What is that terrible screeching sound?

Is it tires squealing? Nails on a chalkboard? No... It's just James Blunt singing "Beautiful", probably my most hated song ever (that awful "Had a Bad Day" song that is forever playing everywhere I go is a close second). But speaking of James Blunt, he was involved in a car accident last night leaving a pre-Oscar party. Apparently some man's foot got run over, but unfortunately, Blunt's vocal cords were not injured in the incident.

Here's what else has been happening:

- Amanda Peet of "Studio 60" and her husband David Benioff welcomed a baby girl, Frances Pen.

- Kevin Federline visited Britney Spears in rehab because he was so deeply concerned for her. Since then, K-Fed has shockingly been called "a good dude". And that excellent judge of character is.......Jason Alexander, Britney's first husband of 55 extremely romantic hours.

- Anna Nicole Smith might have been a lesbian. She also might have been a transsexual. She may have also believed Tupac is really dead, Tom and Katie consummated the marriage, and live episodes of "Will & Grace" were a good idea.

- DON'T FORGET!!!!!!!!!! The 79th Annual Academy Awards are tomorrow night at 8PM on ABC!! Get excited!! This is the second year in a row I have seen all five nominees for Best Picture, in order to form a well-educated opinion on who I believe should win. That, or because I have nothing else better to do.

So, here goes:

The five nominees for Best Picture are Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, and The Queen. I believe the winner should be.......... Letters from Iwo Jima. This was the only one I felt had a solid plotline, kept me engaged in the story from beginning to end, lots of action (not that that's necessary to win Best Picture), and got me to genuinely care about the well-being of the characters. I liked The Departed, and I would be just as happy if that won. Quite honestly, I wasn't blown away by any of the films this year. The Oscars have lost some of its credibility over the years - especially after Three 6 Mafia was allowed to take home an award last year.

Little Miss Sunshine is "the little movie that could", and I love it. But I do not think it deserves an Oscar at all. The Queen was excellent, but I felt like I could have seen the same actors (except Ms. Mirren) and cinematography in a made-for-TV movie or miniseries event. Babel was pretty good, except I was extremely disturbed by the frequent and extremely unnecessary crotch shots. The Japanese story line is not important to the plot and probably shouldn't have been in the movie at all, yet somehow Rinko Kikuchi got nominated. Whatever. I get the whole lives intertwining thing, like in Crash and 21 Grams, etc. I'm a little tired of it though, so please, don't let Babel win. Like I said, I wouldn't mind if either Letters or The Departed wins. I liked The Departed, and staring at Mark Wahlberg for those few precious moments of screen time he got was the best part of the movie. I thought it was a little confusing though and definitely not Scorsese's best (you can't beat Goodfellas), which is why my vote goes to Letters. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow night.

Expect my reactions and fashion commentary at some point after the ceremony..... I'll try for Monday, but I can make no promises. I am looking forward to tomorrow night, except for the dreaded moment when The Donkey from Shrek wins a coveted Academy Award. Eddie Murphy, I never thought I would see the day that you would have an Oscar... and I would not. Touché, Norbit. Touché.