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.

•  Ryan Adams points us to a chart indicating the potential of a box office boost for Oscar-nominated films. [Awards Daily]

•  From the Gray Lady's Oscar portfolio last week, Lynn Hirschberg takes a look at unlikely paths to staredom. [New York Times]

•  David Poland wraps up his "10 Rules of the Season" two-parter Oscar column. [Movie City News]

•  Tom O'Neil is perturbed by the (frankly outrageous) news that Kristin Chenoweth will belt out "That's How You Know" on the Oscar telecast, rather than "Enchanted" star Amy Adams. [Gold Derby]

•  He also chats it up with Razzie creator John Wilson. [Gold Derby]

•  Because I totally forgot to link to it earlier, I will now: Nathaniel Rogers rounds up six net mavens to chat all things gold in his 3rd Annual Oscar Symposium. [The Film Experience]

Music (Song) "Happy Working Song" -- Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Music (Song) "So Close" -- Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Music (Song) "That's How You Know" -- Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Poor Amy Adams didn't manage a slot in today's field of Best Actress nominees, but her "Enchanted" character is the voice behind all three of those Best Original Song nominations the film racked up today.  So maybe she'll get a spot on Oscar's stage after all!

"Happy Woking Song," "So Close" and "That's How You Know" are each substantial song and dance set pieces from the Disney film, which took in over $120 million at domestic box offices and won the award for Best Family Film at the Critics' Choice Awards two weeks ago.  Adams was also nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.  "That's How You Know" picked up a nomination from the group as well.

Last year, the three nominated tracks from "Dreamgirls" were combined into a rather impressive medly.  Perhaps this year's Oscar telecast -- should the show make it past the death grip of the writers' strike -- could stitch together a similar block of tunage for this musical extravaganza?  It would be delightful to see Adams make an appearance in this capacity and would certainly prove to be a light-hearted moment in an affair set to be dominated by the dark and drab films of the 2007 film awards season.

And by "dark and drab," I include the sad-but-true fact that Eddie Vedder will not be gracing the stage with his powerful crooning an songwriting expertise.  Regardless, the award seems all but secure for Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's "Once" ditty "Falling Slowly."

Another feature from Variety this week, the Eye on the Oscars: The Look special, which focuses on design elements in 2007's awards hopefuls.  There are 8 films featured specifically, in addition to two separate feature pieces.

First, Kathy A. Macdonald takes a look at the mixture of authenticity and post-modern spin in the year's frontier pics: "3:10 to Yuma," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "There Will Be Blood."  The costume and production design heads from each are quoted.

Addmie Morfoot, meanwhile, looks at the spectrum through the other lens, detailing depictions of and diversity on location in the Big Apple.  "Across the Universe," "American Gangster," "The Brave One," "Enchanted," "The Hoax," "I Am Legend," "Michael Clayton" and "We Own the Night" are all featured.  I didn't realize how much NYC played into this year's product until I read that piece...interesting.

From TheMovieBlog.com: