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.

•  Anne Thompson was at the Governor's Ball, and she has a thing or two to say about it. (Lucky!) [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jeffrey Wells has 11 observations on the night's festivities, including some stage coaching for the Coens, a cheers to Colin Farrell for supposedly urging producers to let Marekta Irglova speak, and some fashion criticism for Jon Stewart. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Even though it was a tight, swift show, apparently no one watched.  Maybe it has something to do with the vast unpopularity of the nominees? [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Sasha Stone sticks it to the jerks who can't help themselves but continue to give Diablo Cody hell. [Awards Daily]

•  David Carr rounds up the show and the Ball. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Tom O'Neil rounds up the critics' reactions to the show, which was apparently "a bore and a sporadic thrill."  Uh, ok. [Gold Derby]

•  David Poland spoitballs reactions to the festivities. [The Hot Blog]

•  New York Magazine wraps up its coverage with some Jon Stewart talk. [Vulture]

•  David Edelstein, meanwhile, has some reactions as well (he dug the decision to bring Irglova back as well). [The Projectionist]

•  Pete Hammond writes up what is becoming the most over-done talking point of the past 12 hours: the international love fest that was the Oscars. [The Envelope]

•  David Halbfinger files for the Gray Lady. [New York Times]

•  And Erik Davis thinks the performance of "Falling Slowly" was the night's best moment. [Cinematical]

After a short segment, the boys and I get into Diablo Cody's win for Best Original Screenplay and her near wardrobe malfunction.  I might have gone with last night's get-up for this evening's festivities, darlin'.  Take a listen.

I didn't make it to last night's Miramax festivities in West hollywood, though there is plenty of coverage of the event out there on the Oscarweb this morning.  I did, however, waltz down the beach following last night's Spirit ceremony to Shutters for the awards' after party shindig.

It was good times all around, though considerably packed and difficult to move.  I did, however, finally come face to face with Diablo Cody.  We've missed each other all season and finally had the opportunity to chat a bit.

Media distaste be damned, this girl has the charm.  She's beautiful and more gracious than you might expect.  In that stunning red dress, she really lit the room up, as far as I'm concerned.  Let's face it, I was in the process of falling head over heels in love with her until Pete Hammond came along and stole my thunder (he hasn't managed to meet her all eason either, it turned out).

Cody said she didn't exactly expect to win the Best First Screenplay award because she wasn't sure the Indie Spirits would want to give it to the film that's raked in $100 million at the box office so far.  She also pointed out how taken aback she was by the fact that her hairstylst would be kicking things off at noon the next day (that'd be about now) for Oscar preparations.  All of this before running over to Ron Jeremy to get a snapshot with the ubiquitous pornstar.

Anyway, she doesn't have a whiff of presumption or entitlement about her, which, for a person in her shoes (Best Original Screenplay is probably tonight's easiest pick), is certainly refreshing.  I dig her, end of story.  Here's hoping her career opens up beyond the snarkiness of the media and even the film industry at large.  She's a talented young lady.

Later on I finally met up with some old friends (and nominees for the John Cassavettes award for "Quiet City), filmmaker Aaron Katz and producer Brendan McFadden.  Despite having lost to Chris Eska's "August Evening," the two were in good spirits and having a blast surrounded by a who's who of Hollywood talent.  Cinematographer Andrew Reed told me the crew was sitting right across from "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" table, and that he was more than enthused when Janusz Kaminki won Best Cinematography for the film.  "He absolutely deserves it," Reed said.

Also milling about were the usual journo suspects (David Poland, Mark Olsen, Jeff Wells, Anne Thompson, Mike Jones).  I never did run into th Bagger this year, however, which makes my cold heart weep.  Oh well, there's always next season!

I did, however, notice one lively individual closing the party down like no other (since yours truly, in any case).  That was John Carney, director of "Once" and recipient of the evening's Best Foreign Film award.  Carney said it was a definite surprise, given the competition in the category, but that he honestly thought "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" probably deserved it more.  "It's a better movie, I think," he said.  He also told me that, at the drop of a dime, he would work with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova again.  He agreed that there is just something about their music that injects a sort of sublime enjoyment into the process, so maybe we'll see them together again in the near future.  "Once 2: Twice," maybe?

Anyway, it was a grand evening all around.  By the time 8:00 p.m. rolled around, it seemed like midnight to everyone in attendance (the Spirits start uber early on the west coast).  Some went to The Night Before party, others headed out to the Miramax gathering, but I went out with my friends to enjoy their moment of film awards glory.  It seemed a better fit the day before diving into the maelstrom that is Oscar night.

And now...here we are.

Actress in a Leading Role  Ellen Page
Directing  Jason Reitman
Best Picture  Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
Writing (Original Screenplay)  Written by Diablo Cody

From last night's "Late Show," fresh off of the nominations announcement earlier in the morning:




Here's her first appearance on the couch from March of last year, when she was promoting her book "Candy Girl":

"Juno" scribe Diablo Cody is back with a new column at Entertainment Weekly.  This time, it's a riff on her magazine's illustration of the author as a lead-in to screen heroines too cool to care about their looks.  Here's a peek:

Of course, by caring about this unflattering likeness, I'm bolstering the stereotype that women are vain, neurotic creatures. This is conflicting; as a writer, I hope to craft female characters who are tough, gutsy, and cocksure. Women with brio and spunk. In other words, women who probably wouldn't care if their column illustration resembled Victorian corpse portraiture. And yet, some of the strongest ladies in the pop-cult canon have endeared themselves to us because of their vulnerability and, yes, even their vanity. Remember when Angela on My So-Called Life spent an entire episode stressing about a zit even as her relationship with Sharon Cherski imploded? Angela wasn't shallow — hell, she wore more flannel than Dinosaur Jr. — but she knew that a clogged sebaceous gland can be even more traumatic than a girly meltdown.

In fact, there are plenty of killer onscreen heroines who weren't too cool to care about their hair, complexion, or wardrobe. I mean, why not reapply the ol' lip gloss before busting that villain or solving that theorem? Since when is a dab of beeswax a concession to the patriarchy?

There's more at EW.  She goes on to list her favorites in the realm of "heroine chic" (har).  Everyone from Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley in "Alien" to "Uncle" Jesse Katsopolis of "Full House" makes an appearance.  Check it out!

•  "Hairspray" surprisingly left off of makeup bake-off list.  But they dug fat suits, given the presence of "Norbit." [Awards Daily]

•  Lame. [Variety]

•  Jeffrey Wells responds to yesterday's ASC announcement, wonders if Deakins will split the vote in favor of Elswit. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Diablo Cody didn't show last night because of strike confusion?  That's the scoop Tom O'Neil heard in the press room. [Gold Derby]

•  Nathaniel Rogers responds to the BFCA winners. [The Film Experience]

•  Lou Lumenick live blogs the awards. [New York Post]