Thank You, Mr. Roboto

For the first time in about ten years, I actually sat and watched the Oscars, from Barbara Walters Special to the award for Best Picture.

*yawn*

Sorry, I nodded off just then.

The Barbara Walters Special
What’s Oscar-time without it? Allow me to dissect the program.

While the Jonas Brothers are cute and pure and all that, their interview was not earth-shattering. In fact, I could have lived my entire life without ever having seen that. Oh, sure, I get they’re the idols of frothing-at-the-mouth tween fans, but … so?

Anne Hathaway. She’s cute and pure, too. When Barbara asks her what sort of “bad” things she does, she snickers and says she’s done all sorts of naughty things and that we don’t hear about them because she has discrete friends. I’m sure she does. Thank you for the exposé, Anne.

Mickey Rourke. I really think he should have won purely on the simple fact that he was a total 1980s hottie. Oh, sure, he’s had some hard living. But don’t we all? Hey, at least he got his act together. Sean Penn, of course, beat him out for the golden idol who, if I may say, still gives me the heeby-jeebies.

Hugh Jackman. May I say…purr. He’s divine. And I love that Aussie accent. Although, since my 7 year old was in the room at the time the credits rolled, I had to switch the channel. I really don’t want him scarred for life seeing Hugh Jackman give Barbara Walters a lap dance. I’m sure SHE loved it, but do we have to be subjected to that? On national TV? When children are in the room?

The Red Carpet
I absolutely hated the people doing the red carpet interviews. They ask the dumbest questions on the face of the planet. And did anyone else notice the tension between Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick? They looked stiff next to each other. She gave him a wide berth, too. Like she didn’t want him standing too close to her. Yeah, you can totally tell they’re ticked at each other.

The Oscars Themselves
Overall, I liked Hugh Jackman as host. And I liked his opening number. I thought it was funny and fun. He’s definitely easy on the eyes for us gals and really the only thing that kept me watching. Hugh in a tux. Oohh, baby. But the Oscars themselves were droll. I got annoyed with the way they presented the awards for Best Supporting Actor/Actress and Best Actor/Actress by having five previous winners come out and slobber their compliments at the nominees feet. And was it just me, or did anyone else think Sophia Loren sounded drunk? And the way she was standing…not sexy, honey. It’s just not.

I was also bothered by the up-shot of the nominees during their praise session. I really do not want to see up an actor or actresses nose on my 32 inch TV. And the way they feigned their humbleness really bugged me. About the only one that seemed sincere was Angelina Jolie.

As we all know by now, Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars while Benjamin Button was snubbed. I seriously would have thought the latter would have walked away with more awards. I hadn’t even heard of Slumdog Millionaire until this week.

I was happy to see Kate Winslet win for Best Actress. I’ve always liked her. I was also happy to see Heath Ledger win for his role as the Joker. He really deserved that. He was the most sinister villain I’ve ever seen on the silver screen. Sean Penn walked away with the award for Best Actor. And it seems like a no brainer that if Slumdog won for Best Director, it would definitely win for Best Picture.

But I think the best thank you speech ever comes from the winner of the Best Short Film (Animated). Kunio Kato, who clearly didn’t know a lot of English, had the most awesome acceptance speech. He’s totally cool now in my book. Check out the clip below and listen carefully to the end of his speech.

Rock out, Mr. Kato!