Final Notes on the Oscars

The reviews have been rather mixed on the show itself. I, and everyone at the Oscar party I attended, thought it was pretty lethargic. Just wasn't a whole lot of energy to the evening, both onstage and coming from the crowd. The beginning was weak, particularly in light of Billy Crystal's masterful openings from a few years back. The backlit acrobats were okay at first, but it kind of got old after a while. The stuff going on backstage was also very inane, not sure what all that was about.

Ellen DeGeneres wasn't bad, but she wasn't all that great. Very different style of hosting. Pretty low key, didn't really draw attention to herself. Much better than Whoopie Goldberg and probably more "safe" than Chris Rock or Jon Stewart. There wasn't a single Bush joke all night and I'm wondering if Hillary Clinton appreciated the Al Gore fawning that took place. My vote is for Will Ferrell or Jerry Seinfeld to host.

The awards were pretty spread out. Lots of different movies were honored. The big surprise was Eddie Murphy losing to Alan Arkin, although that was a pleasant surprise. You have to wonder what America was thinking when they voted out Jennifer Hudson from American Idol a few years ago. She basically upstaged Beyonce during their medley, although she was teetering on the edge of a wardrobe malfunction.

With just the Best Picture category left, I was tied with one other individual for the pool we all entered. She picked "Babel" and I picked "The Departed" so I walked away with a whopping $40.00. Actually, what made it happen was that I was the only one who picked, "The Blood of Yingzhou District" for Best Documentary Short. Yeah, I know, I'm brilliant. First time in 6 years I won the pool. This will fund my upcoming table tennis tournament.