OSCARS

I lost my Oscar pool by just one point. If I had predicted Sean Penn instead of Mickey Rourke, it would have been a three-way tie between my roommate, a guest, and myself. Unfortunately, I went with my heart, which what did it for me on Supporting Actress, too (Amy Adams over Penelope Cruz...I knew better).

Still, what a great show. Hugh Jackman, I think, was one of the better hosts we've seen, high above Ellen, Chris Rock, and last year's Jon Stewart. I thought the whole idea of pre-production, production, and post was stellar. Putting Director before Actress and Actor was a ballsy move, but pretty cool. It broke the formula, made me interested.

Kate finally got an Oscar, so all is well with the world. Penelope Cruz is now an Oscar-winner, and in a Woody Allen movie no less -- the first time since Mira Sorvino won in 1994. Which might not bode well for Ms. Cruz, now that I think about it, but at least she'll always have it. And now she and Javier can have twin statuettes in their bedroom.

The idea of the Joker being an Oscar-winning role is one for the ages. The fact that Heath Ledger, star of A Knight's Tale, is an Oscar-winning actor, is inspiring. Wowsers.

I just don't get the Foreign Language category. Not that I'm mad or anything, I haven't seen any of the films nominated. But I just don't get it. Don't, like, the majority of them only get a release after the Oscars? It's...so confusing.

Slumdog won everything it was nominated for, except for Sound Editing, which went to The Dark Knight. And let me tell you, watching it right now on a big screen HD, on Blu-ray? It fucking rocks.