Is that an Oscar in your pocket...?

Overall, I was pleased with the Oscars. Sure "Crash" looks somewhat predictable and the NY Times review was pretty unforgiving, but maybe it's better than "Brokeback Mountain" ... I don't know. "The Constant Gardener" still tops my list, so I didn't really care what won. The peripherals are what the Oscars are all about:

- It looked like Keira Knightley was irritated and bored all night, which is odd since she was sitting next to Jack. Maybe she doesn't get his brand of humour.
- The Lily Tomlin/Meryl Streep tribute to Robert Altman was fantastic.
- The "Crash" song interpretive dance was even better.
- Maybe they're saving the recent departed for next year's Oscar roll-call, but it seemed really short this year. Was someone missing? I thought for sure Hollywood had knocked off more stars than that.
- Best dress: Reese Witherspoon (although it looked like it weighed a ton). Worst: My God! Felicity Huffman ... what in the world made her choose that thing? Remember, in the 80's, those black bathing suits that looked like that? And at the end of the day you ended up with this sunburned V down the middle?
- Best acceptance speech: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. I'm not sure what I liked better: his jeans, cowboy boots and askew clip-on tie or her heavy, depressed sighing into the microphone. You felt kind of bad for her, like she didn't really want the award and was being forced to take it. "Thank you for this honor, but it's the worst night of my over-long, pathetic life. An Oscar [sigh]. Where will I put it and what happens when it's dusty? [heavier sigh] This is the worst thing that could have happened to me. Why? Why?"