[Ed. Note: This entry was actually written in the wee hours last night. I was unable to post at that time due to some technical difficulties. This means that even though all those other bloggers out there are saying the exact same things as myself this morning, I was, in fact, completely original at the time of writing. Hey, it’s not my fault that my brainwaves leaked out into the zeitgeist before I could post…]

For movie lovers and people in The Industry, tonight was the biggest night of the year, a celebration of imagination and glamour and all that show-biz stuff. So was it just me or did the proceedings all seem a little ho-hum this time around?

Maybe it was the fact that every third joke was a dud, or that everyone in the audience visibly tensed up anytime anything resembling a political comment escaped into the air inside the Kodak theater. Or maybe it was just because everyone knew exactly how it would all turn out weeks ago.

Don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled that The Lord of the Rings trilogy finally got its well-deserved recognition. Even if you didn’t like the LOTR films for some reason (and I know there are some misguided souls out there who just didn’t “get” them), only a fool would deny the technical accomplishments of Peter Jackson and company. Not only did they pull off an immensely difficult logistical task, they also managed to attract and please three very different target audiences: mainstream folks who wouldn’t know a hobbit from a bantha, hardcore Tolkien fans that were prepared to comb through every frame of film in search of the tiniest deviation from their Holy Texts, and critics who generally frown on anything that doesn’t involve grainy photography, trailer park settings, or subtitles. Personally, I loved the LOTR films, and thanks to the incredibly comprehensive supplementary materials on the Extended Cut DVDs, I feel like I’ve come to know many of the people who were accepting those gold statuettes. It was nice to see my “friends” up there on the stage. (I only wish Sean Astin had been honored with at least a nomination, if not the actual award, for his work as Samwise Gamgee; Sam was the true heart of these pictures, and Sean’s performance is as much a reason for that as the events of the story itself.)

I am also very pleased that a fantasy film finally was awarded the coveted title of Best Picture. As far as I’m concerned it should have happened some 27 years ago with the original Star Wars – honestly, is there anyone out there who still cares about Annie Hall or thinks that that film made any real lasting contribution to our popular culture? Anyone? Didn’t think so. Perhaps after tonight fantasy, science fiction and horror won’t be quite so ghettoized as they have been historically. Well, OK, horror probably will remain an outcast genre, but with any luck the other two will have better chances now. (For the record, I also think Sigourney Weaver was robbed of her Oscar for Aliens in 1986.)

However, as great as it was to see LOTR honored, it also got a little tedious. A coronation is not nearly as interesting as a contest. But then, the overall lack of zest wasn’t really the fault of LOTR’s clean sweep. All of the categories turned out exactly as I expected. Tim Robbins and Sean Penn? Yep, saw it coming. Renee Zellweger? I personally don’t understand her popularity — she has only two facial expressions, squinty or pouty, and sometimes she manages to do both at the same time — but I knew that she was owed one after being shut out of Chicago‘s big sweep last year.

The whole Oscar show was by the numbers this year, even the jokes. A play on Janet’s exposed breast? Check. Mention of gay marriage? Check. Lots of jokes about how long the damn thing takes? Check. Oy.

The opening video that substituted Billy Crystal and the inimitable Jack Nicholson for Aragorn and Gandalf was cool, but Crystal’s big song immediately thereafter got tedious. Half of the presenters appeared to having trouble reading the teleprompters. The “in memorium” segments were poorly edited and less than inspiring. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson should be ashamed of themselves for their lame-ass, unfunny attempt at plugging their new flick (which will probably also be lame-ass and unfunny).

On the positive side, I thought that Robbins and Penn were both very gracious in recognizing their fellow nominees during their acceptance speeches (Penn even went the extra mile to recognize people who weren’t nominated tonight, including Robert Downey Jr. and Nicholson, too of my faves). I was also pleased when one of the recipients for a technical award on Master and Commander (sorry, can’t remember who it was) paid tribute to that film’s director, Peter Weir, whom everyone knew had no chance against the Rings juggernaut. (I liked M&C a great deal, by the way; in any other year, a non-Rings year, I think it would have cleaned up). I thought it was funny that Jamie Lee Curtis took the stage to the sounds of the Halloween theme, possibly the closest a John Carpenter film has ever gotten to Oscar.

It was great to see Sofia Coppola win for her Lost in Translation screenplay. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I like seeing new faces win once in awhile, and I liked her first film, The Virgin Suicides. Plus, I’ve always felt bad about all the shit she took for her performance in Godfather III and this seemed like the karmic wheel coming back around for her. (Yes, she was in over her head on that one, but she wasn’t that bad. I’m glad she was strong enough to move on from that debacle and find where her true talents apparently lie.)

Penn deserved his award, but I would’ve liked to see Johnny Depp or Bill Murray get a statue, mostly because I like both of them. Murray seemed genuinely hurt and disappointed, and silly old empathetic me, I felt bad for him. Another time, Billy.

Lastly, what was with the dress colors this year? Everyone seemed to be competing for the most boring shade of taupe, except for Catherine Zeta-Jones (stunning, as always) and Marcia Gay Harding (poor thing looked absolutely miserable, but very pretty for a woman who probably had to go to the bathroom the whole time). I appreciate the overall return to classical elegance, but please ladies, a little color! Also, gentlemen, the long neckties just look stupid with a tux. Either wear an ordinary suit or a tux with a bowtie. Just my two cents of fashion advice, about all I’m worth.

Let’s hope that next year’s show will have more energy and more surprises…

Oh, one more thing: my vote for Best Commercial Shown During the Academy Awards goes to the American Express spot featuring Martin Scorsese obsessing over snapshots of his nephew’s fifth birthday party. Definitely an in-joke, but very funny if you get it…