the chutry experiment

A little surprised that Alan Arkin won for Supporting Actor. I'm still convinced that LMS might win Best Picture. Really odd, btw, that Ellen interviews Mark Wahlberg immediately after he lost the Supporting Actor award.

I didn't like that interviewing in the aisle thing at all.

The music cutting off Al Gore's announcement was predictable but very funny. Why did we think Al Gore was stiff?

And, of course, getting the Oscars to go green is pretty cool, too.

I still can't get used to the phrase, "Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Ben Affleck." I don't think I ever will.

So that's two references to not having a place to put down the Oscar. Glad to see William Monahan win for best adapted screenplay.

Could Tom Hanks's "more fun" comment have sounded any more sarcastic?

Chuck, I thought that "More fun!" thing was hilarious. He looked like he wasn't to roll his eyes and flip Chris Whatsisname off.

Oh, I thought that was the funniest thing Tom Hanks has done in years. Sarcasm is great!

The Meryl Streep-Devil Wears Prada bit was actually pretty smart. Milena Canonera winning for "Marie Antoinette" is probably a good choice for costume.

Okay, the interviews in the aisles are growing on me. Ellen getting her picture taken with Clint Eastwood for MySpace was funny. Although I can't help but think it was Hollywood's slightly threatened response to Web 2.0.

Wow, cinematography, too. Now I really feel like I need to see Pan's Labyrinth. But all of the cinematography nominees this year were really good.

I just thought it was funny that she told him he got the shot wrong.

I had no idea Sherry Lansing was married to William Friedkin. How did I miss that?

Especially glad to see Vilmos Zsigmond, one of my favorite cinematographers got a nomination for Black Dahlia.

Chris, I didn't know that about Lansing and Friedkin, either. But then again, I didn't know about Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren until tonight. Nobody tells me these things.

Visual effects winners -- not the most articulate award winners of the night...

No, not so much, but the dude who gave a shout out to his son was pretty sweet. I'm really enjoying the "foreign language film" montage, but it makes me wish that *more* of these films would actually play in theaters. In the U.S.

Wow! Lives of Others was a bit of an upset. I'm curious to see it now.

You're right about the foreign language films -- I've seen none of them this year, but then again, none of them have actually come to my town!

Pan's Labyrinth is here now, and Water was playing in DC around the time I left. Not sure why I missed it.

But my understanding is that fewer foreign language films are playing on US screens now than in past decades.

Well, Jennifer Hudson was no big surprise, though I was rooting a bit for Abigail Breslin, since she was, IMHO, the best part of LMS.

Pan's played here for a few weeks, and I didn't get to see it. Just didn't have/make the time.

Yeah, I would have enjoyed seeing Abigail Breslin win, but the Jennifer Hudson buzz has been too strong.

Glad to see "The Blood of Yingzhou District" win. It played at Silverdocs, and everyone said it was incredible.

No shock about An Inconvenient Truth, but Iraq in Fragments was also deserving. And yes, Gore used the "will to act is a renewable resource" line.

Yeah, I don't see how anything but Inconvenient Truth had a shot....

Not when the theme of the Oscars was "going green" and nominees were showing up in hybrid-engine limos. Still, if you haven't seen Jesus Camp or Fragments, they're both worth checking out.

And I've heard great things about My Country, My Country, which also played at Silverdocs.

Ennio Morricone -- man, just listening to samples from his scores, it's amazing none of those won Oscars. His music is so iconic.

Say, what was Celine Dion singing? I can never pay attention when she sings. I thought it really disrupted the award for Ennio Morricone.

Whatever it was, he apparently wrote the music. But I agree -- don't care for her music at all.

My last comment got lost. Was going to mention that I first heard his music watching The Mission with you back when we were in high school. Great stuff.

Wow, the dude from Babel is turning into an Oscar regular. I would've liked to see Phillip Glass win, but I really don't think his score fit Notes on a Scandal very well. It simply wasn't a well-made film.

I was just saying to Sherry that the music from The Mission is amazing to me, even now, having heard it a hundred times.

I really like what they're doing with the screenplay awards, reading moments from the scripts while screening the visuals as the film interpreted them.

A little surprised that Little Miss Sunshine won for screenplay--I'm beginning to think it's going to win best picture.

Great anecdote about the basis for the broken clutch in LMS, though.

Yeah, reading from the screenplays is a really good idea.

