Oscars 2013 LIVE Online: Updates On Winners, Nominees, and Ben Affleck

Every year, we swear we won't care. Awards shows are dumb. Three Six Mafia had an Oscar before Martin Scorsese did. The word "merit" feels like blasphemy to utter in the same sentence as "Academy Award." 

But here we are. Counting the days until Sunday. Until that magical day when we see red carpet snafus, terrible speeches, and hosts inarguably high on drugs. Maybe we can see all of that in the same night. Oh, and there will be some awards handed out, too. 

The field this year is strong. It's even got the guy from Gigli in it! And a category entirely full of people who have already won Oscars. So, maybe not quite as strong a year as we thought. 

A few things could change this. A non-Lincoln movie could win Best Picture. Quvenzhané Wallis could win Best Actress. Seth MacFarlane could refrain from devolving into Family Guy voices. The South Park guys could show up again. 

I don't see all of that happening. But it is a guarantee that something crazy will happen. And that's why we watch. There will be an upset. There will be a fashion snafu. There will be tears. There will be bad jokes. There will be blood. Wait, that was a few years ago. Never mind.