I usually hate happy endings in movies. They may be fine for movies like Rudy, but for many films, happy endings often ring false and feel like cheap cop-outs. Yet for reasons I explain in the video below, I actually enjoyed the ultra-gooey finale of Slumdog Millionaire.

Perhaps because America's economic story and outlook has become almost as depressing as the childhood of Slumdog protaganist Jamal Malik, it's somehow fitting that we allow ourselves to be gloriously deluded by inspiring, well-earned Hollywood ending bullshit.

And the nominees are:

• Josh Brolin in Milk;
• Robert Downey, Jr., in Tropic Thunder;
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt;
• Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight; and
• Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road.

Loyal readers have been anxiously following dagblog.com's financial troubles in this difficult economy. On Tuesday, after dagblog's appeals for federal assistance were rebuffed, I sadly announced that all the other members of the dagblog team would have to be let go.

Right now over 300 college kids are parading around in sponsored spandex performing the President's Fitness Challenge for a bunch of googley eyed grown men. Well-paid football professionals and numbers geeks are oohing and aahing over tenths of a second in an effort to figure out which specimen they'll hand over the $50 million "Deal or No Deal" briefcase. Endless numbers of greased up Mel Kiper wannabees are plotting these numbers into formulas trying to find the NFL equivalent of e=mc2.

Three months ago, I noted that Japan entered recession before us.

We're in the homestretch now! Only three days left and, frankly, on Sunday night, I'm going to be more concerned with whose dress is pretty than who actually wins. But for now, let's soldier on.

The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are:

I can't stop stewing over the fact that the South Carolina sheriff decided to investigate Michael Phelps' notorious bong hit, with an eye toward possible prosecution.

I know, I know, the sheriff dropped the investigation earlier this week after deciding there wasn't enough evidence to convict Phelps, who wisely did not admit to smoking the funny weed but merely apologized for using 'bad judgment.'

It is with great pleasure that I take the time to comment on the running clusterfuck that is California's state government.  Here at DagBlog, we've gone back and forth a bit about the possible ramifications of expansive fiscal policy that has now been signed into law by President Obama.  If you want a real lesson in when deficits get sticky, look no further than the Golden State.

So we've covered Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Song. Now, it's time to turn our attention to Best Actress. And the nominees are:

Turns out, even I underestimated the stupidity of Roland Burris, a feat, I assure you, that is as difficult as it is unexpected, seeing as how I've been criticizing him for weeks.

(Video below)

So Obama is signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law in Denver this afternoon. I've heard several pundits calling the $787 billion stimulus package the beginning of Obama's New Deal. In today's dagbuzz, I discuss why that comparison is foolish, and why we probably couldn't even afford a new New Deal even if we desperately needed one.

Brought to you by wordle.net. I like the big Bush falling off the bottom...

Defying expectations and confounding the critics one last time, George W. Bush is not the worst president ever according to C-Span's Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership. Bush beat out Millard Fillmore, Warren Harding, William Henry Harrison, Franklin D. Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan to place a respectable 36th out of 42.

The big night is just a week away, so it's time to get serious. The Best Picture nominees are covered here. For the rest of this week, I'm going to do my level best to post my predictions for the other major categories.

For Best Actor, the nominees are:

Sometimes, being right is cold comfort. 

As Genghis mentioned in his post, Roland Burris has "elaborated" on his testimony regarding his contact with Rod Blagojevich prior to his appointment to the United States Senate seat once held by President Obama. The Illinois State Senate is looking into whether he committed perjury and State Rep. Barbara Flynn Curie thinks it's "odd."

Senator Roland Burris (D) speaks...

Jan 5, sworn affidavit:

There was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives regarding my appointment to the United States Senate.

Contact counter: 0

Jan 8, sworn testimony:

Before last week, all I knew about Papua New Guinea was that its capital was Port Moresby and that it was that island on top of Australia. But while I was searching the internet for examples of the country’s musical offerings, I was fascinated to learn that over 700 languages are spoken there, that most of the island doesn’t have access to television and can only be reached by airplanes, and that there is an incredible diversity of flora and fauna in the mountains and rainforests.

On January 29th, Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr., passed away.  Though he left his mark on music in a very direct way, both through his own recordings and compositions and through working with legends like Ray Charles, Etta James, Lou Rawls and B.B. King, Crawford's musical legacy extends into the realm of hip-hop as well.

I have really little to add here, but this may be one of the most uncomfortable celebrity interviews I've ever seen. This guy is clearly fruit loops.