Oscar Recap

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 26, 2007 4:00PM

As far as predictions go, it looks like we were pretty darn prescient. Sort of. The awards were indeed spread far and wide among many films.

To no one's surprise, Jennifer Hudson did indeed win for Best Supporting Actress. Her teary-eyed acceptance speech felt genuine and certainly touched our hearts. It's an amazing acheivement for the Chicagoan and her Cinderella story. Likewise, Sherry Lansing (who also hails from our fair city) snagging the Hersholt Humanitarian Award is a darn good career capper for someone who was recently fired by Viacom boss Sumner Redstone.

There were a few big upsets during the evening. Alan Arkin beating out Eddie Murphy for Best Supporting Actor was one of them. Is it just us, or did Eddie appear to be getting ready to cry before they announced the award? The other big surprise was Pan's Labyrinth losing out to The Lives of Others for Best Foreign Film.

It was great to see The Departed and director Martin Scorcese triumph with wins for Best Picture and Best Director. Marty's quip (“Could you double-check the envelope?”) was one of the show's funniest moments.

Overall we thought the evening felt a little long. Ellen was an amiable host, but there were way too many montages, and the various presenters' remarks lacked the zest of previous years. By 11:20, when the show finally ended, we were definitely ready to call it a night, only to fall asleep and dream of Jack Nicholson's bald head.

image via Reuters