Oscar night: LIVE BLOGGING!!!

In summation . . .

What can I say, except that it's been one hell of an awards ceremony! Marty got his first Best Director and Best Picture wins, perfectly highlighting his illustrious career (though I'm sure all the naysayers will say it was an apology award, but I don't agree with that assessment; I think he genuinely earned his awards for The Departed). And Forest won a righteously-deserving Best Actor. I'm still not happy that Rinko Kikuchi lost to Jennifer Hudson, but as they say, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. All in all, 'twas a good year at the Oscars.

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12:16 am (wow, this was a long night)

Best Picture: Graham King for The Departed — Wow!!!!! This I didn't expect. I was expecting Little Miss Sunshine or Letters from Iwo Jima to win, with The Queen a major long shot, and a tie between Babel and The Departed. But this has been a banner year for Marty!!!

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, for The Departed — In my best Homer Simpson voice . . . woohoo!!!! With this kind of welcoming committee (Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola), you just knew that Marty was going to win. A wonderful award for a wonderful filmmaker.

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland — I'm not a praying man anymore, but . . . thank you, Lord!!!! Honest to God, I thought he would lose to Peter O'Toole. And that was a hell of a good acceptance speech, too!

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11:56 pm

Best Actress: Helen Mirren for The Queen — Not unexpected, really. And that was a nice aceptance speech, too! But Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a man of few words, isn't he?

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11:48pm

Best Film Editing: Thelma Schoonmaker for The Departed — Yay! Another one I was cheering for. Thelma won an Oscar for a previous Scorsese movie, Raging Bull, and she definitely deserved this award for The Departed.

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11:35 pm

Okay, the suspense for the last major awards of the night is killing me! We have the major acting and directing awards yet, not to mention Best Picture! I'm seriously crossing all my fingers and toes for Marty and Forest right now.

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11:31 pm

Best Original Song: "I Need To Wake Up", awarded to Melissa Etheridge for An Inconvenient Truth — Wow, now that's an upset!!! With 3 nominations in this category, I honestly thought that Dreamgirls would win. (And it looked like Jennifer Hudson was dangerously close to a "wardrobe malfunction" in the middle of it all, too.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Queen Latifah present this award last year, too?

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11:16 pm

Best Original Screenplay: Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine — Doh! I was hoping for Babel.

Best Original Score: Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel — Okay, this guy is just a great musician! His guitar soundtrack to Babel and other Alejandro González Iñárritu films is nothing short of spectacular, and I've heard it used before in The Insider. In fact, didn't he win an Oscar last year for scoring Brokeback Mountain?

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10:51 pm

Best Documentary Feature: Davis Guggenheim for An Inconvenient Truth — Now honestly, did anyone expect this to lose? Not me, though I actually thought Jesus Camp had the potential to make it an upset. And I'm surprised Al Gore didn't try to make an announcement again, since the first one either got botched or was a joke.

Best Documentary Short Subject: Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon for The Blood of Yingzhou District — Again, where can I get these films?

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10:40 pm

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls — Okay, I really really reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally wanted Rinko to win. She was so heartbreaking in Babel, and this award actually makes me angry. I think Esther Rolle sums up my feelings best here.



Best Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others, from Germany — Wow, I was expecting Pan's Labyrinth! (And stop cutting off acceptance speeches!!! That's so rude to the winners.)

Best Visual Effects: John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall for Pirates of the Caribbean — Yay! This is another one I was rooting for. On another note, my father taught a set of twins in the early '70s named David and Richard Hoover, who then went on to become cartoonists in Hollywood. There was a Richard Hoover up for the Superman Returns award! Coincidence, or same person? :)

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10:16 pm

Best Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro for Pan's Labyrinth — Okay, I think I need to see Pan's Labyrinth now! (And for the record, I'm still amazed that The Black Dahlia was in the running.)

Best Costume Design: Milena Canonero for Marie Antoinette — Didn't see this film. To be honest, I don't really want to, either. Kirsten Dunst just doesn't impress me anymore as an actress.

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9:53 pm

Best Adapted Screenplay: William Monahan for The Departed — Yay!!! This is one I was cheering for. Great movie, The Departed. It was refreshing, too, to see Tom Hanks do a comedic moment again! It's been too long. (And I didn't even recognize Jack Nicholson with a shaved head!)

Best Animated Feature: George Miller for Happy Feet — Didn't see this one, either.

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9:39 pm

Um . . . okay. So was that an official announcement for Al Gore or not? That's reeeeeeeeally open-ended there, people!

And can I read that screenplay, Ellen? The one you gave to Martin Scorsese that you said was a cross between Goodfellas and Big Momma's House? :)

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9:26 pm

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine — Now it get interesting, for we get into the acting awards!!! God, the suspense is always awful in the moments leading up to the moment the envelope opens—but that's what I love about it! I actually didn't have a preference in this category (okay, maybe I was rooting for Eddie or Mark), but congratulations, Alan!

Best Sound Mixing: Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, and Willie D. Burton for Dreamgirls — I was hoping for Pirates myself. (And let them finish their speeches! Don't cut them off.)

Best Sound Editing: Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for Letters from Iwo Jima — Interesting sound effects ensemble there! I never even conceived of an entire chorus so accurately producing the sound effects of a montage like this! Quite remarkable! And just what did Greg Kinnear say when his dialogue was silenced there? ;)

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9:06 pm

Best Live-Action Short: Ari Sandel for West Bank Story — Good acceptance speech! And where can I find these live-action short films?

Best Animated Short: Torill Kove for The Danish Poet – You know, I just realized that the only animated shorts I've seen lately are those that precede Pixar films! Didn't the one before Monsters, Inc. win an Academy Award, too? (I think it was called The Birds?)

Best Makeup: David Martí and Montse Ribé for Pan's Labyrinth — Okay, I wasn't expecting that Will Ferrell/Jack Black/John C. Reilly intro, but it nevertheless worked.

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8:48 pm

Best Art Direction: Eugenio Caballer and Pilar Revuelta for Pan's Labyrinth — First award of the night! I haven't seen this film yet, actually, but I am intrigued by it.

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8:43 pm

Ooooh, all that applause for Al Gore! Do I smell political feelings surfacing here? ;)

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8:42 pm

Let the festivities begin!!! :) So far, I'm pretty pleased with Ellen DeGeneres as the host. She's more animated and more enthusiastic than Jon Stewart from last year, as usual her jokes are on par with her unique blend of comedy, and she seems to really have her audience at ease. I think a good choice was made in having her host this year's ceremonies! (And good point about the boring speeches!)

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8:33 pm

Okay, that Peter O'Toole/Lawrence of Arabia thing was kinda unnecessary. (And yes, Jennifer, I do like your dress!)

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8:05 pm

Thank God Joan Rivers isn't here to do fashion commentary!!! I don't think I could stomach it.

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8:00 pm

All right, let's get this party started!!! The Red Carpet has been rolled out; the nominees are rolling in; Barbara Walters has finished her schtick; Ellen DeGeneres is on the scene; I've got my whiskey sour in hand . . . let's bring on the awards, baby! :)