When I started The Brians, my yearly version of the Academy Awards, I didn’t intend for one person to dominate them so thoroughly. I don’t want them to turn into a personal tribute. Will Ferrell just had made it that way.

I can usually tell when an award is basically off the market. I thoroughly got that feeling while watching “Stepbrothers” the other night. I hadn’t heard any bad reviews of the film, but I had heard it was uneven in some spots.

That’s kind of true, but the absolute hilarity makes up for any lulls in the laughs. The only thing which makes me think that Ferrell might not win his fourth Brian for Best Actor is the performance of John C. Reilly. The movie works so well because Ferrell had such a great foil.

As you watch their antics, you can see how much fun it would be to live that kind of life.  I love my wife and daughter, but if I could be a 40-year-old child around the clock, I’d be so happy. Don’t we all wish our biggest worries were whether someone touched our drum set?

Richard Jenkins certainly threw his hat in the ring as Best Supporting Actor with his performance as Dale’s father. Mary Steenburgen filled the most important criteria for Best Supporting Actress by looking very nice for the duration of the film.

Even with four months left in the year, “Stepbrothers” has made the Best Picture race very interesting. The other films eligible are “Juno,” “Semi-Pro,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and “21.”