A swift affair
I have to say, a lot of this morning's poo-pooing of the Oscar ceremony last night is a bit hyperbolic for my taste. The mixed critical reactions, that is. I found the night to be rather swift and host Jon Stewart to be at the top of his game. Sure, there were a number of montages that should have been nixed. The Best Picture bit that Jack Nicholson presented comes to mind as considerably unnecessary. But by my watch, the thing was over in less than four hours, something around three and a half...and that's ALWAYS a good thing. Right?But let's get into it. The season has come to a close and the Coen brothers, Scott Rudin and "No Country for Old Men" had their day to shine. Good for all involved. It's the most un-Academy win since "The Silence of the Lambs," but that's the way things go sometimes.
There were surprises in store for some. Such as Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton taking the leading and supporting actress trophies, swooping in at the last minute to steal away the thunder of the night's frontrunners. Personally, I saw this coming, but no one could deny the possibility was there and the situations were ripe for upsets. Both speeches, by the way, were quite good. Cotillard was appropriately emotional (as was Diablo Cody, who even choked me up with her teary acceptance). Swinton, meanwhile, offered that Tilda charm and sass that has become something of a staple this season for the "Michael Clayton" star.
The biggest shocks of the night for me came in the craft races, where "The Bourne Ultimatum" snuck in and grabbed the sound editing and sound mixing statuettes. The latter category had been primed as a race between "Transformers" and "No Country for Old Men," a considerable media concentration given the nominations tally of Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell. Sadly, they missed yet again and this was their last shot at getting it together. They'll go off and, obviously, churn out great work separately, so this isn't the end of days. But it would have been a nice bow on their partnership, to be sure.
I think the best moments of the evening both involved the film "Once." The first was Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's performance of "Falling Slowy," which elicited a huge cheer from the crowd. The second was Jon Stewart's insistence that Irglova come back out and be given her moment to offer what ultimately was, let's face it, the bes speech of the evening. Trigger happy bands really piss me off and someone needs to key them into the fact that some people you just don't scoot away like that. This was a songwriting DUO, the two STARs of the film, for Pete's sake. Give them both their moment, please.
The "Enchanted" numbers became a bit tedious after a while, and I couldn't help but wish Eddie Vedder had been there to mix things up. There are no two ways about it. The music branch embarassed itself this year. That's my opinion, in any case.
Apparently the ratings were the lowest ever, which it is foolish to attribute (as some have) to the actual show. I would say one need only look at the slate of rather unpopular Best Picture nominees to find out why the public at large wasn't very interested. Personally, I thought it was the best year for movies in a long while. But just look at the box office rankings to see what people preferred. It's not in line with Oscar.
Anyway, now we look ahead to next year, right? RIGHT? Well, those of us who are nuts, in any case. Scott Rudin and the Coens will be back, for different projects. Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, Frank Langella, Russell Crowe, George Clooney -- all heading back to the race. Returning filmmakers include Ridley Scott, Joe Wright and David Fincher, while Paramount Pictures once again has the glut of product to consider. And there'll be a "titanic" reunion in store for the nostalgic romantics in the crowd.
But we'll get there. For now, let's just all enjoy the release of another Oscar year in the rear view mirror. It's been a blast contributing here at variety this season,a nd I hope you've all enjoyed reading. We'll weather the fallout in the coming days and call it quits at the end of the week.
Happy Monday.
Obviously, no live blogging happened this evening. I was busy dealing with Dewer's rather than Jameson, but regardless, "No Country for Old Men" clearly had a dominant position at the end of the night. Three wins, including Best Picture (I was one of the poor bastards on stage presenting the award -- top right corner...check your TiVo).
Erik Childress' 
• Sasha Stone ponders whether "Beowulf" is being overshadowed by Angie's star. [
Red Carpet District is Variety contributor Kristopher Tapley's attempt at making sense of the ever-expanding glut of film awards coverage. He's been on the beat for six years. Email 
