Now that I have recovered from the After Party... Oscars in Review...

It was a startling night at the Oscars with no clear cut winner... 3 different movies had 3 Oscars... Hell, if King Kong could have taken one more technical Oscar... it would have had the most without garnering even a nomination in the Major categories...

The big shock of the night was anything beating out Brokeback Mountain... The only shock for me was that it was Crash that did it! Crash was not a great movie... and in any other year... it would have been lost in the crowd. However... it did win. I think the split was obvious..... hopefully this year the Oscar voters will nominate some movie that people actually WATCHED during the year.

As for the show itself... it was probably the worst produced Oscar broadcast ever. The stage was cheesy, the clips were shown with no subtext or storyline for doing so, and the host was mediocre.
As per request... I am gonna talk a little about Jon Stewart.... Let me just say, I love Jon Stewart. The Daily Show is one of the most fun shows on Television and he is tremendous as the host. However...... His opening monologue simply sucked ass. I hate when they try and make fun of the stars at the start. It is pretty tired. Creativity would be nice, and Jon showed a lack of what makes him so good every night. It was almost like he was afraid to attack. I personally was looking forward to him giving fake Oscar News all night... a little take on his show... Tabloid fodderish. But.. it was mostly Jon Stewart trying to be Billy Crystal.... and the world is SICK TO DEATH of Billy Crystal and an imitation we simply don't need.

Barbara Walter's special was great this year... I have NO idea why they would move it from the front of the Oscar Broadcast to the Wednesday before... It was in the perfect spot... breaking up the Red Carpet interview parade with some real in depth interviews made the production have more of a professional feel. I really missed it being directly before.

Oscar Preview!

Well... I gave up my quest... I didn't see Good Night and Good Luck(a friend of mine did and said if I needed sleep.. it would be good) OR Munich. BUT... I did see Walk The Line... Today in fact. Walk The Line should have been nominated ahead of Crash. It was a much better movie because it had a heart and a soul. The music, the triumphs, the tragedy... it all adds up to a truly wonderful film. However... Here is my alternate Top 5 movies of 2005.

1) Batman Begins -- Nothing came in the vicinity of this great film. It is fantastic in every aspect and ignored because... well it is a Batman movie!

2) Wedding Crashers -- Any movie which which I have watched more than 5 times before the Oscars has to be in my top 5. Ignored because it is a comedy... but the acting is flawless, the dialogue extremely creative and the movie is TRULY HILARIOUS.

3) Capote -- This should win tonight, if the Academy Voters have any sense.

4) Walk The Line -- I am kinda taken aback at how damn good the acting and directing in this movie is. I wanted to push the Play Movie Again button on the DVD!

5) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- Although imperfect, it still a great film. It is the best in the series so far... and the most popular movie of 2005(highest Box Office).

A few words about the show tonight... Jon Stewart will be a terrific host. He has the perfect demeanor and he is quick on his feet. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix should tie for Best Actor...I truly would hate to try and pick between them. They were both incredible!
Best Director should go to Steven Speilberg... I haven't seen the movie... but I don't need to. Any year in which he makes a movie, he deserves to win Best Director. I will be watching Munich as soon as it is on at a theatre within 50 miles or on DVD.

and lastly... Best Animated Feature... Easy.. The Corpse Bride is the best one by a mile and a half. My KIDS fell asleep during the other nominees.... THAT IS BAD!