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Nathaniel walks to the stage, tears welling in his eyes

Thank you so, so much. Whistle so I can tell where you are dear reader… There you are! Thank you for listening to our informal chatty awardsy podcast all season and especially for commenting so we know we’re not talking into the great web void. I couldn’t have done this without my beautiful co-stars Joe, Nick and Katey who always believed in me! I also must thank my accoun —[drowned out by orchestra]

Enough hokey awards show humor. If you aren’t already completely Oscared out (you’re totally forgiven if you are), join the four musketeers for one last podcast pow-wow about Oscar night. The best option is the iTunes version i.e. the enhanced podcast but you can listen to the simplified mp3 if you don’t have an enhanced player.

Topics include but are not limited to:

• Jessica Biel’s napkin and Marisa Tomei’s “envelopes”
• Meryl Streep in the front row, Anne Hathaway singing, Hugh Jackman up on stage
• Commie Homo Loving Sean Penn
• Penélope Cruz Obsessions. Spreading like brushfire
• Why is there no Oscar cable channel?

Somewhere round about the middle of the podcast (60 minutes this time. We had much gushing to do) Nick dropped an intriguing question for listeners/readers. What do you think is the Best Consecutive Run for Acting Oscar winners ever? Nick thinks it might actually be the last four years of Best Actor, great performances all…

• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
• Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Sean Penn, Milk

Well done, AMPAS. I counter with a five year spread of Best Actresses in the 1960s that I think is unbelievably satisfying. Which consecutive string of winners thrills you most? We want to hear it in the comments.
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For you I’m strong.
I can’t do without’cha
Howcha magoucha?
Don’t stay too long.
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For this very special (very slapdash) installment of “Signatures,” I’ll be taking a look at the “Signature” moments of the five Best Actress nominees and what came of their glorious Oscar night. Just as the nominees were read gracious speeches by other acting legends, I too offer the equally esteemed comments of a nameless blogger.

Kate Winslet

What a win! Time for a victory lap. And since I just discussed Kate’s “Signatures,” read that fast-paced post instead. I’m pretty sure it was my offer of good spirits and Gatorade that cosmically led to Kate’s Oscar win anyhow. And now that scene from Extras rings of even more truth since her Holocaust-drama performance did finally snag the Oscar. Plus, Kate in a habit further rubs in her victory over Meryl’s Catholic doubts.

Anne Hathaway

Anne’s “Signature” seems to be that of self-abuse. Be it going through hell to get Meryl Streep a copy of Harry Potter, returning from rehab for an angry sister’s wedding/counseling/multicultural event, or falling for a man who’s, well, falling for a man; Anne doesn’t take the easy way out. Lest we forget she also signed on to Bride Wars… Anne’s so hard on herself, but sometimes it’s just beautiful to behold. She won’t take her Oscar loss lightly, but she will take another drink.

Angelina Jolie

Her cinematic life, like her real life, has been plagued by questions of sanity. From her breakthrough stint in a suicide clinic to that time spent with Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina’s had to prove herself to the public time and again. Now that a large part of her life has been destroyed by the media, it’s easier to see the mellow side of Angelina. Maybe it’s just age, but something has given her an extra luminescence in recent years. It probably helps to bask in Brad Pitt for an hour a day.

Melissa Leo

Only familiar to her through work in Frozen River and 21 Grams, one could say Melissa’s “Signature” is a reasonable head in a crisis… the crisis often being potential abandonment by her on-screen husbands. There’s a strength behind her roles as mothers and support systems, for as much as they flail and flounder, there’s a humanity not lost with their bad decisions. So how’d Melissa handle her Oscar loss? I hear she hid Kate’s Oscar in a duffel bag, only to leave it behind while crossing state lines.

Meryl Streep

The living legend, the marvellous cultural icon. Singer, violinist, cook, comedienne, dramatist, amateur Brooklyn nun… Meryl’s resume is a baffling behemoth, and one best saved for a later installment of “Signatures.” But one “Signature” worth discussing is her mastery of accents and dialects. She’s done Polish, German, Yiddish, ABBA, and she’s about to do Julia Child. Unstoppable is Meryl Streep when it comes to the artistic challenge, and fully inhabiting a character that’s foreign to her.