[Babette]

Phew! Took a while to catch up on this thread and it will probably be killed by now, but here's my reactions.

I only saw a handful of the full length films (Pan, Dreamgirls, Sunshine, Happyness, Cars, Illusionist) this year so I could not accurately judge any category except the shorts. I was so happy when Poet won and today had to defend what people described as rough animation. Beautiful, beautiful movie! I enjoyed WestBank but thought the joke was too dragged out. It was more of a Hot Shots scene. My vote was for Éramos Pocos (grandma!).

I forget now who presented, but the shock when Pan's Labrynth did not win was priceless. She almost said it (the wrong name) without reading the card, and had to catch herself once the actual words processed. (who will be the first LoTr to tell me her name?) I am sad it was not Pan.

I thought Ellen worked, and everyone really seemed to enjoy her and join in on the jokes. It was fun. Not super-entertaining but fun. Myspace photo, script passing, snakes on a plane, I wouldn't want to follow that, America votes for Al v. Jennifer. Considering I was on only 4 hours of sleep and a full day of NASCAR, I thought it was fun.

I love Jennifer Hudson, she is beautiful and talented. I did not see any other nominees' performances so I won't say she shouldn't have won. That said, I feel like she won an acting award for singing. That is all.

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I found it very suspicious that Copolla, Lucas and Spielberg just happened to be presenting the Best Director Oscar this year. Methinks they knew something the rest of us didn't. I found it fishy. Yes, Marty was due but I found it very interesting. Spielberg has been a presenter often, but not Copolla or Lucas.

It seems a lot of awards were presented by people associated with the winners. I don't remember hearing the rules or seeing the Arthur Anderson guys handcuffed to the envelope briefcase - is it still super-secret until opened on live TV? It felt a little more like the MTV or People's Choice awards where you could guess the winners based on who's attending/presenting.

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Kidman looked great in red but I found the dress to be unfortunante. It really distracted from her beauty. (That and Daniel Craig )

The gowns were so classy and gorgeous. I can think of only one I did not love (Kidman - the giant red cone on her shoulder was yucky, but the rest of her look was stunning) Many cute men in tuxes, but I kept asking "why is Mark Wahlburg wearing a shirt?" Seriously, he doesn't need one! I loved that they kept showing Scorcese because that meant I got another glimpse of Marky. (Leo doesn't really do it for me.)

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

And reading the complaints about acceptance speeches I am seeing today, the dominant theme is too much thanking of people we've never heard of.

Overall, I found the show politically tame. But that's to be expected when the only unscripted event seems to have been Will Smith's kid screwing up his line.

For some of them I think that is the only time they have to publically thank people important to them, people who supported them and got them to where they are. I think it is sweet. I hate when they list the whole cast and crew. We can read their names in the movie credits!

Does Jaden Christopher Syre Smith know how to read yet? It seemed like he couldn't read the card. How cute were the two shorts delivering the awards for the two shorts

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I thought Taxi Driver and Goodfellas were way better than Rocky and Dances With Wolves.

I agree. But, speaking of Dances with Wolves...I did get to spend Oscar morning with Oscar winner Kevin Costner. We were just discussing his body of work at dinner Saturday. I had the pleasure surprise of hearing his band, The Kevin Costner Band, at NASCAR! Sammy Hagar was there too (yes he sang I Can't Drive 55). Brian McKnight sang the National Anthem as F18s flew overhead. Costner had the honor of saying "Gentlemen, start your engines". I forget now who waved the green flag - someone else we'd all know (It was Gov. Ah-nahold the last time I went) A star-studded day indeed.

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

So what I really want to know is how these Academy Awards were made "carbon neutral" or whatever the buzzword was. Did the stars carpool in electric vehicles? Did they all come in through the closed redline station? Were those spotlights all compact fluorescents? Ot did they just plant a bunch of trees somewhere?

Thinking of the pageantry, the closed metro station and streets, all that Tule - how did they pull it off, or even calculate it. I find the claim hard to swallow as much as I may support the cause.

Ditto! Were the envelopes printed green? The carpets woven green? The golden men caste green? How could the entire show be green!? Besides, the NASCAR event only 50 miles away cancelled out ANY efforts OSCAR made to help our environment.

Now it is time to catch up on my sleep from the weekend!