I think that the right people won......totally!

Ha! Great review, rated.

Didn't tune in early enough to get many of these moments, so I thank you for them. #9 was truly bizarre. I was just baffled.

caught the first 30 mins then fell asleep - now IO know what I missed!

Christopher March must be thrilled Meryl Streep wore his dress.

Kerry Lauerman has a post explaining #9 in Big Salon.

Enjoyed this, Caroline: uber bingo!

Nice recap! I got a good giggle all over again, good for a Monday morning.

I have to say, this is the first time in a long time that the oscars were actually somewhat tolerable to watch.

But seriously, would SOMEBODY please smack George Clooney?

I have to say, this is the first time in a long time that the oscars were actually somewhat tolerable to watch.

But seriously, would SOMEBODY please smack George Clooney?

What Lea said.

I'm sickened that Sandra Bullock won. She's a made-for-TV movie actress and should never have been in the same category as Streep. Steep acts, Bullock puts on. Ugh.

What about when the costume designer said, "I already have two of these at home?" Talk about ungrateful!

I thought Martin and Baldwin were great.

Your ignorance of NPH's career and show business omnipotence is TRAGIC!

Agreed on #9, but failed to find the chuckles in #10. If Ben Stiller keeps it up he's going to get tossed out of the Comedian's Local.

Great recap. Thanks. Rated.

Excellent!! And I watched 1/2 of the awards and DID not know that Alec and Steve were co-hosts! Too much xanax?! But I did see the bizare moment when the women ran on stage and babbled incoherently. Uh-oh I told my husband, that wasn't right. But he hadn't even thought anything of it, it being the Academy awards and all.

A well-deserved E.P. But I still say "The White Ribbon" got screwed.

The expression on the poor doc director's face when the crazy, embittered producer jumps onto the stage! Priceless.

Waltz's acceptance speech was dazzling. It was poetry. No notes, either!

I felt George Clooney's dour expression was a deadpan gig to help Martin and Baldwin along. It made me laugh.

How much more charming can Meryl Streep be?

I enjoyed the show this year, and it moved right along.

OH...so that's how you get an EP!  :)

Nice! It's always good when there are some bizarre things on the Oscars...otherwise we can all fall asleep.

And, added bonus to a fairly watchable show, nobody face planted on all those stairs! Although, like watching NASCAR, one does hope for a good crash. Bigelow and The Hurt Locker - YESSSS!

Great post - Neil Patrick Harris sings the title role in "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog," which I adore. (He's also done many musicals over the years). I think it's part of why he keeps singing at awards shows.

Caroline, this was the best review!!!!!

I didn't watch, so thanks for this. Good fun! Guess I need to make a dentist appointment so I can look at all the dresses in People magazine.

On behalf of at least this one sick little mole person I would like to say that this was one of the more entertaining Oscar telecasts. Robert Downey Jr. was note perfect playing off fellow mole person, Tine Fey.

Very entertaining review! As someone indicated above, Kerry has an article on Salon about the problems between the director and the producer of the movie that won the best documentary.

"Sickly Mole People" ?!
lol.

"Sickly Mole People" ?!
lol.

You watch - and recap - so I don't have to! Great job.

The Best!

I watched the Oscars last night for the last two hours and was amazed to find it tolerable to watch for the first time in ages. I was ecstatic that Kathryn Bigelow won best director and best film over her nasty ex, James Cameron. I saw Avatar and found it the triumph of visuals and special effects in the service of second-rate predictable story telling.

So YEAH! I'm glad the predictable block-buster was passed over in favor of a more thoughtful movie.

Rated!

Great recap. Two possible additions, one of which might show my show-biz ignorance:
1. Sarah Jessica wearing what looked likea bizarre window treatment with a heavy metal locking device, pulling on a strap that seemed to be chocking her.
2. The almost unbelievably emaciated woman (wife?) with Jim Cameron.
3. Sorry, just thought of this... Tom Hanks walks out, says I'm here to announce Best Picture, opens the envelope and says, Hurt Locker. What, not a 5-second of dramatic pause?

You should be on the red carpet!

Ginny: good to hear.

Thoth: thanks! Doing the research for this one was pretty fun.

AtHomePilgrim: glad to fill in the gaps.

Lorna: The dramatic moments really seemed to start earlier this year.

Kathy: He must. And she looked very stately in it.

