The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

So, how 'bout them Oscars?

I have to be honest, in the last few years I've found the Academy Awards ceremony to be incredibly boring, with few real surprises, and this year was no exception. However, it is always fun to see the celebrities all dolled up and see if any of the actual noteworthy films that were made in the last year got honored. So let's get to it.

Best-dressed people of the evening, in no particular order:
Amy Adams
Ludacris (that's right)
Keira Knightley
Queen Latifah
Michelle Williams
Eric Bana
Salma Hayak
Will Smith
Uma Thurman
Meryl Streep
Reese Witherspoon (you recovered from the SAG awards nicely)
George Clooney
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jennifer Lopez (and I don't even like her!!)
Catherine Keener

The Blah: (Meaning they weren't necessarily bad, but they played it a little too safe)
Sandra Bullock
Nicole Kidman
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Garner
Hilary Swank

The Bad:
Bahar Soomekh
Ziyi Zhang

The Undecided: (meaning, I'm undecided whether I like these dresses or viciously despise them)
Felicity Huffman
Charlize Theron (The dress was fine, really, but that was a big-ass bow).

As for the ceremony itself, I found it incredibly boring. Jon Stewart was all right... nothing really all that special. I'm hearing buzz already that he was a disappointment, which most likely means we won't see him again next year. I did enjoy him pointing out that Three 6 Mafia have one Oscar to speak of, while Martin Scorsese has none.

I was happy that Philip Seymour Hoffman won, albeit not surprisingly. The man is a master of his craft, and yes, I know how cheesy that sounds. But really, how many people can you say that about anymore? To be an actor doesn't mean what it used to, and that's the truth. Now it's just a matter of how good you look, moreso than how well you can act. Otherwise, how can you explain Heather Graham?

I was also happy that Reese Witherspoon won, but again, no surprises there. She's cute, though.

I loved Will Ferrell and Steve Carell's presentation for Best Make-up. The fake eyelashes on Steve Carell was brilliant. The other presentation I really enjoyed was Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin's presentation of the honorary Oscar to Robert Altman. Those ladies can really work the room.

Oh, and I'm sure the Fug Girls are waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of me on this, but Joaquin Phoenix is officially on Bloat Watch. Wow.

The one and only surprise of the night was "Crash" winning for Best Picture -- I was sure that "Brokeback Mountain" had that one locked up. So it was nice that they decided to shake something up.

And now it's time for me to go to bed. Good night, and good luck.