Ooooh, Oscar topic! Dream come true. :) Warning: This post contains LOTS of spoilers, YMMV's and characters. >1. Sydney Poitier: Class in a tuxedo. Discuss. There's nothing to discuss. He's perfect. His speech was perfect. Period. >2. Denzel. First? Rrowr! Second? Denzel deserved to win the award a long time ago, so yes, I think it was more of a recognition for his previous work than for his performance in Training Day. I wish they would have given a second award to Tom Wilkinson, though. His performance was amazing. Russell Crowe was fantastic, too. It's a shame that he has a personality and people in the Academy and the press usually like their actors nice and good. You know, Tom Hanks style. Nothing against Mr. Hanks, but you know what I mean. And where was Will Smith when they were announcing this category? Peeing? Okay, babbling now. >3. Halle Berry. I haven't seen Monster's Ball yet becasue it hasn't arrived here, but hell, if she won, she must have been good. I was glad to see true emotion on the podium -- at one point I thought somebody was gonna call 911. She NEVER expected to win, and that made it sweeter. I was crying along with her at the beginning, but I think her speech was way too long. LOL. And she did forgot to thank Billy Bob. Big no-no. Because you see, Billy Bob rocks. :) >4. Whoopi. Yes? No? I love Whoopi. She's no Billy Cristal, but I loved her despite the fact she was somehow... tamed. Best line: "Oh, look, the Smith family is sitting all together: Will, Jada and Maggie!" LOL. >5. The show itself I loved this ceremony because everything was said through a movie. And the fact that the presenters tried to explain what every category was about was cute. I loved the Cirque du Soleil, but I think John Williams' movie themes remix was the best thing of the whole night. Brilliant. >6. Randy Newman!!!!! Come on, we all know the Best Song was Enya's (and of course I was rooting for everything LOTR-related), but thought Sting (YUMMEH!) was going to win. John Goodman was too cute for words. :p And Newman... man, finally! His speech was priceless. "I don't want your pity." LOL. >7. Biggest surprise that you liked: Black Hawk down receiving two awards. >Biggest surprise that disappointed you: Jim Broadbent. I haven't seen "Iris," so I can't really compare and judge, but damn, I wanted Ian McKellen to win so bad. I think he was robbed when he was nominated for "Gods and Monsters" in 98, I think. But Roberto Benigni won that year, you see. On a totally unrelated note, Sir Ian's boyfriend was HOT. Damn, he scores better than me. Isn't that sad? LOL. >Best dressed: Man: Sydney Poitier. Smashing. Woman: Marcia Gay Harden. She looked FANTASTIC. >Worst dressed: Man: Samuel L. Jackson. Too Shaft-y for my tastes. Woman: Jeniffer Connelly. UGH. What was she wearing? Mummy rags? And girl, those breasts made me cry. Which reminds me of Gwyneth, but more on that ahead. >a. Tom Cruise opens the awards with a somber speech for which he can't be >bothered to either shave, comb his hair, or find a shirt that fits. Plus he >uses the phrase, "dare I say it?" which is just Too. ITA. He needed a rotten tomato thrown at him. He desperately needs to get over himself. Couldn't they pick someone more representative of Hollywood? Jeez. >b. The ABC pre-show. I hadn't cringed that much in ages. I felt really bad for Ananda Lewis, who probably thought she was *killing.* Poor girl. At one point I wished Joan River's Red Carpet commentary would have lasted another half an hour. >c. Gwyneth. Okay, Why? WHY? You have money. You're famous. You're so thin you could wear anything you want. Yet you pick a hineous dress that makes your breasts look like a pair of flip-flops. It's just beyond me. >9. Opie!!!!! I'm with brynna here: >Okay, so I was one of the people who, despite =knowing= that A Beautiful >Mind would win (unless the votes came through before the bad press, which >apparently wasn't the case; they got lucky), I really didn't want it to. No, you're not. I feel cheated with that movie -- I had such high expectations with it, and even when it had a few touching moments, it never struck a chord with me bacause it seemed so... fake. I didn't knew anything about the controversy around John Nash at this point, but when I read about it, I was so dissapointed. Wasn't his life Hollywood enough to make a movie about his REAL life, no matter how ugly it was? Of course when you're doing a biography you're entitled to poetic license, but I felt cheated because I was watching the life story of another person. Not John Nash's. Sad. Like the Best Director award. Robert Altman was robbed. ::sigh:: Pet Peeves: - People with papers on their hands are annoying, but not as much as Jeniffer Connelly reading her ENTIRE speech from a piece of paper. I really hated that. At least Julia Roberts looked surprised when she won last year. Sheesh. - Ron Howard. At one point I thought he was going to pull a James Cameron. - People thanking her lawyers. What's up with that? Good Things: - Sting. Robert Redford. Mel Gibson. And Hugh Jackman. Good God, I want him. :p~ I'll shut up now. -- Chatty!Miggie