Oscars 2007

I took a break from the nightly Mexican routine of my peers to watch the Oscars last Sunday. Thankfully it wasn't in Spanish. Some brief thoughts:

- Though not particularly funny, I enjoyed Ellen's relaxed attitude as a host. None of her jokes fell totally flat, she wasn't awkward (except maybe when vaccuuming, what was up with that?), and her style left the focus on the ceremony, which I thought was nice for a change.
- I liked the 4+ hour length, unlike most. It's never too long for me!
- Enjoyed the dance troupe, and still can't figure out how they made some of those images.
- Too many tribute montages! Did we really need the ones about America and writers?
- Acting awards were as expected, with the exception of Alan Arkin over Eddie Murphy --- although most of the major TV affiliates were predicting that the tide had shifted after Norbit.
- I should have made predictions this year because I think I would have done pretty well! Alas.
- Really quite happy with all of the outcomes: LMS getting some screenplay love, Inconvenient Truth documentary and (strangely) song, Pan's Labyrinth getting everything except Best Foreign Film (CNN coverage illuminated this a little --- apparently this category is one that in order to vote for you must have screened all 5 nominees, something that only 200 voters do - compared to the 5,800 that regularly vote in the other categories).
- Yayyyyyy for The Departed.

All in all, my most personally satisfying Oscars in years!