Last Night at the Oscars 

It was a mostly uninspired night at the Oscars. Perhaps it had something to do with the new staging. Instead of having the presenters walk out on stage, many were filmed in the audience. It was like something out of "Lets Make a Deal." The winners walked up to a microphone-stand in the aisles, where they made their acceptance speeches. This definitely sped up the proceedings but, as Chris Rock said, what’s next, "the drive-thru Oscars, get your statue, your McFlurry and keep going."

There were a few high points and one or two surprises. Clint Eastwood winning over Martin Scorcese elicited major gasps in this apartment. Let’s not get started on that one. We were, however, pleased to see Morgan Freeman get his.

Robin Williams’ zany imitation of Marlon Brando as Bugs Bunny was probably the funniest bit of the night. The best acceptance speech belonged to the composer of the song from the "Motorcycle Diaries" who sang in Spanish into the mike.

The best moment of moral indignation was Sean Penn’s pissed off rebuttal to Chris Rock’s joke about Jude Law.

There were some moving moments: Sidney Lumet thanked "the movies" for his Lifetime Achievement Award, and listed a wonderfully eclectic group of inspiring filmmakers, including Jean Vigo. Nice cutaways to his daughters holding hands in the audience crying. 

Robert Richardson, who won for best cinematography for "The Aviator" dispensed with the usual thanks and dedicated his Oscar to "my mother whose been in the hospital for 45 day This is for her caregivers and friends who have been watching over her."   What a nice son.

We were all relieved when Hilary Swank thanked her husband Chad. And we kvelled over Jaime Foxx’s multi-layered acceptance speech, which included a Ray Charles moment, a nod to his young daughter who told him "Don’t worry Dad even if you don’t win you’re still good." And a choked-up mention of his grandmother, who he now speaks to in his dreams. "I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight because we’ve got a lot to talk about. I love you." Nice.

I missed most of Chris Rock’s introduction doing dinner dishes in the kitchen, but his final line was a pitch perfect send off. "Good night, Brooklyn," he said, and off we went to our bedrooms. The new high-speed Oscars were over before mid-night and boy were we tired.

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