Thought Jackman was great, the material he had to work with wasn't great but it's always great to see a honest to god song and dance man do his thing. What the various musical acts highlighted was the dearth of female hoofers in Hollywood's A-list. A younger Shirley McClaine joining Jackman would've torn the roof off the joint. Jane Krakowski's awesome, but she's TV not movies. Jeesh Beyonce is just awful.

The 5 previous winners thing just highlights what was the most aggravating and disconcerting aspect of the telecast - WHERE ARE THE CLIPS? Seriously, I've never seen so few clips of nominated films and actors. Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Michael Shannon - god forbid we see any of them, you know, in the roles they were nominated for.

Another bad thing about the previous winners giving their accolades - really points out how "actressy" as in crazy, a lot of these actors are - particularly the ladies. So much crying, and hands clasped above hearts and was that Streep's daughter just staring at her creepily the entire time Loren was yakking? Look I know she's your mom and a fantastic actress, but she's your mom, you know this already, there's an entire wing of your mansion that's chock full of oscars and emmys and tony's and what have you - stop staring at her like some damn stalker - because either you're faking it or you're crazy.

Also, Winslet you've won every damn major award in the past 3 months - are you really that verklumpt still over the Oscar win? I understand being happy, but how many tears of joy can one squeeze out for the same damn role? (I'm a cynical jerk, I know).

In Memoriam - STOP MOVING THE CAMERA! This shit is basic, I like Latifah, I always forget how well she sings (ahem Beyonce), but fill the damn screen with the dead and let the camera sit for the 3 minutes.

Finally for the first time in years the Best Supporting Actress 4 out of 5 women are Americans, two of them African American, yet still the Euro wins? Annoying. And really Penelope, you win for a woody film, but you still thank Almodovar? Classy.

I get your point about WALL-E being banished to the Animation category. I think it's ironic that an animated feature like WALL-E, which has more soul than most of the supposed live-action films of late, is not considered on the same level because it looks like a cartoon.

What are the criteria for determining what makes a movie "animated" in the first place? Considering how the percentage of most movies (especially action ones like The Dark Knight) are becoming more and more computer-generated every year, why even have an Animation category at all? I think Hollywood's dark secret is they don't want us to realize "live-action" movies are getting less and less so all the time.

I didn't find myself gagging too much during the Oscars this year. Looking back on some of the hosts of the past decade or so Jackman was actually pretty good. He had less ego than most and let the show do the 'performing' for itself. It was better than having a spotlight stealer like Steve Martin, Chris Rock or Jon Stewart. But the way they had the previous Oscar winners come out in the 'Justice League of America' style presentation to gush over the current nominees was deadly and overdone. Don't these people get enough accolades as it is? Some of these actors and films I haven't even heard of, and I know the rock I live under isn't THAT big. And by the way, where the hell was 'Revolutionary Road' in all of this. I thought that was an amazing movie with great performances all around, not just the guy who was nominated for playing the crazy son. The biggest upset of course was Mickey Rourke NOT getting best actor. Guess he burnt some bridges back in his 'bad old days'. Oh well, I guess being an asshole in Hollywood doesn't always pay off.

Overall, the Academy Awards, for all of its 'entertainment value' I guess, has got to be America's most excessively gratuitous event. Especially these days, no matter how much they say they're toning it down, it's a little sickening to watch these people who essentially have none of the real troubles that 'average people' have, and who are prima donnas to boot, stroking each other all due to the fact that they are nothing more than pretenders.

i am sorry, but it just wasn't that good of a movie. and then we were subjected to every last person who worked on the movie as they won award after award. "jai ho" as best song? are you fucking kidding me? where was springsteen's wrestler song? only three nominees? this is the worst selection for best picture since Crash in 04.

jackman did an adequate job. they need to ditch the hollywood circle-jerk of past winners fellating this year's nominees from the stage....really stupid and self-congratulatory.

and mickey rourke got robbed.

the guy who donated to both Obama and Mccain (not to mention many other politicians) and then stole over $9 billion.

I know it's not as important as a shiny gold statue or a cartoon of a monkey but in case if anyone is interested....

Top politicians are scrambling to distance themselves from well-connected financier Texan financier "Sir" R. Allen Stanford, who stands accused of defrauding investors of $9.2 billion through an Antigua-based securities scam. The list begins with the commander in chief himself, President Obama, who donated the $4,600 in campaign contributions from Stanford to charity on Wednesday. His former campaign rival, Senator John McCain, is doing the same for $28,150 from Stanford. Other top recipients include Senator Ben Nelson ($45,900) and Rep. Pete Sessions ($41,375). Other politicians may have a tougher time separating themselves from Stanford, who plied a number of lawmakers with jet trips to tropical locales and other perks.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-stanford-obama19-2009feb19,0,5164722.story

Philip Seymour Hoffman "looks perfect"? Did you SEE that ski cap he was wearing???? Ahem...