Well, it was quickly over except for biting the chocolate head off the little Oscars by their plates and finding their limos at the end of the night. The extravaganza once again showed TV audiences what Hollywood is all about.
There were few surprises but some interesting facts. All four acting awards went to foreign actors. Tilda Swinton actually said she was giving her award away to her agent; I'm sure the Academy loved that. Her agent later told ABC's entertainment reporter George Pennacchio he would not accept it from her.
While the celebrities seemed especially beautifully adorned, the set design wasn't up to par, and the musical numbers merely average compared to the past. However, remember this was a show that didn't know if it would happen or not because of the writers' strike. I wasn't excited with Jon Stewart's monologue even though he flew in 11 of his writers to help out. Billy Crystal – where are you?
I know the Academy strives to keep all of the winners' speeches short of thanking everyone down to first cousins, but last night's show seemed to really start that music too quickly. This is a major accolade, one some of these people may never experience again so not why not give them a few more minutes to speak. Even Daniel Day-Lewis made a comment about this after the show that it was not enough time to make a reasonable comment.
Here are some of my observations:
Happiest acceptance speech: Marion Cotillard for Actress in a Leading Role in La Vie En Rose
Most disappointing acceptance speech: The Coens for all three of their awards.
Most joyful acceptance speech: Javier Bardem for Actor In A Supporting Role in No Country For Old Men.
Most soulful acceptance speech: Daniel Day-Lewis for Actor In A Leading Role in There Will Be Blood.
Best surprise of the night: Owen Wilson showing up as a presenter.
But on with the real awards. Here are the Oscar winners and bits of their Acceptance Speeches. Thanks for the memories, Academy, and the glitz and glamour. Congratulations to all the winners, and a salute to all the nominees.
BEST PICTURE - Scott Rudin, Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men. Rudin said, "This is an unbelievable honor and a complete surprise. So many people have a part of this, chief among them Cormac McCarthy, who wrote a wonderful book that it was an honor to make into a movie. The three men sitting down front, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, without them there would be no movie."
"These two gentlemen [to Joel and Ethan Coen], I can't think of anybody I would rather be standing here with than the two of you. Thank you so much for this."
"Everybody at Vantage and Miramax who financed the movie together. The entire team at Miramax who did a brilliant, brilliant job selling it. I want to thank Mark Roybal, Sydney Pollack, who taught me that with the responsibility—with the opportunity to make movies comes the responsibility of making them good. This for him."
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING - Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men. Joel Coen said, "Ethan and I have been making stories with movie cameras since we were kids. In the late '60s when Ethan was 11 or 12, he got a suit and a briefcase and we went to the Minneapolis International Airport with a Super 8 camera and made a movie about shuttle diplomacy called Henry Kissinger, Man on the Go. And honestly, what we do now doesn't feel that much different from what we were doing then. There are too many people to thank for this. We're really thrilled to have received it, and we're very thankful to all of you out there for letting us continue to play in our corner of the sandbox, so thank you very much."
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