Quick Oscar thoughts

So, was I the only person who actually enjoyed the ceremony? From a quick scan of the blogosphere, I see tons of bile, but not much appreciation. Me, even though I'm still missed about the nominations themselves, I enjoyed the actual event. Jackman was damned funny in his opening number, and delivered some witty lines throughout the night. I loved the shots that he (as well as Smith) took at the Academy for dissing Dark Knight.

The second musical number might not have been needed, but it was still well-done, and fun. And the musical montage of the three best-song nominees worked quite well.

Will Smith, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black were all funny during their segments, too. The Judd Apatow short film wasn't bad, but was unnecessary.

The individual presentations of acting nominations helped the show run a half hour overtime, of course, but they added a wonderful touch. That said, anyone know why they played the theme to The Magnificent Seven when the Best Actor nominators came out? Mind you, it's one of the best movie themes of all time, but I didn't see how it connected to them.

Queen Latifah's singing during the memorial segment was touching.

The speeches -- the one thing out of the hands of the folks putting the show together -- were also great. Sean Penn nailed it with his line about the shame those who voted for Prop 8 should feel (although he also gets the Hilary Swank award for failing to thank his wife). Kate Winslet somehow managed to seem genuinely surprised that she won, and was clearly touched (and I loved her shout-out to her dad). And seeing Ledger's family there to pick up the award was sweet. Pretty much every speech was filled with a sense of genuine and gratitude.

My only complaints (off the top of my head):

1. Letting Patrick McGoohan join Brad Renfro and Adrienne Shelley in the "dead, but not important for us to honor" category.

2. Letting a drunken cameraman film the memorial segment in the first place, thus not even showing close-ups of some of the people (making the names unreadable). At least, I'm assuming that's what happened.

3. Was Jessica Biel as boring when she hosted the Technical Awards Dinner as she was when she talked about it? Couldn't they have found someone who with a little more personality (like her boyfriend? Or a rock?)?

The sort of celebrity concept album I can get behind

Hoggin' All the Covers is an album by Band From TV. Their CD/DVD album features Hugh Laurie, Greg Grunberg, Jamie Denton, Bonnie Somerville, and others covering all sorts of classics, which doesn't make it too different from other celebrity albums. Fortunately, the music is at least half-decent, and all of the proceeds go to assorted charities, including the Epilepsy Foundation and Save the children. So, good music, good cause. And House. What more could you want?

Oh, there's also a contest to win a signed Gibson Guitar from the band.

Making bacon even healthier!

Ganked from coffeehouse, here's Chicken-fried Bacon. I'm not convinced I need this -- one of the many wonderful things about bacon is that it's self-frying. That said, I'd certainly try a piece if it were handed to me.

Wind Tunnel Dreams, available for pre-order

The Wind Tunnel Dreams collection is finally available for pre-order! Yay!

Dollhouse casting spoiler that makes me *squee*

According to Watch With Kristin, Alpha will be played by ( Read more... )