The Academy Awards were predictable: The Departed won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay; Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren reigned as King and Queen. But it was Al Gore’s night, as An Inconvenient Truth won best Best Documentary Feature, Best Song, and a whole lot of kudos for our shoulda-been President.
Ellen DeGeneres’s opening monologue:
Funny, irrereverant. Loved the “I really feel bad for you” to the people who are nominated and loved the “Look at you!” to Leo DiCaprio (thank you Ellen.) Plus, she looked really pretty and it was short.
Jack Black and Will Farrell do something funny. It’s funny.
Best Couple! Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith, who present for best short films (get it?)
Alan Arkin wins Best Supporting Actor. Snooze.
William Monahan wins Best Screenplay for The Departed. Snooze.
Former Paramount chief Sherry Lansing receives an honorary….something. Tom Cruise manages to present without jumping on a couch, espousing Scientology, or talking about Kate. Sherry looks fantastic but her speech is dull. Snooze.
Al Gore and Leo DiCaprio come out say something about the Academy Awards being green. Who knew Al Gore was funny?
Robert Downey Jr. presents….something. I’m blinded by his sexiness and charm. And that wasn’t sarcastic.
Jennifer Hudson wins Best Supporting Actress. Despite the reason backlash, I’m happy for her. Her dress is ugly, and her speech is dull, but still.
Michael Arndt wins Best Screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine. Charming and short, the best speech of the night. And we learn that he had to quit his job as Matthew Broderick’s assistant in order to write Sunshine.
Dead people montage: Red Buttons, Joe Barbera, Peter Boyle, and Maureen Stapleton receive the applause, but Robert Altman trumps them all.
Yikes! Philip Seymour Hoffman presents Best Actress. Easily the worst dressed of the night. Actually, I didn’t notice his suit, because I couldn’t get past his sweaty/gelled hair.
Helen Mirren of course wins Best Actress. A very nice, well rehearsed speech. Definitely practiced that one in front of the mirror. Snooze.
Best Actor goes to Forest Whitaker. Not a surprise, and a nice, fluid, sold speech. Snooze.
Martin Scorsese wins Best Director. Personally, I find it a little suspicious that Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg presented this one. I mean really, who else besides Clint Eastwood, would this trio have presented it to?
The Departed wins Best Picture. Snooze.
