Oscartone News!

• The 80th selection for Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is by far the best choice the Academy has made in a very long time (American Beauty? Schindler's List? Honestly, it may be Annie Hall). The best film made since Pulp Fiction, this almost rights the wrong made when that film lost.
  
• The only thing wrong about the Coens winning Best Director was missing out on Julian Schnabel's rant.
• My ability to psychically predict these things in the seconds before the announcement fell apart this year. I blew it on the actress awards. But Tilda Swinton - who is one rock n' roll off-beat bad ass in her own world who happens to visit ours from time to time - deserved it from among the field. Ellen Page should have won for lead but it's OK, she has a long, successful career ahead of her.
• What a strong Actor field, only containing the waste of Johnny Depp's nomination (though that is by no means a swipe at him). The spot should have gone to Frank Langella. Javier and Josh Brolin should have both been in the leads (with Bardem winning), and Tommy Lee should have been in Supporting for No Country, and should have won it. Oh well. And you'd think that with all the "milkshake" love of late, Daniel's clip would have been that, not "I've abandoned my child!"
• Carr points it out best: Acting sweep for Europe, combined with the trifecta victory of the American fringe Coens - plus the Once win - and you have a night in which the Hollywood factory really faded away, and art for art's sake was applauded.
  
• Screenplay awards went as they should have (Wait, really? Wasn't Michael Clayton's genre-breaking script better than the annoying excesses of Diablo Cody's Juno?), but the bigger story is that Cormac McCarthy was at the show, in the flesh.
• Once, god dammit. Once. It did it. And ace move to bring Marketa back on. That beautiful, warm gal deserved that moment. What a triumphant night for artistic integrity (though the performance could have done without the orchestra; The beauty of that song is the spartan simplicity of it).
  
• The picture of "Roderick Jaynes" was terriffic. Shame he didn't win.
• When did Jack Valenti die? The Academy really needs to ask the audiences to abstain from applauding and just let the memorial play out in a respectul silence (with applause at the end). The applause roller coaster that occurs is sickening.
  
• No Obama speeches? Kind of surprising.
• Ms. Adams. Marry me. If not, it's ok. Mar is right up there with ya.
  
• Stewart wasn't as risky as he was a couple years ago, but he was just as funny and this time he had the crowd's support. He's been the only good host since Billy Crystal's first few go-rounds.