My Thoughts While Watching the Oscars

Here are my running thoughts while watching the Oscars ceremony tonight.

- When Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin came out for the opening monologue, I had to look it up to see if either one of them ever had an Oscar nomination or win (for the record: Baldwin - 1 nomination, Martin - zero nominations). Then I wondered of all Oscar hosts ever, how many have actually won an Oscar? I'll get back to you on that one.

- I loved the John Hughes tribute. As a big fan of his movies, it was amazing to see how many great movies he has been involved with, as well as all the big name actors/actresses he has worked with. Not only that, but how many of those actors/actresses he worked with when they were young. So many of them got their start working under his guidance.

- I actually heard my name during the Oscars. Geoffrey Fisher, winner for best adapted screenplay for Precious thanked his brothers, one of whom was named Todd.

- Is it just me or is there an annoying crackling sound in the background when presenters and winners are talking on stage? At first I thought it was part of the presentation, thinking they were doing the sound editing category or something. And its getting worse as the ceremony goes on.

- Back to my opening point, there have been 70 people who have hosted the Oscars. 36 have received an Oscar nomination, 21 have won an Oscar. Laurence Olivier has the most nominations with 10, followed by Jack Lemmon with 7. Frank Capra has the most Oscars with 3, all for directing. Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Micheal Caine, Hellen Hayes and Fredric March are all former hosts who have won 2 Oscars. And yes, I was actually bored enough to look all that up (thank you IMDB)

- How come the winner for Best Costumer Design is wearing such an UGLY dress? How ironic is that.

- The first two times The Hurt Locker and Avatar were nominated in the same category, The Hurt Locker won both times in sound categories. Would this be a sign of things to come for the bigger awards?

- Is it just me, or does Demi Moore look about half her real age? Amazing. She sure doesn't look like the same person who played in the movie One Crazy Summer.

- I want to say how corny the whole dancing thing was, but I can't. That was really cool. Some of those people were amazing. I think I pulled a muscle just watching them.

- I like the way they do the Lead Actor/Actress intros now. I think last year was the first time they did it - but having other actors/actresses who worked with the nominee at some point in their career is pretty cool. Gives it more of a personal touch. Of the recent changes they've been making with the Oscars ceremony, I hope this one stays around.

- I can't believe "The Dude" Lebowski just won an Oscar. Wonder if he'll go celebrate with a White Russian and a round of bowling.

- Did they really have Barbara Streisand give out the Oscar for Best Director? Where's the connection there? Unless they knew the winner and wanted a female to present to the first ever female director to win an Oscar. Well deserved too, what a great movie.

- How anti-climactic was the Best Picture presentation? I know they did a thingy on the 10 nominees throughout the night, and they were pressed for time, but would it have hurt to read through the nominees before the presentation? It looked like Tom Hanks had a plane to catch when he came out and just said boom, here's your winner, thanks for coming. Build up the drama at least a little bit.

- Overall score on my predictions: 13-11 Not bad, and I even won all the big ones - each of the four acting categories, best director and best picture and best original screenplay. Oh, and I even got the ever important Best Costume Design category.