General Reactions to the Oscar Ceremony

Favorite Moment:
The Pineapple Express-like montage on comedies. Judd Apatow can do no wrong. Funniest moment.

Least Favorite Moment:
Whoever decided it was a good idea for nine different cameras to capture the In Memoriam, all while flying across the stage. I was watching it on a 42" flat screen in HD and I had to squint to figure out who they were saluting. They should issue an apology for that one.

Teary-Eyed Moment:
Heath Ledger's win and teary-eyed celebrities (see below).

Kill Me Now Moment:
That song-and-dance number right in the middle of the show was completely pointless. If I wanted watch an awards show with huge musical numbers right in the middle of them, I would watch the Tonys. It's not a coincidence that it's the lowest rated awards show.

Best Winner:
Kate Winslet. It was about freaking time and she seemed pretty excited. She seemed as grateful as she should have been. On top of that, everyone was excited for her as much as they should have been. I was pulling for tears, but she'll now be Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, so it's a good night.

Best Loser:
(tie) Mickey Rourke and Meryl Streep. It's a pretty decent indication of what people think of you when the winner of the category you're in mentions you and you alone in their acceptance speech. Translation: Mickey Rourke will get good roles and Meryl Streep is the best female actress ever.

Best Speech:
Sean Penn. Might be one of the best speeches when they look back at things. "You Commie, Homo-Loving, Son's of guns." Great line. The entire speech did a great job in summing up his thanking, experience on the film, a small political statement, a statement on his persona and a thanking of Mickey Rourke all rolled into a two minute speech. Very well done.

Worst Speech:
I'm impressed, but I couldn't actually find any recollection of anyone who had a bad speech. I think that's a pretty good thing for a telecast.

Best Eye Candy:
(tie) Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Damn them and their beautiful faces. They are the reason tears came to my eyes. Ledger's family was pretty good about staying stoic, but those damn celebrities.

Best Surprise:
(tie) Anne Hathaway's voice is something else. I wasn't expecting her to sing, much less belt out with the talent she had. Tying with her was the arms of Viola Davis. That girl was only rivaled by Jackman as far as bicep size.

Worst Surprise:
Charlton Heston is dead. I don't remember this. Too bad.

Random Thoughts:
- Hugh Jackman did a pretty good job overall. I'm not blaming the middle of the show song-and-dance on him, because they wanted to try something new. That being said, never do it again.
- Etta James is looking for a hitman right now to kill Beyonce.
- The five winners as presenters is a pretty good concept. Took a little longer than what I expected, but once I got used to it, I liked it.
- In two years or less, Anne Hathaway will be cast in a musical (with a 90% chance of being produced or directed by Bill Condon).
- I'm not sure what the point was of talking about the nominated films for two minutes, then announcing the nominees you just talked about.
- Why did they want to save time by having celebrities announce three or four nominees, then waste a whole bunch of time with a lengthy musical number and seemingly pointless montages?
- Shirley McLaine almost made me cry. She needs to be in more stuff again.
- With Penelope Cruz's win, Woody Allen ties Fred Zinneman by directing six Oscar winners. He is now tied for third behind Elia Kazan (9) and William Wyler (14). The only active directors who are close are Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorcese (5), Jonathan Demme, Sidney Lumet and James L. Brooks(4). Both Gus Van Sant and Steven Daldry got their second, while Christopher Nolan got his first.