Academy Awards Pretty Predictable

Last night’s Academy Award Ceremony was fairly predictable, but in the end I would have to give it an overall grade of B-plus. Ellen Degeneres played it pretty safe as the master of ceremonies, but at least she didn’t pull a Letterman. Interviewing the nominees was fun and Degeneres took a laidback, casual approach to the whole affair, which I think came off well. It’s a tough gig and Ellen stepped up. Some of the evening’s major highlights included Forest Whitaker’s acceptance speech while his wife cried, Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly’s song and dance number, the amazing rolling shadow-dancing, Martin Scorsese finally winning, and the fact that Pixar lost for “Cars”, which I thought was mediocre at best. The biggest surprise was when Eddie Murphy lost to Alan Arkin, but it really shouldn’t have been that shocking. The Academy rarely gives statues to comedians, as a rule. The fact that The Departed got the Best Picture nod over Babel was pleasing as well. Babel was a good movie, but there was no way it should have won. I felt like it was basically an art film and a little too depressing and disjointed to be voted the best. In reality, Little Miss Sunshine should have won, but a little comedy without any big names in it was too much of an underdog and was fighting an uphill battle. Honoring Scorsese was essentially a make-up call for all the years that he should have won. Good Fellas, Raging Bull and Casino are all better than The Departed, but who knows how many more films Martin has in his arsenal, so to give it to him now was a good choice. Jennifer Hudson should have won for Dreamgirls, even though it’s a musical and didn’t break any new cinematic ground. Helen Mirren was brilliant in The Queen, so that was a no-brainer. One question: Can’t the Academy afford a larger podium? A couple of the winners, including Alan Arkin, had to actually set their Oscars on the floor next to them while they gave their speeches – how awkward is that? Other notable things that happened last night include:

-Peter O’Toole’s expression when he realized that he lost. The man looked crushed!

-Gwyneth Paltrow’s incredible dress made her look like a tasty peach parfait. I rarely get into the best-and-worst dressed game -- I leave that to the very annoying Joan Rivers -- but Paltrow looked stunning and that dress was awesome. Bad clothing decisions – Nicole Kidman with the giant bow and Anne Hathaway’s gown that made her look like a server at Dairy Queen.
-Jennifer Hudson almost falling out of her dress during the “Dreamgirls” song performance. She was bouncing around so much I got dizzy. And if Beyonce isn’t the hottest woman on the planet, than who is?

-Victories for Pan’s Labyrinth for Best Cinematography and Best Makeup. This amazing deserved everything it got and more, in my opinion.

-Why is J-Lo at all these award ceremonies? And why is she even considered an actress? Lopez could benefit by taking acting lessons from Ashton Kutcher.

-The absence of Borat was a bummer. The story behind his no-show is that Sacha Baron Cohen was asked to appear as himself and refused. Why not let the guy appear as the character that made the most popular comedy of the year?

-An after party note: The leftover food from the Oscar bash is going to be served to a homeless shelter today for lunch. Imagine being homeless and dining on Wolfgang Puck’s salmon with caviar, gold-dusted chocolate-dusted Oscar statues and imported French truffles. All washed down with a half-pint of Thunderbird wine.