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.

•  Variety has a SAG Awards preview, including Zachary Pincus-Roth's chat with casting directors about finding the right balance in front of the camera. [Variety]

•  According to Tom O'Neil, Russell Crowe will be competing against himself in the lead category at the Golden Globes. [Gold Derby]

•  Sasha Stone catches up to "Charlie Wilson's War." [Awards Daily]

•  Pete Hammond scopes out the screening and Q&A scene, including a "rare" appearance by Jack Nicholson in front of the SAG earlier in the week. [The Envelope]

•  Gerard Kennedy surveys the Best Film Editing landscape. [In Contention]

•  Brian Kinsley makes some Golden Globe comedy/musical predictions. [In Contention]

•  Todd McCarthy digs into "The Golden Compass." [Variety]

•  So does David Poland. [The Hot Blog]

•  Poland also has lunch with the stars of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [The Hot Blog]

•  Martin Grove, meanwhile, talks to director Julian Schnabel. [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  The Gurus o' Gold make acting category calls. [Movie City News]

•  The year's first top 10 list surfaces...well, top 50.  [Paste Magazine]

•  Lou Lumenick calls "Atonement" the "most achingly romantic movie since 'Titanic.'" [New York Post]

•  Peter Knegt makes another set of predictions. [indieWIRE]

•  Oh yeah, and non-review reactions to "Sweeney Todd," from Tom O'Neil... [Gold Derby]

•  ...and yours truly. [In Contention]

First of all, let me just say the reduction in plastic usage for studio screeners this year is awesome.  Focus and Searchlight, probably others (EDIT:" Yep - Warner is on the same ball as of this morning), have issued their films to voting bodies via slim, sometimes recycled cardboard cases using "vegetable-based" ink.  The green movement is among us.  Lionsgate sent out "3:10 to Yuma" this week, and once again, the consolidation of space deserves some kudos.

The studio infamously flooded the voting market with "Crash" screeners in 2005, sending out some 100,000+ copies to the entire SAG membership.  This year, accompanying their "Yuma" mailers is a "dime store novel" about the making of the film.  And when you open the flaps on the covers, it can be displayed all fancy-like:


Personally, I'm just happy to see the western making some sort of resurgence, and especially, to see that a studio is willing to hang it out there for a film from the genre.  I think it all started up again with the release of Kevin Costner's "Open Range" back in 2003, and then came David Milch's "Deadwood" on HBO the following year (unceremoniously cancelled by the network before it had a chance to play out the story).

This year western fans got "3:10 to Yuma" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," while "No Country for Old Men" certainly contains aspects of the genre worth discussing.  Ed Harris is also in the midst of production on New Line's "Appaloosa," starring Harris and Viggo Mortensen.  And "Jesse James" author Ron Hansen might see further interest in his "Desperadoes" should the bottom line on the former become something appealing enough to this studio or that.

Maybe it isn't a passing thing.  Maybe it's back!

•  Michael Fleming, Tim Gray get into the specifics of the strike's effect on Awards shows. [Variety]

•  Gerard Kennedy talks to the muti-nominated, yet winless, cinematographer Roger Deakins about his trio of projects this season. [In Contention]

•  Elizabeth Snead talks the fashion of Cate Blanchett. [The Envelope]

•  Speaking of fashion, the Gray Lady spotlights "Control" star Sam Riley in the Style section. [New York Times]

•  Randy Kennedy sits down with Best Director hopeful Julian Schnabel. [New York Times]

•  Dave Kehr digs into the technology behind "Beowulf." [New York Times]

•  Jeffrey Wells talks with Keri Russell about "Waitress," landing on DVD later this month and still an awards push for Fox Searchlight. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Nathaniel Rogers expresses more interest in Russell Crowe's Richie Roberts than Denzel Washington's Frank Lucas. [The Film Experience]

•  Martin Grove makes a case for Frank Langella and "Starting Out in the Evening." [The Hollywood Reporter]