The Morning After...

"So what did you think of the Oscars?"

Well, it was a little difficult this year, or, I should say, more difficult than I would have anticipated. For those of you who don't know me all that well, I lost my brother just over two years ago. For our family, Oscar night is bigger than Christmas (emotionally, that is, in terms of being together.) The first year I bowed out and went bowling. Last year, I went over to my parents and, after flitting around the house and maybe avoiding sitting down together, we ended up settling in and really enjoying the show. This year, I was eager to watch the show.

And then, about forty-five minutes before I was to leave, I started feeling really sad. I called a friend whose eight-year old answered and we had an interesting discussion about movies and pie. That helped.

At my parents, I immediately laid down on the couch (it didn't help that I'd been traveling the day before and didn't get ito bed until 2:00AM) and was resigned to the fact that I might fall asleep and miss all of it Then, as always, I was drawn into it. I did close my eyes on and off throughout the telecast, but found myself wide awake by the end.

What I liked best was the former Academy Award winners for the acting categories introducing the nominees. While I missed seeing the clips of their work, it seemed the nominees were genuinely touched by being acknowledged by their predecessors.

I try not to read a lot of the prediction press. It generally irritates me, even if I agree. The idea is five people are nominated for excellence, why go to great lengths to explain to be why someone is not going to win. Still, I was aware of who was favored. No big surprises (except, maybe, Penelope Cruz) but even then, it has become no surprise to have a "surprise" in one of the supporting categories. It has also become a trend that the awards tend to be spread out so that all of the nominated films are represented. Slumdog got pic and director, Milk got actor, The Reader got actress, Benjamin Button got a lot of tech nods. There hasn't been a sweep for many years.

Personally, I thought Hugh Jackman and much of the writing for the evening was heavily cheesey. But my mother disagreed. "I loved all of it."