Lea: It was good to see the explanation.

twostinkybabies: happy to hear it made you giggle.

Placebo: They were extra entertaining this year for some reason. I also liked the summaries of the best picture nominees delivered by celebs. I couldn't tell if Clooney was playing along and in on the joke or not.

Myriad: I tend to want to add a ditto to Lea a lot of the time myself.

tomreedtoon: that's fair. If it reminds you of waste not watching it seems like a wise choice.

K. Manky: Although I don't think of Bullock as one of the more serious actresses in Hollywood, I don't have any negative feelings towards her, so I was fine with her win. I did find the "I already have two of these comments" to be a little jarring.

WalkAwayHappy: Thanks! I enjoyed the snafus. I also enjoyed the blogger interactions that came out of it, like Silkstone's great live blogging piece. For those of you who haven't seen it, you should take a look:

http://open.salon.com/blog/silkstone/2010/03/07/live_blogging_the_oscars

Gwool: and I usually agree with you on these things:)

David: I'm very familiar with his career and I can see by your blog that you're quite a fan, but I didn't enjoy his Oscar performance last night. To each her own.

Con: I dunno, it really made me giggle. I heard that Sacha Baron Cohen was initially supposed to do it, but that he backed out because he didn't want to offend Cameron.

Sheila: my pleasure.

Deborah: I guess it's not so out there when you compare it to bizarre Oscar moments in the past, but it really put a "what on earth?" expression on my face.

Robert: Thank you. it did.

Marion: It was so priceless. Like a good comic moment in a movie, it wouldn't have been as hilarious without his funny reaction.

Natalie: It was a really nice speech. I was wondering whether Clooney was in or it or not. It was so weird in a way. Streep is pretty lovable. I also thought the show was particularly watchable this year. I think all the tweaks they've made over the years seemed to come together well this year.

Trilogy: well, they certainly didn't give me ones for my strange little poems:)

Silkstone: It's what keeps me focused. Also, I thought you captured the quirks and details so well in your post!

Linnnn: I would feel sad for them, but it would add to the drama. I was pretty happy about the Bigelow/Hurt Locker wins. I thought the movie was genuinely well-crafted.

Ann: I knew about the Joss Whedon connection, but it still doesn't help me warm to the performance. I'm not sure what it was about it, but it kind of made my skin crawl.

Ralph: Thanks so much!

The Good Daughter: I love dentist and grocery store waits for that very reason:)

Jamie: As another sick, little mole person, I would have to concur.

Kanuk: Thanks! I loved finding out the key to the mystery from Laureman.

ASKaPUNK: lol is right.

M. Mckenzie: that's the idea:)

Sparking: yay

Shiral: It was much more entertaining than usual and I was very happy about Bigelow's win! Thanks for reading.

Nick: Thank you! I really enjoyed your red carpet post. For those who haven't seen:

http://open.salon.com/blog/kikstad/2010/03/08/a_night_on_the_red_carpet

Sally: fun points--you should do a post!

Brown Eyed Girl: ha, what a hilarious thought. But thanks for the vote of confidence!

Was the first dance an homage to figure skating? Did anyone notice that the 2 be-jeweled girls line-dancing and all were not skin and bones !! That had to be the most revolutionary thing at the Oscars where everyone else cultivated the starved look of the majority in the world.
Good work!

I'd add the comment Martin and Baldwin made about introducing two beautiful actresses ... because they were tired of introducing all those "ugly actresses."

Classic Oscars. Tacky song and dance, talented hosts who looked completely untalented, people stepping on female stars' dresses, female stars teetering on high heels, some really unfunny stuff (I hated Stiller's bit), sad looks at lost movie people, trotting out childhood stars to see what they look like, movie montage, shots of bored people in the audience, et cetera. I loved it. I never miss the
Oscars, even if I haven't seen the movies.

Traveller1: very revolutionary considering the surrounding aesthetic.

Del Stone: ooh that was a moment.

The Almighty Beckster: the fashion is always fun.

sweetfeet: I love how you built up to that.

I loved the Jimmy Kimmel promo and Ben Stiller! Nice work!

Thanks, Hope.

Thanks for the review. Haven't watched a single Oscar award ceremony in my life, and with the help of people like you recapping the highlights, I will never have to. God bless you and your kind.

ninjasloth: glad I could be of service;)