Some observations of yesterday’s Oscar Nite. It was more or less predictable this time.

Travesty:
- The Departed* leads the list with 3 tragedies, ‘Best Picture’?! Absolute shame* , what? for a gangster B Flick? Whats wrong with ultapowerful ‘Babel’?! - even more revolting is ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’, that was unforgivable. Martin Scorsese should get an Oscar - but not for this movie! Its just a consolation prize after all. He didn’t get the Best Director nod for mindblowing ‘Taxi Driver’ or ‘The Goodfellas’.. or even the pathbreaking ‘Mean Streets’, and he got Best Director for a remake?! What does this say to his older herculean efforts - “What you made before was crap, but now you made a remake - here is an Oscar?!” - Very encouraging indeed. I would not be surprised if they come shopping around Kollywood for inspiration for next years Oscar.

* Why do I feel so strong against ‘The Departed’- while you love it so much (many of friends loved it) - coz I’ve seen the raw original ‘Infernal Affairs’ on which it was based on - and everyone who saw IA first - hated The Departed.

Minor Tragedies:
- I wished Half Nelson guy won the best Actor award - recent trend in Best Actor categories seem to go for people ‘imitating’ a real person (Jamie Foxx got for playing Ray Charles (2005), Philip Seymour Hoffman got Oscar for playing Trueman Capote (2006)) So this time Whittaker got for imitating Idi Amin. But Oscar should go to actors creating characters, like Denzel Washington for ‘Training Day’, not for someone talking and walking like a live person. But still, Whittaker is a great actor - so he has earned it.
- So much of Jack Nicholson and so little of Ellen Degeneres. I wonder why the camera was so focused on Jack Nicholson? Ellen Degeneres was invisible - tho I love her wit, they should have got Jon Stewart again.

Happy Endings:
- ‘Life of Others’ the touching German film got the ultimate award - wooho! Luckily super boring ‘Water lost!
- Micheal Ardnt got the Oscar he deserved for the witty and original comedy ‘Little Miss Sunshine’
- Absolutely fantastic Shadow Play recreating ‘Happy Feet, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, ‘The Departed’ and even ‘Snakes on the Plane’ - great effort.
- Al Go Go Gore!