Oscars 2008

I tried to post my Oscar predictions here yesterday before the awards ceremony, but for some reason I lost my Internet connection and couldn't finish the post. So this will be more of a wrap-up instead.

The title of this post could have been "Oscars 2008: Who cares?" because this has been rather a dull 80th birthday for Oscar. The writers strike dampened the mood of the whole industry here, so no one has felt very celebratory lately. Add to that a dirth of blockbuster films and familiar stars, and there really isn't much need for the average person to tune in to the Oscars telecast this year. I've read preliminary reports that this will be the least watched Oscars show ever, by a longshot!

Unlike years past, I did not see all of the nominated films, and yet there weren't many surprises among the winners. The only mild upset was in the Best Actress category. Oscar pundits were expecting either veteran Julie Christie, the always fabulous Cate Blanchett, or even little Juno star Ellen Page to walk off with the golden statue. However, the award went to the gorgeous French actress Marion Cotillard for her portrayal as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. I haven't seen the film yet, but Miss Cotillard's transformation into the French chanteuse looks amazing! No wonder the film also won the award for Best Makeup.

My favorite moment was when host John Stewart brought songwriter Marketa Irglova back to the stage after a commercial break because her acceptance speech was cut off by the orchestra. That was classy of him. Another favorite moment was my homegirl Amy Adams' live performance of one of the three nominated songs from Enchanted. Her song didn't win, but her performance was a lot of fun.

Anyway, that's it for Oscars 2008. Watching the ceremony with my friend Heidi was fun because we played her famous Oscar drinking game and got drunk very quickly!