Pick a winner

It’s getting a bit crowded in the movie-awards arena.

Forest Whitaker enters the 79th Academy Awards betting scheme as the prohibitive favorite to take home Oscar gold. But, then, the star of “The Last King of Scotland” already has won a Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild just gave him its top male acting honor.

So, really, do we still care about the Oscars, which ABC will broadcast at 5 p.m. PST on Feb. 25?

Sure we do. Because when compared to the other awards, the Oscars is the one with the most – let’s use a reference from the 1999 film “Office Space” – “flair.”

Hollywood’s orgy of self-congratulation may not always get it right (fans of “Brokeback Mountain” are still complaining over last year’s “upset” win by “Crash”). The sponsoring Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science may only now be reflecting a post-studio sensibility (the nomination of the controversial Sundance favorite “Little Miss Sunshine” for Best Picture is a sign of that).

But the Oscars still banks as the Super Bowl, the World Series, the March Madness of movie-awards shows. And as usual, tens of millions of film fans are expected to watch this year’s broadcast.

Which is why The Spokesman-Review is again holding its annual Oscar Contest. Today and for the next two Sundays, we’ll run a ballot listing all 24 categories, giving readers a chance to make their own guesses as to who will walk away with the little statuettes.

At stake in the contest will be the usual prizes: First place receives $100, second $50, third $25 (all will be paid in movie passes to the theater chain of the winner’s choice).

Winning will be determined by a simple method: If you correctly guess the most winners, you win. In case of a tie, the entrant who guesses the movie that wins the most awards, and comes closest to how many awards it wins, takes the prize.

If all else fails, we’ll flip a coin.

Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Feb. 19. Send them to S-R Oscar Contest, The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201. Online entries (go to www.spokesman review.com and follow the instructions) must by submitted no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 19.

As in the past, whether you enter by post or online, no individual person can enter more than once. If we discover multiple entries from the same person, only the earliest submitted form will count.

We do hope that as many readers as possible will enter. The movie-awards arena may be getting crowded, but this contest rewards you.

You and Forest Whitaker can both go home happy.