Oscar, how I love thee.

I haven't watched an awards show in a while, but Bill and I sat down to watch the Oscars last night. We got in a little late from Bill's birthday festivities (Happy Birthday, honey!) so we watched the rest in high-def. Oh wow. Never before have I seen so much detail so close. Lots of high beams last night, to Bill's delight. We ended up watching it again afterwards, skipping through most of it until we got to speeches or parts we'd missed before. Oh yeah, and so Bill could see Jessica Biel again.

A breakdown, in my honest opinion:

- What's up with Nicole Kidman's and Gwyneth Paltrow's hair? I just don't get it. Looked a little stringy and too composed to fall over one shoulder.

- I love Kate Winslet. I really really do.

- Ellen ROCKED! I Tivo her show every day and I adore her as a person. It was a rocky start, but she was funny without even trying. Yay!!!

- Helen Mirren is beautiful. I recently read a very open and honest interview with her where she came across as being not quite so humble, but she's a great actress nevertheless.

- I love how Jack Nicholson is in the front row of every awards show, whether he's nominated or not. And how he's always the butt of some joke, and how he always gets camera time for facial expressions and laughter.

- Steve Carrell is just too damn funny.

- It was cute that Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine brought her Curious George doll with her. I read where she said she was bringing him since she wasn't old enough to date yet.

- Yay for the international recognition that was received this year. There are so many great foreign films out there.

- Was Diane Keaton drunk? Seriously, I love her, but she was acting really goofy last night. I half expected her to jump up and down and do a jig at one point. She was slurring her words too. But I still love you, Diane.

- Kudos for the emphasis on Hollywood going "green". Like Al said, it's a moral issue, not a political one. And even better that celebs are jumping on the bandwagon so that Joe Shmoe will pay more attention as well.

- Say what you want, but I love Pilobolus. I've been a fan of this dance troupe since I first saw them in high school. I owned their calendars for a couple of years. Brilliant.

- When did Leo DiCaprio finally grow up? He's always looked like a little boy to me until last now. Meow!

- Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly were hilarious. At least for right now, I can't get enough of Will Ferrell.

- Congrats to Jennifer Hudson, but I honestly thought Cate Blanchett would win. Until I see more of Jennifer's work as an actress, I won't be convinced that she played her part well because it was her playing herself. Bill and I talked about how many actors today are basically just playing themselves. There's no breadth to their work. I don't see how that is deserving of an Oscar.

- Congrats to Martin Scorcese. Too bad it came too late and not for Goodfellas, etc. He's also got a great sense of comedic timing (with Ellen).

- Boo to the director and sound editing for the show. The direction was bad: random shots of nothing and seat fillers instead of stars. Or catching stars off guard (why were so many unaware that cameras would be on them?) Also, the sound was awful. We got our new stereo so it was especially evident.

- Jaden Smith is possibly the cutest kid I've seen lately (other than my own, of course.)

- The whole thing with live models for the costume awards category was just weird. I would have preferred pics or illustrations like in past shows.

- Forrest Whitaker is cool. I saw a couple of interviews with him and he's just a cool guy. It's good to see him win - a REAL actor. He was so shaken up during his speech. Was he really that surprised? I wasn't.

- Why were Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt giggling so much? Did they not realize their mic's were still on even if the cameras weren't? Immature.

- Melissa Etheridge thanking her wife. I got a nice, warm fuzzy feeling from that.

- Jennifer Lopez looked pretty and fresh. She's had some odd fashion choices of late, but I still prefer them over the old "Jenny from the Block".

- Jodie Foster is so classy.

- Everyone looked great, but I just didn't understand Cameron Diaz's dress.