So sad for Mickey Rourke

Poor Mickey Rourke. One of his best pals - his Chihuahua Loki died on Tuesday. Sorry Mickey! He even thanked his dogs during his speech at the Golden Globes.

(photo via EW.com)

Oscar noms get personal

Newsweek's Actors Roundtable features Oscar noms Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and non-nom Sally Hawkins (who won the Best Actress - Musical or Comedy Golden Globe for Happy-Go-Lucky).

The Roundtable took place prior to the announcement of the noms last week. The actors are candid and show lots of personality. 

VF did their own analysis of it.

How will SAG affect Oscar?

Because the SAG Awards are voted by the actors themselves, it is not necessarily a sign of Oscar success. The Academy could vote for completely different people, though I think some categories are already in the bag:

• Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire—after securing Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at tonight's SAGs, a Golden Globe and countless other "bests" this awards season, I think it's safe to say that this film should garner the year's most coveted movie prize.
• In the Best Actor ring: Sean Penn (Milk) v. Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)—Sean won the SAG, but Mickey won the Golden Globe. It will come down to how the Academy votes to decide which performance comes out on top.
• In the Best Actress ring: Meryl Streep (Doubt) v. Kate Winslet (The Reader) v. Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)—Meryl won tonight's SAG, but Kate's performance for "The Reader" also won the SAG (in the supporting category) and she garnered two Golden Globes, actress for "Revolutionary Road" and supporting actress for "The Reader". Then consider that Anne and Meryl tied for Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards. I'm hoping for Kate to win this tango.
• On the Best Supporting Actor pedestal: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), no doubt about it. It's Heath's year, despite the tragedy that he passed too soon.
• On the Best Supporting Actress pedestal: No clue. With Kate's win in this category for most of the year, it's hard to know which actress will take home the Oscar. 

The big Academy Award showdown is in less than one month. Can't wait!

(photo courtesy AP)

Oscar buzz

Five questions about the Oscars I found intriguing from Vanity Fair's Mark Lisanti.

1. Does Mickey Rourke really stand a chance at beating Sean Penn?

2. Who the hell is Sally Hawkins again?

3. Do I have to start paying attention to Gran Torino for Best Picture?

4. Will Kate Winslet win zero, one or two Oscars?

5. Can anything beat Slumdog Millionaire?

(graphic courtesy VF)