4:38 a.m.

Two awards to go, so it's possible that I'll get to bed before Mr. MarathonMum's alarm clock at 5:15 a.m. 

Bloody hell. Daniel Day Lewis is 50 years old. God he looks phenomenal. Props to him for that, it's got to be said.

4:28 a.m.

Oh! Hey!! We're in the home stretch!! Only three awards left!!! (You can tell I'm tired by my excessive use of the exclamation points).

Next up: Best Actor. 

Mr. Movie tipped Greenwich's favourite son Daniel Day-Lewis to win. "I'm going to vote for the Greenwich guy," Mr. Movie said. (DDL even thanked Greenwich in his BAFTA acceptance speech. Will he do it again?)

Everyone else thinks he's going to win too. He carried "There Will Be Blood" from start to finish. You couldn't take your eyes off of him. 

There's Helen Mirren in her fabulous red dress. It's the sort of thing I would wear, if I were an Oscar winner. But alas, I'll sit here in my PJs instead. 

There's DDL (sorry. it's late and his name is long.)! 

Johnny Depp was also very good in "Sweeney Todd." Who knew he could sing? And of course, there's our man George, but I think he knows he's not going to win.

As expected, DDL wins, but he just gave George a handshake and a kiss. Lucky DDL, for both the win, and being able to kiss George Clooney. It's got to be said that you have to be incredibly secure in your masculinity to wear TWO hoop earrings. Or be a pirate.

I should also say that DDL grew up in a house about 400 meters away from MarathonMum HQ. 

4:19 a.m.

On to Best Original Screenplay.

Mr Movie tipped "Ratatouille" to win. Again, it's one of the few Oscar nominees he's seen.

Oh. The stripper wins it! (Diablo Cody-- no word on whether that's her real name or her stripper name.) Kudos to her, though, because she's the first person tonight to thank and acknowledge her fellow nominees. She just snatched that winning envelope from Harrison Ford's hands and practically ran off the page. I think it's because she didn't want to make a spectacle of herself.

4:11 a.m.

Tom Hanks just walked out, though this year it appeared that he did not walk out swearing at someone or something, like he did in 2006.

This is cool. They're letting some U.S. military people introduce the nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject, as well as name the winner.

Mr. Movie had picked "Sari's Mother", But "Freeheld" actually won.

Gotta give props to the makers of "Freeheld" who seem to be working moms. Hooray for them! It's a 38-minute movie. I doubt LoveFilm is going to have it to borrow. We once met a nominee for this category in Chicago. He had been nominated for a film about making paper. Seriously.

Long-form documentary now. Mr. Movie picked "War/Dance" because he loved the dancing. Actually, no he's never seen it, and never have I. "Taxi to the Dark Side" wins. Mr. Movie is now 6-14.

4:07 a.m.

Amy Adams put her boring green dress back on, but the mystery remains unsolved: Did they make her dance in that last Enchanted song?

On to Original Score, which goes to "Atonement," which will probably be its only win of the night. Mr. Movie had picked "Ratatouille."

Here's a question: Can we wrap this up within the hour? Only time will tell.

4:02 a.m.

Oh! Time for the "I See Dead People" portion of the evening, introduced by Hilary Swank. Maybe that's why she's wearing black. I'm putting money on Heath Ledger being last. Let's see.

I forgot/didn't know that Jack Valenti died this year. I'm surprised they didn't put him last. Or Igmar Berman, for that matter. It'll be Heath for sure then.

And I was right again. It was poor Heath.

3:52 a.m.

Mr. Movie is now 5-11 on the night.

They just brought out the other winner for Best Song. That's got to be unprecedented. 

Now on to Best Cineamatography. Roger Deakins, who was nominated twice for "The Assassination of Jessee James" and "No Country for Old Men" swore in a recent interview that he wasn't going to win, but he knew who would. Let's see.

Maybe he was. It went to "There Will Be Blood," which was Mr. Movie's choice, so he's now 6-11 on the night.

3:49 a.m.

John Travolta is presenting Best Song. I just spent the better part of the last five minutes trying to determine (a) how many categories have been announced and (b) if they really made Amy Adams dance through "So Close." 

"Once" just stole Best Song from the three from "Enchanted." Well done to them.

3:42 a.m.

Penelope Cruz is going to present, and I'm willing to bet it's for Best Foreign Language Film. Wow. Right again.

Mr. Movie picked "The Counterfeiters" from Austria to win this one, but only because he saw a poster for it in the Tube the other day.

Whoo-Hoo! Mr Movie is right!! He's up to 5-12 (I think).

3:31 a.m.

Nicole Kidman is here. My god, are those DIAMONDS? If so, she must have several extra security men tonight. I didn't get a good look at the baby bumb, and it's hard to see because of the microphone. It has to be said, though, she just doesn't know when to stop with the plastic surgery. Her face just doesn't look real.

This is Honorary Oscar time. Snooze. 

3:28 a.m.

