Eh, that was not a good way to start the Oscar's. Overall, this piece was weak, Errol Morris or not. Way to turn off 90% of the world. It's the Oscars. Start with the glamour and gIitz and put this somewhere else. I thought Ellen did well, whenever she tried. But for the most part, there was little to no funny in the show. I heard they asked Sasha Baron Cohen to present. He said he would, but only if he could do it as borat. They rejected his offer. That shows you waht the fuck is wrong with the Oscars. That would have been hilarious. But Oscar has this odd idea that they are classy and thus didn't want him as Borat. Fools.

"Why didn't you win for that?"

That ranks among the top ten STUPIDEST questions ever asked in the history of stupid questions. I admire Peter O'Toole for giving such a restrained and succinct answer.

Anyhoo, the Oscars were -- as per usual -- boring and predictable. Ellen was boring and predictable. The winners were boring and predictable. The weird interpretive shadow dancing was boring, if not predictable.
Finally, I am still angry that Volver did not get a nod for best foreign film. It's an outrage!

Boring and predictable, maybe, but at least The Departed -- while not one of my favorite films of last year -- is a far superior selection for Best Picture than Crash was.

Despite all of its flaws, Departed was my favorite film of the bunch nominated. How often does that happen? And it may be the only best picture that I will buy and own and watch again since possibly 1992's Unforgiven. Here is the list of best picture winners since the 90's. Dances with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespere in Love, American Beauty. 2000's: Gladiator, A beautiful Mind, Chicago, LOTR: Return of the King, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, and The Departed.

Are any of those films, especially the ones from the 2000's, really any better than The Departed? I dare say that The Departed is better than almost every film that has won since 2000, and better than a lot of the films that won in the 90's. So if I have to get a flawed winner, I will take THe Departed any day.

I love your unwavering hate of Crash, Marco. That still makes me angry too.

I would rank the Departed above all of the movies Anthony listed (that I saw) with the exception of Silence of the Lambs.

I haven't seen any of: The English Patient, Schindler's List.

I have seen part of, but didn't enjoy enough to keep watching: Dances with Wolves, Shakespeare in Love, Unforgiven.

Scorcese was totally robbed in 1990. I liked Dances With Wolves, but how was it better than Goodfellas?

I think -- and I know some will disagree with me -- Unforgiven was an exceptional movie, and I would place it above The Departed without hestitation. Unforgiven is one of my top 3 favorite westerns, and my favorite Clint Eastwood movie.

Unforgiven is quite amazing, and yes, I would place it above The Departed. I would also place Silence of the Lambs way above it. And it is the reason I still go see Eastwood moveis even though he burns me time and again.

That Errol Morris piece was crap and a terrible way to begin the Oscars. I guess I should watch it again away from the noise of an Oscar party, but CM did you actually watch it before linking to it?

I was so psyched that Babel didn't win an Oscar as I hated, hated, hated, hated that movie.

I think I linked to it right after I watched it. Yeah, it wasn't the most amazing Morris production, but I still enjoyed it. I don't know, it just seems more real than your typical Barbara Walters-style interview.

I'd also like to find the Michael Mann montage of America through the movies, since we missed the introduction when it started and couldn't figure out what it was for. For a moment, I thought it could be America-related, but got thrown off by Blade Runner. Looking back on it, it seems kind of odd, so I'd like to see it again with the right context in mind.

Side note: I won $12 in an Oscar pool thanks primarily to my insightful selection of Melissa Ethridge's song from An Inconvenient Truth. Go me!

that's exactly what it was, i think. it was a pretty lame montage, as were they all, even the death montage (though i liked jodie foster's intro. maybe i just like jodie foster). and what's unamerican about blade runner? it's all-american!

Was it that insightful that you picked Melissa Etheridge? I figured that all the Dreamgirls songs would cancel out. I picked the same thing. But I won the pool by following my heart and picking The Departed as best picture.

i've lately started hating and resenting jodie foster for not coming out. i know that is wrong. especially since she's a good and interesting actor and no doubt someone who would be private about her love life even if she were straight. that is my irrational prejudice confession, a la mary cheney.

The only thing I hate about Jodie Foster is that ridiculous hairstyle she was sporting at the Oscars. With hair like that, I'd prefer she stayed in the closet.