It was OSCAR night last night, and LOTR picked up everything.
There should be a public holiday in New Zealand today.
No New Zealander should have to go to work, or get their fleece shorn today.
And Peter Jackson can be made king.
I was very pleased with both the supporting acting awards.
Tim Robbins was a good choice.
Anything that can make Susan Sarandon look so beamingly happy is a good thing.
They are such a great Hollywood couple. Smart, rich, sexy and talented. They got the 10 year age difference couple thing going before it became mandatory. And now they have little matching supporting performance oscarmen for their mantle-piece.
Renee Zellweger was very pleasing.
She was the best thing in Chicago and made a perfect Bridget Jones, so she deserved a statue of her own. She was nicely shapely last night and squinted a little less than usual. New eye-drops perhaps?
I'm not sure about Charlize Theron.
I've been told she's very good in Monster, but she looks like one of those pretty young actresses who win supporting actress oscars then disappear forever.
She gave a good happy speech, and only started to cry when thanking her mother for all the sacrifices that had been made. I think that's acceptable.
Sean Penn probably deserved to finally get a prize, but that left Bill Murray sitting without one.
Poor Bill.
Apart from the acting awards, there were only a few other awards that didn't go to New Zealanders.
There were at least two Australians.
Russell Boyd was another Australian to win for cinematography, and there was the guy who made the short Harvie Krumpet. I was pleased for him. Shorts are mostly ignored, but this guy got to stand up on stage holding an oscar alongside Sofia Coppola and Peter Jackson. He must've felt like a star. The paper says he has recently been receiving Centrelink payments. And it was nice of him to thank his 'beautiful boyfriend'. Awwww..
Annie Lennox had the most beamingest face all night.
She was like a girl who had just gotten a pony for her birthday when all she was expecting was a tricycle.
Her song was very beautiful, and the songs from Cold Mountain were good too, but they were all very tasteful and unhummable. Made me miss the old songs a bit - Under The Sea and The Theme From Shaft. Up Where We Belong and Blame Canada! Now they were good sing-a-longs.
* The top of Jamie Lee Curtis' dress seemed overly enthusiastic. Was trying a bit hard to show everyone that Jamie is indeed not a man.
* The ladies all looked very nice in their dresses. Uma Thurman looked a bit off maybe. But nobody wore anything too daring. They needed to invite Bjork or Cher I think, for a bit of colour.
* Robin Williams was hyperactive in a good way. He must've stuck his finger in a toaster just before the show.
* Jack Black and Will Farrell provided the only funny instance of presenter-banter. They provided the words for the music that ushers off people who win the smaller oscars and have speeches that go on too long. They sung brilliantly, though their song was longer than some of the speeches they were making fun of.
* Ian McKellan had an older looking date this time. Last time he was at the oscars (two years ago I think), the fellow he was with looked 24 or so. This time he had a little old man next to him. Don't know whether they are 'just friends' or not.
* I was very happy Blake Edwards got an award and got to do a bit of physical comedy with his runaway wheelchair. It didn't get that much of a laugh actually, but it was nicely done, and he'll have a nice memory to chuckle himself to sleep with at night. How did they ensure the chair didn't go off into the orchestra pit? Now that would have been hilarious!
* Billy Crystal was a cack. His opening medley was a blast. I was just a little disappointed in him for not wearing a funny costume or making comical use of an oversized prop even once during the whole night :-(
* The night was good but could have been improved I think.
I reckon they should have just given some spare oscars to Bill Murray, Peter Weir, Diane Keaton, and Naomi Watts, just for being cool.
And they should have gotten Johnny Depp to do something on stage.
Anything at all would have been appreciated.
You shouldn't invite Johnny Depp to an event and then just leave him sitting in a chair.
That's a terrible waste.