Oscar-gazing

-Observations from the red carpet: J.Lo has quite an interesting outfit, Ryan Seacrest is pretty good as host (although he flashes his temper at his co-hosts who are indeed total imbeciles), Kate Winslett is genuinely cool, a lot of Hollywood stars have no idea how shallow they are, adapting football telestrator technology to Oscar fashion works; and Penelope Cruz is My Fair Lady incarnate.

-The clip of past foreign language film winners is about as affecting a short film as I can remember the Oscars ever showing. Maybe in the 21st century it'll truly become a celebration of the best in world cinema.

-Glad Jennifer Hudson won; wish people would stop thinking American Idol's audience made a mistake not voting for her--most of them didn't watch the show then, so have no idea what they're talking about. It's like going after Michael Jordan's high school coach for not starting him--he simply wasn't ready yet (and Hollywood shouldn't fool itself into thinking the caliber of an Idol winner is so far below that of an Oscar winner--heck, not when the likes of Cuba Gooding Jr. has a gold statue).

-Nice to hear Mandarin again from the stage, as Ruby Yang wins for The Blood of Yingzhou District.

-I'll bet somewhere Bill Clinton can't believe between the two of them, it's Al Gore who's now officially Hollywood royalty. I no longer think, incidentally, that Gore will run for president this year. He looks like a Baldwin brother at this point; you've got to be fit to run (no joke).

-Am now 10-5 in my Oscar pool.

-Watching Ennio Morricone win his honorary Oscar--if Hollywood wasn't so insular he'd have long ago won for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (or its two sister films); or Once Upon a Time in the West--makes me think not all Oscars are created equal. His caps a long, clearly heartfelt career; just how he holds the Oscar, dispalying it for the crowd, you can tell how very much it means to him. It's interesting watching Clint Eastwood play translator; makes me think about what an unexepected person he is.

-Whoah, Jack with a shaved head could be the poster child for AARP.

-I've always liked Ellen DeGeneres, I'm enjoying her as laid-back yet earnest host so far.

-J.Lo is headed toward Elizabeth Taylor territory, as she introduces the Dreamgirls cast doing some of their songs. Jennifer Hudson shows how much of a difference a little confidence can make, who'd have believed she'd look so comfortable on the world's biggest (for now) stage. Whoa, Beyonce appears out of a literal hole in the stage; it's like Venus appearing out of the sea--nothing beats a live performance, not even at the Oscars.

-In what's got to be one of the nuttiest co-host pairings, Queen Latifa and John Travolta come out and crack wise before announcing an upset in Original Song, I Need to Wake Up, by Melissa Ethridge (I guess the three songs from Dreamgirls split the votes, or else the Academy really is as white and out-of-touch as feared). She thanks her wife--that's gotta be an Oscars first, right? And another heartfelt thanks for Al Gore. Man, centuries from now historians might point to those few hundred voters in Florida as the most important of all time, as much because of the environmental damage the last 6 years as the international relations damage.

-Will Smith tells us the common thread in American cinema is there is no common thread, it's all over the place. It's true of us in every field, actually. Then follows an interesting collection of clips, with the common theme of 'America', which means it's about everything. Followed by--because in Hollywood craft has been replaced by unwitting irony--Kate Winslett. She names The Departed the winner for film editing, which means it'll win best picture/best director I'm guessing. It's a very unHollywood winner, Thelma Schoonmaker; looks like an older woman from any town in America, kindof cool.

-Jodie Foster, with her wonderful only in America accent, introduces the annual clip of Hollywood people who have died. This is always one of the best-made parts of the telecats; Glenn Ford, Don Knotts, Joe Barbera, June Allyson, Maureen Stapleton, Jack Palance, Robert Altman among others....

-Ellen comes back and does a funny bit pretending the show is over, and within schedule. Ah, time for the big four. First, leading actress--all of whom are people I like; Cruz, Dench, Mirren, Streep, Winslett. Mirren, of course, wins. It'd be great if someone did a movie with all five. She's, of course, appropriately British in her remarks; even to her (slightly awkward) toast to the Queen. In the Colonies, no less, so there's no roar of hear, hear from the crowd.

-Back with Ellen vaccuuming up in the front row; heh heh. Out comes a nearly-unrecognizable Reese Witherspoon with long hair. Leo, who's one of my favorite actors--even more so with his environmental activism; Ryan Goslin, who I know nothing about; Peter O'Toole, who's literally from a different era--Lawrence of Arabia was made in another Hollywood; Will Smith who I've also liked; and Forest Whitaker, who I also like, and of course wins. Wow--what a great moment for him. He reads touchingly from notes. He gives such a heartfelt speech about how far he's come that has many of the audience in tears. This is a real, serious moment for him; no flippancy, just absolute sincerity, including when he thanks the people of Uganda, his family and his ancestors.

-Some real heavyweights--Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg next, to give the Oscar for directing, which means Marty must win. Wow, what talent; they do a funny bit spotlighting Lucas never having won. Scorsese, of course, wins; the crowd goes wild, he's totally animated, and you know this is one of those moments they'll be replaying for years. It's so nice they got his friends up on stage with him; gosh, to be a fly on their wall tonight. He appopriately thanks Andy Lau's original Hong Kong film (which is better in my opinion, this isn't one of his best films); what a class guy, you wish Hollywood could all be like him.

-Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, with him playing his usual alpha male role, to present best film. And, of course, The Departed gets the Oscar. Really--it wasn't that great of a film; Marty watches, oddly, from backstage as some tone deaf British producer guy accepts and drones on, he really should just hand his time to him. What a strangely deflating end to the evening.

-So it ends, 17 minutes late. I finish 16-8 in my Oscar pool, having picked 5 of the 6 major awards correctly (missed on best supporting actor). I liked Ellen, and am left hopeful that Hollywood still has people who know how to do things properly.

The great movies once upon a time could be counted on be appopriate--things were subtle when they needed to be, epic when called for; the right words in the right places by the right people.

Now, a lot of people are making it up as they go; and it shows. We need more Leos, Kates, Whitakers, Hudsons--and Martys, even in an off year.