Countdown to Oscar night

It's one week to Oscar night, y'all! And I'm starting to get tingly with anticipation. :)

Though at the same time, I must admit to being a little uneasy, because with all the buzz surrounding this year's nominees, I see the potential for this to be a big season for "apology awards." This bothers me because I don't believe in apology awards, and I think the Academy needs to keep history separate from current performances when giving out their awards.

But let me give you a quick rundown of the possible apology Oscars that could be awarded this year:

• Jennifer Hudson being awarded an Oscar because she lost American Idol. I admit to not having watched Dreamgirls yet, and I absolutely refuse to ever watch a reality TV show, but her loss on American Idol is still well-known enough, courtesy of the media, and my fear is that the Academy will give her an Oscar to compensate for her Idol loss. (For the record, in the Best Supporting Actress category, I'm pulling hard for Rinko Kikuchi.)
• Peter O'Toole being awarded an Oscar because of . . . well, just being Peter O'Toole! He's a legendary actor, he's had more statuette nominations than Alfred Hitchcock (and like Hitchcock, he never came away with a win), and I was surprised to discover that there's still lingering bitterness that he lost Best Actor for Lawrence of Arabia to Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird in 1963. I don't dispute that O'Toole is a fine actor, but it's becoming more and more apparent that an Oscar win for him would "right an old wrong" in the eyes of many—and going back to what I said earlier, I believe that the Oscars should be awarded for current performances, and in my eyes, Forest Whitaker is the winner hands-down for The Last King of Scotland.
• With this last entry, I must swallow a bitter pill by admitting this, but I'd be a hypocrite otherwise if I didn't include Martin Scorsese in the list of possible apology awards. I have yet to see The Departed (though I'm hoping to see it at the Drafthouse tonight), but for the man who created such landmark films as Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Aviator, and Gangs of New York . . . need I say more? I do think Scorsese is deserving of an Oscar, but at the same time, the fact that he's never won an award yet either could be construed as an apology award. My hope is that The Departed genuinely is award-worthy, but I'll reserve judgment until after I see it.

Well, now that I have that out of my system, I still look forward to next Sunday's awards show, despite whatever reservations I may have. And remember, I'll be doing live-blogging during the Oscars, so make sure to tune in for that!