus Features)
Jacqueline Durran

Walk the Line (20th Century Fox)
Arianne Phillips

Best documentary feature

Darwin's Nightmare (International Film Circuit)
A Mille et Une Production
Hubert Sauper

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Magnolia Pictures)
An HDNet Films Production
Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot

March of the Penguins (Warner Independent Pictures)
A Bonne Pioche Production
Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau

Murderball (THINKFilm)
An Eat Films Production
Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro

Street Fight
A Marshall Curry Production
Marshall Curry

Best documentary short subject

The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
A Dan Krauss Production
Dan Krauss

God Sleeps in Rwanda
An Acquaro/Sherman Production
Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman

The Mushroom Club
A Farallon Films Production
Steven Okazaki

A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
A NomaFilms Production
Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson

Achievement in film editing

Cinderella Man (Universal and Miramax)
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley

The Constant Gardener (Focus Features)
Claire Simpson

Crash (Lions Gate)
Hughes Winborne

Munich (Universal and DreamWorks)
Michael Kahn

Walk the Line (20th Century Fox)
Michael McCusker

Best foreign language film of the year

Don't Tell
A Cattleya/Rai Cinema Production
Italy

Joyeux Noël
A Nord-Ouest Production
France

Paradise Now
An Augustus Film Production
Palestine

Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
A Goldkind Filmproduktion and Broth Film Production
Germany

Tsotsi
A Moviworld Production
South Africa

Achievement in makeup

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(Buena Vista)
Howard Berger and Tami Lane

Cinderella Man
(Universal and Miramax)
David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
(20th Century Fox)
Dave Elsey and Annette Miles

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features) Gustavo Santaolalla

The Constant Gardener (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias

Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Williams

Munich (Universal and DreamWorks) John Williams

Pride & Prejudice (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

"In the Deep" from Crash (Lions Gate)
Music by Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker
Lyric by Kathleen "Bird" York

"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard

"Travelin' Thru" from Transamerica (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

Best animated short film

Badgered
A National Film and Television School Production
Sharon Colman

The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
A John Canemaker Production
John Canemaker and Peggy Stern

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello (Monster Distributes)
A 3D Films Production
Anthony Lucas

9
A Shane Acker Production
Shane Acker

One Man Band
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

Best live action short film

Ausreisser (The Runaway)
A Hamburg Media School, Filmwerkstatt Production
Ulrike Grote

Cashback (The British Film Institute)
A Left Turn Films Production
Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager

The Last Farm
A Zik Zak Filmworks Production
Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson

Our Time Is Up
A Station B Production
Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente

Six Shooter (Sundance Film Channel)
A Missing in Action Films and Funny Farm Films Production
Martin McDonagh

Achievement in sound editing

King Kong (Universal) Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn

Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing) Wylie Stateman

War of the Worlds (Paramount and DreamWorks) Richard King

Achievement in sound mixing

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson

King Kong (Universal)
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek

Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett

Walk the Line (20th Century Fox)
Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland

War of the Worlds (Paramount and DreamWorks)
Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

Achievement in visual effects

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar

King Kong (Universal)
Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor

War of the Worlds (Paramount and DreamWorks)
Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

Blogcritics on the 78th Academy Awards