Odd that they're trying to play up the Oscar pools. The "we're interactive" stuff isn't working that well in my opinion.

Is it still eating comments?

Yeah, I just don't see LMS as a best pic/Oscar type film at all. I think it's got that "little film that could" vibe going on. In truth, I think the screenplay calls upon a bunch of cliches...

I think it's working again, Veronica. Sorry if you lost a comment or two.

I agree with you about LMS, Chris. I don't *want* it to win except for the fact that it would confirm my somewhat cynical prediction.

I'm still hoping The Departed will break through for the big win. I admit it's not looking good, but then again, who knows how voters think...

I'd like to see The Departed win, too. Jut not that confident about its chances. I do think that Scorsese has a great chance at director even if The Departed doesn't win for best pic.

I'll be shocked if he doesn't win. But stranger things have happened (i.e., Kevin Costner over Scorsese)... I'm sure no one was expecting that to happen either.

Wow. Good for Melissa Etheridge. BTW, has Randy Newman ever won an Oscar? I know he's been nominated like eighty-six times.

Sheez, maybe Al Gore should run for President.

Just checked and Newman won for Monsters, Inc after a Susan Lucci-like sixteen nominations.

BTW, Etheridge thanking her wife was a nice moment.

Yeah, I remember Newman winning that year and thinking "about time..."

So this "America" montage is really odd. It's oddly cynical for the Academy Awards. Some great films, though.

Weirdest montage ever. What the hell?

Yeah, not sure what Michael Mann was trying to do there or how some of those films (Blade Runner) were distinctly American.

Cool! Glad Thelma Schoonmaker won! Loved the editing in The Departed.

Way to go, Thelma Schoonmaker! It's funny to see this older lady editing this hard-hitting, violent film with such sharp editing.

Loved the description of working with Marty as being like "working in the best film school in the world." What a nice tribute.

Lovd seeing him crying, too.

Yeah, it is a bit odd, but she's so deeply associated with Scorsese that it makes sense.

I probably comment on this every year, but I find the dead people montage incredibly odd. I'm never sure how to respond.

Wow, it's bad when you're making jokes about being that far behind schedule. Quite frankly I think the Oscars should just embrace it. They run late. Big deal.

Schoonmaker and Scorsese -- having worked together so long, I imagine they must have a very close friendship. I think it's kind of nice, LOL.

The In Memoriam montage -- well, I think a big part of my response each year is: "Wait, did I know he died?"

Helen Mirren -- big surprise there ;-)

On how late they're running: yeah, if the show is good, people won't care. Why fight it?

Helen Mirren is a good choice. Not a big surprise, of course. Love the awkwardness (carrying her purse on stage).

I get why she was paying tribute to the Queen, of course, but was she saying that her Oscar was the queen? Confusing little moment there...

Chris, yeah, that's how I feel about the "dead people" montage.

Yeah, the ending of Mirren's speech was a little odd.

Love that little host comment (what's that guy's name again?) -- 'are YOU ready?'

Well, dude, we've been watching for 4 hours. What do YOU think?

The "I give you the Queen" bit was kind of strange.

Isn't it Chris Connelly? I think he's been about 40 years for like twenty years. But, nah, we're not ready. Maybe Celine Dion could sing a couple more songs?

So it was a mediocre film, but I'm glad that Forest Whitaker won. He's really a great actor who has been under-appreciated until recently.

Really moving speech, by the way. Glad they didn't cut him off.

Woohoo! So fantastic that Marty finally won. And a very generous speech.

Of all the times for my server to get overloaded. How annoying.

yeah -- lost a few comments there. but WOO HOO marty. that was a nice moment.

And THE DEPARTED wins! Shock -- but a NICE shock.

Good for Marty! Glad The Departed won for picture.

Guess I was right after all.

well, a good night, in the end. signing off. 'night, chuck.

Sorry I'm just now getting to join in...

Glad Marty won... You could kind of see it coming when The Three Film School Directors were standing up there, but it was a nice moment...

Hey Chuck, I've been meaning to mention this to you, but in Roger Ebert's book "Awake in the Dark" (Which is strange to read right now, because it sort of feels like he's writing his own career-eulogy) there is an EXCELLENT section on documentaries... If you haven't yet, you should...

Good night, Chris. It was fun. Hey, Dylan. Thanks for the tip on Ebert. I'll be sure to check it out.

And, yes, as soon as I saw Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg come out, I knew the deal was in the bag.