With the end of the writer’s strike, which cost the LA economy 2.5 billion dollars and the average viewer many hours of primetime television, Hollywood will celebrate a “return to normalcy” with its crowning event of the year: the Academy Awards.

Hosted by William and Mary Alumus Jon Stewart, the host of the cable TV parity news show “The Daily Show,” and my personal favorite. Stewart only had 8 days to work with his writers, whom he brought from "The Daily Show," to prepare jokes for on of the most demanding stand-up jobs in the business.

Stewart shared with NY Times reporter Bill Carter his thoughts on how his rather dry comedic style will fit in with the glitz and glamor of the Oscars:

“The thing I always have to fight is I have a tendency to undercut. It’s the comedy of deflation in large amount. That doesn’t necessarily work on the greatest night of their lives. There is a strong tension between respecting these people and somehow deflating them while standing in that room. I like that. I find that tension interesting.”

The big movies of the moment are: There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Atonement, and Juno. Juno was the only film nominated for best picture to reach 100 million in the box office.

Indeed, this year it is the black horse nominees that bring a gust of fresh air into the established and rather musty figures that attend the Academy.

Nominations like Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild), Ellen Page (Juno), Ruby Dee (American Gangster), and 13 year old Saoirse Ronan (Atonement).

My personal favorite of the year, "Once" the independent film starring singer-songwriters Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova offers one of the most hauntingly beautiful and starkly honest work of the year. The song "Falling Slowly" was nominated from its inspired soundtrack.

Nominated for best animated film, Persepolis chronicles the fall of the Shah in the eyes of a young Iranian girl in the haunting style of a black and white comic novel.

Because of the writers strike, the traditional Oscar buzz has taken a back seat to whether or not the Academy Awards will even occur. Fortunately, the stars will be hitting the red carpet this Sunday night and every confirmed movie buff like myself will once again be in her element.