Oscar Mania!

To get away from the hospital watch...

Every year at this time, I stop what I'm doing and watch the Oscars, including the red carpet pre-show. Last year, we didn't have cable, so I watched down in our guest bedroom, where the only TV in the house with an antenna resides.

Tonight, I left Rowdy to his own devices for a few hours while I'm watching the festivities and eating popcorn.

Things I love about the Oscars: beautiful dresses, George Clooney, the acceptance speeches, seeing if movies I liked win anything. Things I hate: well, the things I really hate are the stupid production numbers. Cheese-a-rooney!

Anne Hathaway gets my vote for most beautiful dress. That red that so many people are wearing is just gorgeous, but particularly on her with her creamy skin and brown hair and eyes. I wasn't totally keen on Jennifer Hudson's dress. The lines weren't particularly flattering, in my opinion. Tilda Swinton scares me no matter what she's wearing, but I really don't like the one-sleeve-on-one-sleeve-off look anyway. Marion Cotillard's Gaultier dress was actually very pretty on her, I thought. I usually don't like Gaultier. The dress that Kristen Chenoweth wore when she sang "How Do You Know?" looked like someone had dusted the stage with it before the show. Can someone just slap Katherine Heigl very hard across the face for me? Ugh! Diablo Cody--where to start? So wrong on so many levels. But I did like Juno. And her acceptance speech was sweet at the end.

I think it's interesting that Amy Adams sang "Happy Working Song" without any backup folderol. She did a great job. See, that's the way it should be done. I did like "How Do You Know?", though. Enchanted was such a cute little movie. "Falling Slowly" is a beautiful song, beautifully performed. How awesome that they won! That little girl who soloed in "Raise It Up" has an incredible voice. Whoo! Who is that cutie who sang "So Close"?!

Javier Bardem scared the crap out of me in No Country for Old Men. It was a good movie, but tough to watch. The Coen brothers are awesome. I'm glad that Laura Linney didn't win her category, because I can't stand her acting. Daniel Day-Lewis totally captivated me in There Will Be Blood. During the last scene, I just stared at the screen with my mouth open. He was just incredible. It was a difficult choice between No Country and Blood, I'm sure. I liked There Will Be Blood more.

Jon Stewart--very much a class act letting the girl who won for "Falling Slowly" come back and say her thanks. I thought he was a very good host. My favorite line was something about what the people at the Oscars did during the commercial break--they sat around and made catty remarks about what we at home were wearing.

So, those are my Oscar thoughts for this year. It was a good show.