10- Minutes over run time. Not bad for a Billy Crystal hosted Academy Awards.
9- Best Picture nominees. There have previously been 5, 7, 10, and 12 nominees but never nine.
8- Times I thought Ellen DeGeneres was hosting the commercial breaks. Seriously, she was in every other commercial.
7- Times I mentioned that the score playing over the clips was from Moneyball, even though the Academy didn't even bother nominating it.
6- categories War Horse was nominated for, and it won none of them.
5- Wins for both Hugo and big winner The Artist. Hugo's technical awards were surprising but well deserved and The Artist was expected to win where it did.
4- Of my six predictions I got right. A dismal amount I must admit, but I did make a strong case for Jean Dujardin and who really predicted Meryl Streep would win? (4 is also the number of times the phenomenal Busy Phillips was spotted including on the red carpet.)
3- Career wins for Meryl Streep who probably deserves the award tonight more than anyone for her career resume including 17 nominations.
2- Muppets seen during the broadcast.
1.5- Bottles of wine consumed during the ceremony.
1- Career nominations for the fantastic and apparently underrated Gary Oldman.
0- Times I was surprised The Tree of Life didn't win a single award.
Highlights:
The telecast was a low frills affair that included Billy Crystal's two most famous games with "What are the nominees thinking?" and inserting himself into clips of the year's best picture nominees and other major films. When Octavia Spencer won she seemed truly shocked and grateful, which was a nice surprise. The only truly shocking win was Meryl Streep for Best Actress. Saying goodbye to Elizabeth Taylor was handled very elegantly and touching. I'm not one to get into the best and worst dressed but do want to say that Jessica Chastain was gorgeous tonight and I love that she has been in so many films this year. Speaking of Chastain, her cast mates for The Help all were incredibly supportive of each other and really had a sense of camaraderie not often seen in show business. The Bridesmaids cast had two hysterious presentations and one that was straightforward and disappointing. My favorite joke of the night was from Crystal introducing Christian Bale by saying, "An American Psycho, a Dark Knight, and a meth addict. And you can vote for one on super Tuesday!"
I really wasn't looking forward to the Oscars this year and they were better than I had expected, just not the best show ever. The "Hard Out Here for a Pimp" jokes will never get old and the speeches will never be short enough for the people we don't like. I just wish that every nominee will be announced by Morgan Freeman but don't we all? I now say goodbye to the Oscars until Awards season starts this November.
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