Oscar Yawner

Wow, that was a pretty boring Oscar telecast last night. I had a great time at the party I went to, but the show itself left much to be desired. Some random observations:

• James Franco and Anne Hathaway ventured into David Letterman/Whoopi Goldberg territory as all-time worst hosts. Franco in particular was really, really bad. The taped bit at the beginning was good, but once they were live, all downhill.
• I lost the pool because I was the only one to pick Hallie Steinfeld for "True Grit." The little punk lost and so she joins Amy Adams on my list (I lost the pool when I went solo on picking Amy Adams for "Junebug" and she didn't come through).
• The presenter/winner combination of Kirk Douglas and Melissa Leo was pretty weird and at times a little cringe-worthy.
• Our host, Carolyn, won the pool after a long drought (no one ever dominates, we all take turns winning). She also made some excellent shrimp!
• Oh to be like Randy Newman where you can sing so poorly yet reap such a long career.
• I was the only one to successfully pick "God of Love" for best live action short film. I have no idea what significance that holds, but figured I might as well put it out there.
• One of the biggest standing ovations of the night was when Billy Crystal came out as a presenter. Hmm, perhaps the Academy should take note and book him now for 2012?
• Humming any of the nominated songs from last night? Didn't think so.
• Best acceptance speech? Uh, I guess the old dude who won screenplay for The Kings Speech and the Director who thanked his mom.
• Worst acceptance speech? Pretty much everyone else, but Melissa Leo set the bar high with her F-bomb, rambling speech.
• Carolyn kept us informed of Tweets by Roger Ebert, Bill Maher, and others. These were as entertaining as anything on the show.
• They no longer allow the audience to clap during the dead people montage. So now, you no longer here the loud applause for the big movie star followed by a few random claps for the the costume designer from "Gigi."
• Why do the hosts announce someone to the stage, and then this person's sole reason for being there is to announce someone else to the stage to do the actual presentation?
• Cheesy as it often was, sometimes I miss the Oscar telecasts of old, complete with Rob Lowe and Snow White, endless clips, big production numbers, and Jack Nicholson grinning from the front row.