TNMC

I feel obligated to write something about the Oscars, even though it was a few days ago and we had a live chat in which I said pretty much everything I thought about it already.  So here's a quick wrap up.  It was a pretty good show.  Hugh Jackman made a fine host.  I suspect those song and dance numbers play a lot better at the theater than on TV but he did them very well.  I liked the stage set up a lot.  It made the whole thing seem a bit more intimate.  There were fewer montages than in previous years, which was good.  The performances for best score and original song were nicely truncated.  Usually those segments take way too much time.  I wasn't that crazy about the presentation of the acting awards.  Sure, it's nice to see all those great actors together but it took too much time and started to feel like they were handing out Nobel prizes instead of Oscars.  It was too self important.   But over all I give them credit for a good job over hauling the show.

As for the awards themselves, my predictions were pretty shaky.  My instincts are a little more accurate than my tastes but not by a lot.  I was disappointed that Mickey Rourke didn't win best actor.  Don't take that as any sort of slight on Sean Penn, who was phenomenal in Milk.  I'm not complaining that he won, he deserved it.  I was just rooting for Rourke because it made such a good story.  I was genuinely startled that WALL-E didn't win more awards, particularly the sound awards.  And I was genuinely annoyed that Werner Herzog didn't win best feature documentary for Encounters at the End of the World.  But life goes on.

I want to thank everyone who showed up for the live chat.  It was a good time that is always better the more people get involved.