To start off wit the Oscar Fever, i won a pair of tix to the Xclusive Channel 5 Movie Marathon tt was held @ the Cathay. It started @ 8.45am til 9pm wit a total of 5 movies (Babel, The Queen, Letters From Iwo Jima, Notes On a Scandal and Dreamgirls). Therefore i pulled my friend Gabby who is a oscar buff to join mi for the event

1st we start off wit the 1st movie which is Babel directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Brad Pitt, Rinko Kikuchi, Adriana Barraza, Cate Blanchett, Kôji Yakusho, and Gael García Bernal. Babel weaves together stories taking place in Morocco, Japan and Mexico. The major theme of the film is how, due to cultural assumptions, people of different types are still unable to communicate with each other. Each sub-plot features a person out of their usual world: American children lost in the borderlands, a deaf Japanese girl mourning and alone in a hearing world, and two Americans stranded in the Moroccan desert. At the same time, the movie attempts to highlight behavior that is ubiquitous across all cultures, such as a man worrying over his wife, a woman taking care of children, young boys trying to better each other, and teenagers trying to catch the attention of the opposite sex. Cultural assumptions and suspicions held against them prevent understanding, revealing the struggles with communication inherent in the human condition. Although both of us caught it b4 but we still enjoy watchin it the second time round.

Next aft Babel was The Queen directed by Stephen Frears. It takes an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the interaction between Queen Elizabeth II (played by Helen Mirren) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by Michael Sheen) following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. It focuses on their struggle to reach a compromise between treating her death as a private tragedy for the Royal Family and appeasing the public's demand for an overt display of mourning. B4 watchin tis show, my perception was tt its another BORING monarchy show but it really surprise mi tt they thrown in humours frm the queen n tony blairs and its one of the better movie shown in the marathon. Its really controversial and detailed and Helen Mirren whu protray as the Queen did a MArvellous Job. I would really recommend every1 to catch the movie b4 it end. Aft The Queen we had a buffet lunch break which lasted half an hour and we hav to enter back to the theatre for the 3rd movie

Letters From Iwo Jima, directed by Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg about the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of Japanese soldiers acted by Ken Watenabe. How both parties(the american and the japanese) feel towards the war. U can see all aspect of differnt jap soldiers, sum whu are very GARANG, sum whu are so Stupid to end their life by grenading themself while others are their best to survive in the war. To mi im nt a big fan of War movies mayb i hav seen lots of them b4 so it didnt really left mi a deep impression of the movie but overall its quite entertainin

After Letters From Iwo Jima, they immediately show the forth movie which is Notes on a Scandal. It tells how a psychotic lesbian cum stalker cum teacher (Dame Judi Dench) target young and pretty female teachers in her school. It shows how she go to the extend to help her target(female teachers) and win their trust to her and she start writin down every single details on her diary. Judi soon attracted wit a new young teacher acted by (Cate Blanchett) and help her all the way by helpin her disciplining her students and providing a listenin ear. Soon they bcum close friend but Judi wants more than juz being Cate's friend. One nite Judi caught Cate havin an affair wit a 15yo student in a classroom she immediately confronted her and....... see for yourself, dun wish to leak out the whole story. Anyway its a really great movie and both cate and judi did a great job in the movie

Aft the forth movie we were both too shagged and intend to forgo the buffet dinner which was provided and left the area for sum dinner. We only had 45 mins b4 the last movie start therefore we head nearby for sum dinner. The Last movie of the marathon was Dreamgirls A musical set in the 1960s and 1970s with a predominantly African-American cast, Dreamgirls is adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, which is loosely based upon both the history of Motown act The Supremes and the evolution of American R&B music over the years. stars Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, and Eddie Murphy and, in her film debut, Jennifer Hudson (of American Idol fame). Produced by Laurence Mark, Dreamgirls was written and directed for the screen by Bill Condon. They can throw in big star like jamie, beyonce, eddie, etc but it was Jennifer Hudson whu stole the spotlight throughout the whole show not only by her vocal but her performance too. When she perform wit the dreamgirls, u can nv miss her coz she is the odd one out frm the group(hehe took half of the screen) But she did a good job and ill b rootin for her for the oscar.

Although it was excruciating 15 hrs of non stop movie, it was all well worth. All the movies were great and both of us even brought home goodie bags and movie premiums aft the movie. Most of them kinda useless to mi so if any1 of u want any thing juz let mi noe. Here are the list of things inside the goodie bag:

1) Volver Poster

2) The Queen Poster

3) Night @ the Museum Poster

4) Notes On A Scandal Poster

5) Letters From Iwo Jima notepad

6) Aquamarine Notepad

7) Babel Notepad

8) 2 Dancefloor Decal

9) 3 Dancefloor tissue pack

10) Dancefloor keychain

11) Final Destination 3 Tees

12) Epic movie calender cum notepad

13) Transformers Decal

14) Eragon pin

15) Phua Chu Kang handphone thingy

16) (2x5) Desperate Housewives coasters

17) The Guardian pouch

18) Scoop Soundtrack

19) 79th Academy Award Photoframe Box

20) 2 Channel 5 Paperback

These are my prediction for the academy awards(bold) and winners (red)

1. Best Picture: "Babel," "The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Queen

2. Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"; Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"; Peter O'Toole, "Venus"; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland

3. Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Volver"; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"; Helen Mirren, "The Queen"; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Kate Winslet, "Little Children."

4. Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children"; Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond"; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"; Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed."

5. Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel"; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"; Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel."

6. Directing: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"; Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"; Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima"; Stephen Frears, "The Queen"; Paul Greengrass, "United 93."

7. Animated Feature Film: "Cars," "Happy Feet," "Monster House

8. Original Song: "I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth," Melissa Etheridge; "Listen" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven; "Love You I Do" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett; "Our Town" from "Cars," Randy Newman; "Patience" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger and Willie Reale.

9. Costume: "Curse of the Golden Flower," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Marie Antoinette ," "The Queen."

10. Visual Effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," "Poseidon," "Superman Returns."