I'll dish out a few thoughts, bullet form

Too long, though unlike most, I enjoyed Pilobolus Dance Troupe's pointless shadow art. Sure, blame acceptance speeches for running time then pull out 50 montages and song n dance numbers from a party hat. Was the sound effects chorus really necessary?

Ellen was okay.

The Academy loves corsets.

Alan Arkin and The Departed's BP win were both both very pleasant surprises

Jennifer Hudson will probably never act again.

The announcement that attempted to connect Volver actress Penelope Cruz with Wolver-rine Hugh Jackman as they trotted on stage together was both the most creative and cringe inducing PA of the evening.

Most bummed about cinetog. How did the cinematographer of Spy Kids win over the DP behind Children of Men? Somebody needs to explain to AMPAS that Art Direction and Cinematography aren't the same damn thing.

The cut from Ennio Morricone's Italian to Ken Watanabe's confused face was priceless.

When Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas took their first step towards the stage, Scorsese's name was practically read.

Scorsese's improve with Ellen (when she handed him the script) was brilliant - we tend to forget how good an actor he is.

In the end, though, I must ask how we got from there, to here.:(

Fuck Jennifer Hudson. Hmm, a big black girl singer cast to play... a big black girl singer?! HOLY FUCK!

Rinko Kikuchi deserved that award. Her performance in Babel was fuckin' arresting. The movie on the whole was excellent, but her role was stand-out.