More Oscar Thoughts

Yes, Red Fraggle already provided much more detail than I ever could, but I had to add my two cents:

1. How could no one make the Jack Nicholson/Britney Spears joke? It wrote itself, and yet no one made it. And no Anna Nicole jokes . . . come on! (At least put her in the dead montage--she was in Naked Gun 33 1/3.)

2. Red Fraggle already mentioned how the Spielberg/Coppola/Lucas triumvirate were intentionally selected to honor Scorsese. I agree, but does Lucas really belong with the other three (including Scorsese). Don't get me wrong, Star Wars is a great movie, but he is not in the same league as the other three. Heck, Marty is almost certainly the best of the lot (although no two films will surpass the first two Godfathers in my book).

3. I've said it before and I heard it again this morning, but releasing Norbit before the Oscars may have cost Eddie Murphy an Oscar. No tears are shed, but if this loss convinces him to take more good rules (and less fat suits), then there is justice in this world.

4. As several I watched with commented, Jerry Seinfeld clearly is lining up to host next year's Oscars. Ellen was fine, but she really left no impression. (I'm definitely in the Billy Crystal camp as the best Oscar host.)

5. Can ABC please get rid of, at a minimum, that first 30 minutes of fluff. If you want the red carpet, watch E! or the plastic surgery that claims to be Joan and Melissa Rivers, but please end this show before midnight on the East Coast. This should not be so difficult.

All in all, a fairly boring telecast, and yet I watch and will continue to do so. The big winners: The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, and Al Gore. Not a great night for Babel (which I still haven't seen) or Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Hudson's expected win and one other minor award).