The following are my final predictions on who will win the Oscars this year. Unlike previous years where I supported a wide array of films in different categories, I think this year the two main winners will be "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". I do hope that the ceremony can go ahead as scheduled and that some agreement can be made with the striking Writers Guild.

BEST PICTURE: No Country For Old Men

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis - "There Will Be Blood"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Javier Bardem - "No Country For Old Men"

BEST ACTRESS: Ellen Page - "Juno"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett - "I'm Not There"

BEST ANIMATED FILM: Ratatouille

BEST ART DIRECTION: Sweeney Todd

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

BEST COSTUME: Sweeney Todd

BEST DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson - "There Will Be Blood"

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Sicko

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Sari's Mother

BEST EDITING: No Country For Old Men

BEST FOREIGN FILM: The Counterfeiters

BEST MAKEUP: Pirates Of The Caribbean

BEST SCORE: The Kite Runner

BEST SONG: Falling Slowly - "Once"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT: I Met The Walrus

BEST SHORT: The Mozart Of Pickpockets

BEST SOUND EDITING: There Will Be Blood

BEST SOUND MIXING: Transformers

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS: Transformers

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: No Country For Old Men

BEST SCREENPLAY: Juno

 
The possibility of Barack Obama winning in South Carolina can demonstrate the ability of his campaign to present hope in a time dominated by fear, regardless of his actual policy positions. Hope is the ability to desire joy which allows groups to be affected by emotion and able to act on that emotion. In a time where the representation of a people towards itself can shape the success of policy, this change from fear can be vital in setting up new political practices and the possibility of real progressive and independent candidates in the future.

 
Both the supposed death of God and the death of global communism results in a separation between truth and meaning. The facts of reality no longer become part of an absolute transcendent order that gives all of reality meaning. It is still possible to discover truth, but that truth no longer is used to explain the overall structure of the world. Truth serves a new purpose for indiviudal humans to understand reality that they are engaged in. In a way this breaking down of ideology, whether religion or communism, leaves a reality that is presented to humans as incomplete. The individual discovery of truth works through this incomplete reality.

 
The world described by the Matrix trilogy can open up new stories and possibilities. Here is an online story that deals with the Matrix universe and is inspired by it but can be independent from the trilogy. It can be a canvas upon which various writers and artists can project their ideas and techniques.