Renee Zellwegger (spelling. I know, I know.) is here to announce "Best Editing," for which Mr. Movie picked "Into the Wild."

"The Bourne Ultimatum" wins again. It might walk away with the most awards for the night. At this point, it's got three to "No Country for Old Men" two. 

3:24 a.m.

By my count, we know the results of 11 categories, and we still have 13 categories to announce, along with the requisite "I See Dead People" portion of the evening. I think we're going to beat the 5:17 a.m. watershed, but I sincerely hope not.

Why in God's name do they feel it necessary to show all of the past Best Picture winners? Isn't that what IMDB is for?

3:16 a.m.

How you can tell the writers have been on strike:

Jon Stewart opened up by playing Wii tennis with some young girl (didn't catch who she is). Seriously? Couldn't you just introduce Colin Farrell?

Another song nominee, this one from "Once," which I haven't seen. Happy to report that I have been able to resist the siren song of both (a) coffee and (b) chocolate chip cookies up until now.

Also, since we're sitting through the song, you might be wondering what your Oscar hostess is wearing. Well, it's beautiful-- a custom made Vera Wang gown in blue. Gorgeous.

Oh wait. That was in my fabulous parallel life. I am in fact wearing oh-so-fabulous jimjams from our friends at Nick and Nora, topped off with a sweatshirt from the boys at Pine Street Carpenters. Lets give it up for the Dolan brothers!

3:10 a.m.

I find myself studying Forest Whitaker's eyes to see if they're-- there's no other way to put this-- wonky. Having watched "The Last King of Scotland" again this weekend, I didn't know if the eye thing was for his performance of Idi Amin, or if it's something else. Seems like it was for the role.

Unusually Mr. Movie picked Ellen Page to win this category.

But Marion Coiltiard wins it! And she gives Forest a big hug. She seems so genuinely happy, you have to be happy for her. Unless you're Julie Christie.

This also means that Cate Blanchett got two nominations and walked away with nothing. Bummer for her. She enthusiastically clapped for Marion, though, so maybe she didn't care.

Oh no! Claudia Winkleman said we're only at the half-way point! How can that be!!

2:58 a.m.

It seems to me this ceremony is much zippier than last year, so I went back and checked, and indeed, it seems as though we've done several more awards so far. 

Now we're on Best Sound Editing. Mr. Movie picked "The Bourne Ultimatum" (though I'm surprised he didn't pick "Transformers."

Hooray for Mr. Movie! He got this one right! We're up to 4-5 in his picks. Oh no! Something is going wrong with the sound while they present the sound awards. Oh, the irony.

Now we're on to Best Sound Mixing. Mr. Movie picked "Transformers," which I think includes Kevin O'Connell, who has been nominated 19 times and has never won. When pressed if he thought "Transformers" really could be an Oscar Winning movie, he confidently said, "Yes."

Could it be? Could "Transformers" be an Oscar-winning movie? Alas, no. This one goes to "The Bourne Ultimatum" too. 

Speaking of which, "The Bourne Ultimatum" means I can never walk through Waterloo Station without looking around for trained assassins in the moving advertisements.

Mr. Movie is now 4-6 in his picks. We've got 14 categories to go, but we've got a Big One now: Best Actress.

2:51 a.m.

Next song performance, and now I have an answer: Amy Adams ISN'T going to have to sing all the songs from "Enchanted". Kirstin Chenowith is singing "How Does She Know."

She's got musical experience, soshe can walk through this big song-and-dance routine, though I am quite worried about the supportive string that's keeping her dress on. If it were to snap, that would be something for future clip retrospectives! Sadly, the dress and the string stay in place.

2:41 a.m.

Time for the Technical Awards Summary. I think I now know who has to sit in the upper decks of the Oscars. It must be the Technical Awards Winners.

We really are getting through this fast. We're on Best Adapted Screenplay. Mr. Movie picked "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Bummer. Wrong again. It went to the Coens for "No country for Old Men."

Poor Josh Brolin tried to give a hug to the second Coen, but he kind of got rebuffed.

I might have to stop keeping Mr. Movie's tally. He's lagging far behind.

Now some joker who I don't know-- probably the president of the Academy-- is jabbering on about something.

2:35 a.m.

It's Best Supporting Actress clip time, and there she is: Maureen Stapleton! (though not me. The other one.) Hooray!!

Time for the Best Supporting Actress award. Mr. Movie boldly picked Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone." 

Tilda Swinton looks genuinely surprised, which is sweet, but her dress is still atrocious. She thanked her agent, which I hate, but she just did a funny joke about George Clooney wearing his Bat Suit under his normal clothes.

Mr. Movie is now 3-6 for the night. He was doing so well! Now, not so much.

2:32 a.m.

Barry the Bee, from "The Bee Movie" is presenting, "Best Animated Short Film." Mr. Movie picked, "Even Pigeons Go To Heaven," (only because he likes the Mo Willems Pigeon books) but it went to "Peter and the Wolf" instead.

