The Academy Awards are just around the corner — millions will tune in this Sunday to watch the annual extravaganza of teary speeches, campy choreography, and Jack Nicholson’s shades.

The blogging world is abuzz, too, with predictions, reviews, and other commentary on Hollywood’s big night. Whether you’re a movie buff or just an Ellen fan, here are some blogs you should visit to get you in the right mood for the red carpet.

And the nominees are…

If you haven’t had a chance to watch all the nominated movies (who does?) and can’t tell Nebraska from Philomena, B+ Movie Blog is here to help. A real labor of love, this site provides readers with detailed breakdowns and thoughtful analyses of each award cateogory, from Best Supporting Actress to Best Original Score.

Over at Cardboard Box Office, parents Lilly and Leon produce whimsical recreations of famous movie scenes with their baby son, Orson. Here is The Birdies, their take on Hitchcock’s Birds.

If you can’t deal with the tension and must already know who’ll win, WordPress.com VIP partner Variety has already published this year’s predictions. As Hollywood’s de facto magazine of record, Variety‘s prophetic record is hard to beat.

I’d like to thank the academy…

With all the buzz and publicity campaigns engineered by movie studios, you’d think that winning a golden statuette guarantees a movie’s legacy for posterity, while the losers quickly fade away. Think again, says the blogger at Hollywood in Retrospect. In a thoughtful piece about the nominees back in 1975, he shows how winning (or losing) an Oscar often has no effect on how we remember movies.

Tinytanic, Cardboard Box Office‘s riff on Titanic

Finally, anyone who’s ever practiced an acceptance speech in front of the mirror (we know you exist!) will love “It?s never too early to write an Oscar thank-you speech,” a humorous-yet-heartfelt take on the genre by Marryl, an aspiring actress. We wish both Marryl and Meryl an enjoyable Sunday night.

More movie links:

• Learn how ceremony-planners decide who gets to be in the moving In Memoriam section.
• We all have our way of predicting winners. How about using your Cry-Meter?
• Everybody loves Oscars trivia.

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