First off, a big thanks to Channel 9 for making me so pissed off I couldn’t even be bothered blogging about the Oscars yesterday. I’d love to know which moron thought it would be a great idea to a) run an episode of Underbelly 2 beforehand, pushing the start time back to 9:30 p.m., and b) cut up the show like Edward Scissorhands, excluding plenty of major awards (no screenwriting awards, no documentary awards) and ruining the flow of the show. Bravo idiots.

I only realised when they got to the major awards that this was why the rhythm of the show was so off; would it have hurt to let the whole three and a half hours play out? The diehards want to watch it all – in fact, some like me plan whole evenings around it. If the late finish was such a worry, why not hold off on Underbelly for one frikkin’ night?

Anyway, as far as the show itself went, my feelings were mixed. Here’s my pros and cons of the 81st Oscars:

+ Hugh Jackman
Brought real showmanship to the hosting role, surprisingly confident, had a good repartee with the audience members he talked to. Definitely did not embarrass himself but…

- Hugh Jackman
Not especially funny, not all that great on the improv front, and we hardly saw him thanks to Scissorhands. A solid B- in my opinion. I personally like the presenters with comedy chops, but in a perfect world they would also have a dash of Hugh Jackman’s showmanship.

+ The Opening
Embracing the dismal economy in the opening musical sequence should have been funny, and it was at times – especially when they brought Anne Hathaway into the mix – but….

- The Opening
I like my Oscars to take themselves a little seriously. They’re not the MTV Movie Awards. They should have honour and dignity and a lot of the show felt like this had been forgotten by the new producers. Also the effects of these terrible economic times seemed to permeate the whole show, making it look very cheap and Rock Eisteddfod at times.

+ The five award presenters gimmick
Didn’t like it to begin with, yet I think it grew on me as the show progressed. But….

- The five award presenters gimmick
It only works when the person speaking is genuine and not just a robot regurgitating stuff off the teleprompter… or getting the nominees name wrong, like Alan Arkin did with ‘Seymour Phillip Hoffman’. Plus I missed seeing clips from the nominated performances.

+ The intimate audience arrangement
Liked the new arrangement of the Kodak Theatre and the smaller stage.

- The Tacky ‘Sale of the Century’ nomination prop set-ups
How bad was the camera movement over the prop set-ups for art direction etc? And the camera movement during the ‘In Memoriam’ sequence, not to mention Queen Latifah singing. Ugh.

+ Kate Winslet’s win
Absolutely well deserved, and a nice speech to accompany it. And no ‘I can’t believe it’ histrionics.

- Penelope Cruz’s win
I’m not really entitled to comment on this, because I haven’t yet seen ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’, but Cruz’s Best Supporting Actress win seem to be the token “hot chick” win, like Marion Cottilard last year. I will be surprised if her performance is anywhere near Viola Davis or Taraji P. Henson.

+ John Mayer
Sitting next to Jennifer Aniston. Not for me, but for my wife who got all hot and bothered everytime they cut to Mayer’s row.

- The ‘Return of the Musical’What the hell was the relevance of the ‘Return of the Musical’ sequence? It felt like just a gratuitous excuse for Hugh to sing and dance. Since when did the musical ever go away? Apparently Baz Luhrmann directed this onstage Cluster F. Reverse Midas touch?

+ Heath’s win
Had to shed a tear at that one. Still hard to believe we are never going to see another full movie from this brilliant actor at the top of his game.

- Greasy Reece
Five words that do not sit well with me: “Academy Award Winner Reece Witherspoon”.

+ ‘Slumdog’ and ‘Button’ splitting technical awards
Nice to see ‘Button’ pick up make-up and effects awards, as those two needed to go hand-in-hand for Fincher’s revolutionary technique to work, but I was also happy with a ‘Slumdog’ win for cinematography and editing.

- “Salute to” sequences
Hated the cheap looking titles, hated the editing, hated the musical accompaniment. Again, it felt like I was watching the MTV Movie Awards. Shouldn’t the Oscars be a bit classier than the Golden Globes?

+ Sean Penn’s win
His transformation into Harvey Milk was the most ‘active’ character role he’s played in years, and the beating heart of that great film but….

- Mickey Rourke’s loss
That being said, I still think Rourke was a more deserving choice. His Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson was a rebirth, a rising from the ashes, and an unforgettable, gut-wrenching performance. I get the feeling he’s burnt too many bridges in his years in the wilderness.

+ A.R. Rahman
What a legend. Not only does he win Best Original Score, he’s back onstage 30 seconds later to perform not one but two songs from ‘Slumdog’. Now that is show business.

+ Best Actor Nominees
I would have to say that this batch of nominees was hands down the best five ever nominated for that award. The only year (of my generation) that would come close would be 1994 – Morgan Freeman’s ‘Red’ from Shawshank, vs. Tom Hank’s ‘Gump’ vs. John Travolta’s ‘Vincent Vega’ (and Paul Newman and Nigel Hawthorne along for the ride).

+ Danny Boyle’s Best Director win
Boyle is a class act, and probably the most versatile director working today. I love that the director of a zombie film can also take out a Best Director at the Oscars.

- Best Picture?
Will we really look back on ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ in 10 years time and go “Wow. Now that was a deserving Best Picture.” I personally don’t think so. I think it’s more likely we will file it in the ‘Crash’ zone; good film that snuck by a more deserving winner on its sheer likeability.