Mr. Movie is now 3-5 for the night.  

2:25 a.m.

Keri Russell is introducing another Best Song nominee, and this is one of the ones that is NOT an "Enchanted" song. 

They're a Gospel choir from Harlem, but I'm not sure why they thought it was a good idea to have people sitting there in a fake congregation. It's possible the fake congregation are singing, too. Though they might just be clapping along.

Owen Wilson is here! Hooray! Nice to see him up and around. 

He's doing the "Best Live Action Short Film." Mr Movie picked "At Night". Sadly, he wasn't right. It went to "Le Mozart des Pickpockets," putting him 3-4 for the night. It's quite an International Night. His acceptance speech is in French. I can tell you he said, "Thank You Very Much."

2:21 a.m.

Finally! Something useful from a Sky Premiere commentator! One of them (don't know her name), speaks Spanish so she was able to translate Javier's acceptance speech. Basically, he thanked her mother and his grandparents. 

Jon Stewart just introduced an Oscar tribute to "Binoculars and Periscopes." Oh! Wait! They included Night Vision Goggles from "Silence of the Lambs." They should have had a fact-checking department.

2:16 a.m.

Jennifer Hudson (looking lovely in white) is here to present the first acting award of the night: Best Supporting Actor. 

Mr. Movie picked Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men." I have to say, Javier is lovely with a haircut. Watching the clips, I am reminded as to how amazing Hal Holbrook was in "Into the Wild."

As expected, the Oscar goes to Javier Bardem. He just shook hands (rather than shoot them with an air gun) with Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. He just said something to his mother in Spanish. Sadly, my four years of Spanish isn't enough to translate for you, MarathonMum fans.

Mr. Movie is now 3-3 with his choices. 

I'm also wondering if Thing One will hear me and come down to join me for the Oscar broadcast. I told him if he woke up in the night, he could do it, but I doubt it'll happen. 

2:13 a.m.

Cate Blanchett just presented Best Art Direction. I like her purple dress but the necklace doesn't really work here.

Meanwhile, I'm having an e-mail conversation with my friend Kathy Q about The Rock. She doesn't know why he's there, either. They have a great phrase for that here. It's called, "Punching Above Your Weight." 

Why do they insist on showing all of these old clips? It's just making the show longer.

2:10 a.m.

They're whipping through this stuff. We're at Best Art Direction.

Mr. Movie picked "There Will Be Blood," which was a favourite for him tonight (he picked it to win Best Picture and Best Director too).

Sadly, he is now 2-3 because it went to "Sweeney Todd."

2:07 a.m.

Dwayne Johnson is presenting. I had some time between commercials to read that he is actually The Rock. 

He is presenting the Best Visual Effects, and it goes to "The Golden Compass," which was Mr. Movie's choice.

He picked it to win because, "It was filmed in Greenwich."

I would say that's a pretty good visual effect.

2 a.m.

Amy Adams changed from her green dress into something not as nice, but perhaps easier to sing in. She's singing the first Best Song nominee, "The Happy Working Song." I wonder if they're going to make her sing all three songs from the movie? 

Mr. Movie has predicted that this will be the winner. It's getting a rather tepid response from the audience, though. Doesn't bode well for his pick.

1:55 a.m.

Oh no! Poor Brad Bird just got cut off by the music. I bet that would happen to me too.

Katherine Heigel, wearing a gorgeous red dress (though not as nice as Anne Hathaway's), just admitted that she's "incredibly nervous" and she looks it. That's sweet.

Best Makeup Category: Mr. Movie picked "Pirates of the Carribbean." 

He said, "You know, 'Pirates of the Carribbean' is Disney. But I can't see it because it's scary."

Sadly, Mr Movie is now 1-2 because "La Vie En Rose" won.

1:52 a.m.

Best Animated Feature award. This is the first time since the category has been introduced that we have NOT seen all of the nominees. The odd French one, "Persepolis" hasn't been released here, I think.

Mr. Movie picked "Ratatouille" to win. This is the one category that he actually has an educated opinion about. And he was right!

Mr. Movie is now 1-1 in his Oscar picks.

1:44 a.m.

George Clooney is back. Hooray. It was a pump fake, though because I thought he was going to announce the awards.

Oh, no. It's the first of many (I'm sure) clip jobs. This is why I'll be up until 5:15 a.m.

We're having some technical difficulties at MarathonMum HQ because for some reason I can't cut and paste Mr. Movie's Oscar choices. But he made some bold choices. For Best Picture and Best Director, he went with "There Will Be Blood."

1:40 a.m.

Wesley Snipes, who just barely escaped prison, is sitting with Spike Lee. 

A nice short monologue. This bodes well for the night.

Costume Design! I still haven't run through Mr. Movie's Oscar Picks, but for this category he picked: Sweeney Todd.

Bummer. Mr. Movie is 0-1. The Oscar went to Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which I still haven't seen.