Telly Vision

Link: http://tinyurl.com/avcqcy

Earlier this week, a memo was leaked which had all the names of the Oscar winners. Those winners included Mickey Rourke for Best Actor, Kate Winslet for Best Actress, Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor and Amy Adams for Best Supporting Actress. Is the memo legitimate? Is it bogus? Tune in tonight.

What makes tonight's 81st Academy Awards so exciting for me is that I actually was able to see all of the Best Picture nominees and actor/actress nominees in Spartanburg, Greenville and Asheville, N.C. theaters. I watched The Visitor, Man on Wire, WALL-E and Frozen River on DVD. I usually do see almost every nominee but it takes a lot of work to see everything. This year, I could drive to WestGate Mall to see all five Best Picture nominees. That never happens and I hope it's a trend that continues. If you haven't seen these nominated films, I highly recommend them all. There is not one bad picture in the bunch.

I wish there could be a three-way tie for Best Actor between Sean Penn for "Milk," Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler," and Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon." Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" would be my runner-up.

I wish there could be a four-way tie for Best Actress between Kate Winslet in "The Reader," Meryl Streep for "Doubt," Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married," and Melissa Leo for "Frozen River."

Unfortunately, there will only be one winner for each category. But isn't it wonderful that we have so many good choices.

Here are my Oscar picks.

Best Actor

Pick: Sean Penn for "Milk"

Second choice: Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler"

Prediction: Sean Penn for "Milk"

Best Actress

Pick: Kate Winslet for "The Reader"

Second choice: Melissa Leo for "Frozen River"

Prediction: Kate Winslet for "The Reader"

Best Supporting Actor

Pick: Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight"

Second choice: Michael Shannon for "Revolutionary Road"

Prediction: Heath Ledger

Best Supporting Actress

Pick: Marisa Tomei for "The Wrestler"

Second choice: Viola Davis for "Doubt"

Prediction: Penelope Cruz for "Vicky Christina Barcelona"

Best Director

Pick: Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire"

Second choice: Gus Van Sant for "Milk"

Prediction: Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Picture

Pick: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Second choice: "Milk"

Prediction: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Other picks....

Best Original Song -- "Jai Ho" for "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Foreign Language Film -- "Waltz with Bashir"

Best Original Screenplay -- "Milk"

Best Adaptation for Screen -- "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Documentary Feature -- "Man on Wire"

Best Costume Design -- "Australia"

Best Animated Film -- "WALL-E"

Best Visual Effects -- "Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Best Cinematography -- "Slumdog Millionaire"

Live red carpet coverage starts at 6 p.m. on E! and the TV Guide Channel. A Barbara Walters special will be presented right before the Oscars show.

The Oscars start at 8 p.m. and I will live Twittering the Oscars starting around 6 p.m. Go to GoUpstate.com to follow along. Or follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com/FrancoJose

Website WB.com has Valentine's Day episodes of "Smallville," "Gilmore Girls," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Everwood," "Veronica Mars," and "The O.C." The site also has the first five episodes of "Pushing Daisies." The Valentine's Day and relationship theme episodes will be up until Feb. 17.  

Metallica will release its entire discography as a digital box set exclusively on iTunes beginning March 31.

The complete Metallica set includes 163 tracks.

Nine studio albums, one double live album and one double covers album plus bonus live tracks.

The members of Rascal Flatts revealed the cover for their next album "Unstoppable" before last night's sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The album is due April 7.

Fan Chris Kubik from Arlington, Ill., was named the winner of the album cover contest.

David Letterman's "Late Show with David Letterman" has landed a week's residency with U2.  

The Irish rock band will start their 5-day residency on March 2. Their new CD "No Lines on the Horizon" will be released on March 3.

Joaquin Phoenix showed up as a guest on Late Show with David Letterman and gave Dave the silent treatment. Dave poked fun of his Unabomber beard; they talked about Dave's infected finger; and Dave tried to get Phoenix to talk about his giving up acting and moving into hip-hop music.

It was an awkward 10 minute conversation. Dave finally said "I'll come over to your house and chew gum" and "sorry you couldn't be here tonight." Dave also sent his apologies to Farrah Fawcett who also had a loopy interview with Letterman a long, long time ago.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/by7bxm

Everyone is writing about Facebook's 25 Random Things. This is where people on Facebook share 25 random things about themselves that supposedly no one knows about or didn't want to know about in the first place. Apparently, it has been so popular that Facebook saw its numbers increase in January.

Some columnists call the pop culture phenomenon narcissistic, self-indulgent or just plain TMI -- too much information.

I found it to be a fun writing exercise. Heck, I could have written 25 other useless things about myself that you didn't want to know. But I won't.

Now, the Facebook Memories of Me fits into the TMI category.

Imagine the following Facebook conversation:

Me: "Hey, my so-called Facebook friends, what do you remember about me? I'm so wonderful that I'm sure all of your memories of me are so wonderful too."

Facebook friends: Uggh!! 

What's your opinion on the Facebook 25 Random Things or the Memories of Me?

I have posted a link to my Facebook 25 Random Things so you can read about a nun who cursed me out, and my six hours hanging from a tree after a skydiving accident.

I know, I know. TMI!

Link: http://twitter.com/FrancoJose

I can be found on Twitter.com. Look for FrancoJose.

On Twitter, I like to give quick DVD and movie picks and mention what TV shows I'm watching. I also mention what CDs I'm listening to. My Twitter is usually pop culture related. So, I hope you will follow me on Twitter.

Jason's back. And there's going to be trouble. "Friday the 13th" opens on Friday the 13th.  

Spoiler alert:

According to Orlando Sentinel movie critic Roger Moore, there will be "13 grisly deaths, machete decapitations, an arrow through the head, somebody burned to death in a sleeping bag.....

"This is the same Crystal Lake where all the camp counselors were butchered back in 1980."

 Marcus Nispel who was responsible for the updated version of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," directed "Friday the 13th."

In a nutshell, here's Moore's review:

"skimps on suspense and cuts straight to the beheadings"

"You know the slasher drill. The murders are for shock and comic effect."

Expect this movie to do a killing at the box office.

If you've been wondering why Brad Pitt has been showing up at red carpet events with this mysterious mustache, this teaser trailer for his new Quentin Tarantino movie, "Inglourious Basterds," explains it all. Pitt plays a Nazi hunter. Watch the trailer. It looks interesting. Release date is Aug. 21.

Cartoon Network announced last week that it has picked up "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" for a second season. The series is No. 1 with boys ages 6-11. A whole new generation is falling in love with Star Wars. That explains why my 10-year-old nephew Timothy loves Star Wars and loves playing with that Star Wars light saber I gave him in October.

The season finale of seaon one airs 9 p.m. March 20.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine," the movie tells of his "violent and romantic past," and "complex relationship with Victor Creed" and "ominous Weapon X program."

In theaters on May 1.

Catch Hugh Jackman hosting the Oscars on Feb. 22. The producers are being tight lipped about the ceremonies - they are planning some surprises -- let's hope they get it right this year. Last year's show was a bore.