Looking stunned in the general direction of Chicago

I bow to the master. I will never doubt Roger’s Best Picture guesses ever again. Every source in the world was pretty much calling a “Brokeback” win except for one. I am in awe.

Some quick Oscar thoughts followed by the complete list of how I did in my picks.

-Show was well produced as always, but some new annoying trends replaced some of the old annoying trends. The music CONSTANTLY PLAYING during the acceptance speeches was an especially galling touch. What exactly does that accomplish? So when they have to cut the mike it doesn’t seem quite as boorish and insensitive? Sorry, no luck. And the constant video packages celebrating certain genres were less than inspiring, specifically the films spotlighted in the “social awareness” section. A lot of them had a major impact on society, yes. Quite a few of them, however, didn’t, and just seemed spliced in so folks would say, “hey, I know that movie!”

-Jon Stewart survived a rocky start to have a good show. His monologue was kinda off-and-on and the video he played spotlighting homosexual subtext in westerns of the past was just plain not funny, but once he got into the main show his loose, stylish wit served him well and he came up with some great one-liners. A good job, overall, but still can’t touch the masters (Carson and Crystal, for the uninitiated).

-Line of the night goes to George Clooney, accepting his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor: “So, this means I’m not winning Director.”

-Two years after Lord of the Rings’ complete overkill sweep of all 11 of its categories, the mood the past two years has seemed to be more of spreading the love - tonight, four films won three Oscars each instead of one film dominating the number one slot. “Crash,” “Brokeback” and “King Kong,” I have no problems with. But “Memoirs of a Geisha”? You gotta be kidding me, we just had an Oscars where MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA tied for most awards won? Can we go back and reverse Cinematography or something, get this one out of the history books?

-Happy Happy moments of the night: “Wallace and Gromit” winning for Animated Feature, Howard Berger (one of the Evil Dead II guys!) winning his first Oscar for Best Makeup on “Narnia” and Philip Seymour Hoffman winning for “Capote.” Not so Happy Happy moments of the night: “Geisha” winning its third award and the makers of “March of the Penguins” bringing stuffed penguin toys with them to the podium and thanking the Academy in "penguin-speak." Guys, I like your film a lot, don’t make me hate you with cutesy gestures.

-Ironic moment of the night: The woman who won for Animated Short thanking Hollywood for still supporting traditional animation, after having the award presented to her by a couple of computer generated characters.

-Oh, and I thought the “negative campaign ads” they ran were funny, but the joke was made with the first set. The second one was just kinda redundant.

-Bravo to Ang Lee for his Oscar for “Brokeback” - even though I thought Clooney should win, the film was wonderful and powerful, and he’s been one of Hollywood’s best filmmakers for a long time. Enjoy the moment, dude.

-I think Jack summed it up best just seconds after announcing Best Picture, by mouthing a single word: “Wow.” I still am in shock, but a happily delighted shock. Others may feel differently, and I can understand that - “Crash” seems to polarize viewers either positively or negatively more than any film in recent history (with the possible exception of Haggis's previous film, a little something called "Million Dollar Baby"). For those who reacted positively, the film was a powerful statement about racism, and they said the film inspired them to treat others a little better. For those who reacted negatively, the film (among other arguments) dealt in stereotypes, was manipulative, and offered little other than simplistic solutions to social problems. I can respect both of these arguments, because the film does deal in stereotypes, and it is manipulative and simplistic - but none of these, in my opinion, are damning criticisms of it. I believe it deals in stereotypes deliberately, exploring them and turning them on their ear in an effort to examine the role they play in the way people deal with each other. It is manipulative in the way its characters coincidentally interact with each other, but then so are most movies. And if it is simplistic about the issues it discusses, I believe it is so in a hopeful way - by saying that our differences are not as major as we make them out to be, and that the huge issues we think separate us are as trivial as the simple differences these characters have. These are merely the ways I view the film, but I can understand and relate to those who believe differently. But I will also note that, no matter what one thinks of the film, one cannot help but note that it seems to be accomplishing one of its primary tasks, which is simply to stir debate - get us talking about these issues, and how they relate to the film and ourselves. It brings out in the open a topic which as of late has seemed to become a veiled one, to the point where some of the film’s critics have asked why it bothers discussing issues that “everyone but Neo-Nazis agrees on already.” Sadly, racism is still alive and well - and the fact that “Crash” is making us talk about it again (even if it's in the context of criticizing the film) may not only be its primary positive attribute, but the main reason it pulled the upset in the first place.

And now, the complete list of winners and how I did on my picks…not too bad, really. I sucked big time in the major categories (only got 3 of the big 6), but pretty well the rest of the way. My “upset” calls were pretty horrible, though.

Best Picture:
Will Win: “Brokeback Mountain”
Should Win: “Crash”
Did Win: “Crash” (0 for 1)

Best Actress:
Will Win: Reese Witherspoon
Should Win: Reese Witherspoon
Did Win: Reese Witherspoon (1 for 2)

Best Actor:
Will Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Should Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Did Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman (2 for 3)

Best Supporting Actress:
Will Win: Michelle Williams
Should Win: Catherine Keener
Did Win: Rachael Weisz (2 for 4)

Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win: Matt Dillon
Should Win: Matt Dillon
Did Win: George Clooney (2 for 5)

Best Director:
Will Win: Ang Lee
Should Win: George Clooney
Did Win: Ang Lee (3 for 6)

Best Animated Film:
Will Win: “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”
Should Win: “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”
Did Win: “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (4 for 7)

Best Documentary:
Will Win: “March of the Penguins”
Should Win: “Murderball”
Did Win: “March of the Penguins” (5 for 8)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: “Brokeback Mountain”
Should Win: “Brokeback Mountain”
Did Win: “Brokeback Mountain” (6 for 9)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: “Match Point”
Should Win: “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Did Win: “Crash” (6 for 10)

Art Direction:
Will Win: “Memoirs of a Geisha”
Should Win: “King Kong”
Did Win: “Memoirs of a Geisha” (7 for 11)

Cinematography:
Will Win: “Brokeback Mountain”
Should Win: “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Did Win: “Memoirs of a Geisha” (7 for 12)

Costume Design:
Will Win: “Pride & Prejudice”
Should Win: “Pride & Prejudice”
Did Win: “Memoirs of a Geisha” (7 for 13)

Editing:
Will Win: “Crash”
Should Win: “Crash”
Did Win: “Crash” (8 for 14)

Makeup:
Will Win: “The Chronicles of Narnia”
Should Win: “Star Wars: Episode III”
Did Win: “The Chronicles of Narnia” (9 for 15)

Musical Score:
Will Win: “Brokeback Mountain”
Should Win: “Brokeback Mountain”
Did Win: “Brokeback Mountain” (10 for 16)

Original Song:
Will Win: “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” Hustle & Flow
Should Win: Actually, I haven’t heard the other two songs… :)
Did Win: “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” “Hustle & Flow” (11 for 17)

Sound Editing:
Will Win: “King Kong”
Should Win: “King Kong”
Did Win: “King Kong” (12 for 18)

Sound Mixing:
Will Win: “King Kong”
Should Win: “King Kong”
Did Win: “King Kong” (13 for 19)

Visual Effects:
Will Win: “King Kong”
Should Win: “King Kong”
Did Win: “King Kong” (14 for 20)