Some random thoughts on tonight's Academy Awards, from someone who has yet to see any of the nominated movies:
1. Far sadder than any scene he has ever directed was the expression on Martin Scorcese's face when he lost the Oscar to that perverted little dwarf;
2. I had no idea that Jack Palance, Celeste Holm or Olivia de Havilland were still alive: it's like finding out George Sanders was still around;
3. When they had the pageant of past winners, where was Timothy Hutton? Mercedes Ruhle? Anna Paquin? Diane Wiest? You have to figure it's not because they had anything better to do on Oscar night;
4. When did Steve Martin quit being funny? When did Jennifer Connelly stop being thin--she's almost as chubby as Anna Kornikova. Hell, she's almost as chubby as Catherine Zeta-Jones;
5. For all the talk about how the Oscars are dominated by senile, middle-brow voters, it's amazing that they were somehow able to honor Marshall Mathers, and the Grammys weren't;
6. Michael Moore being booed by the crowd was as "shocking" as Vanessa Redgrave receiving the same treatment in 1978, or Peter Davis being heckled in 1976. One of things you have to remember is that this is an "industry" event, and for all the talk about the liberalism of Hollywood, it is a distinctly conservative town when it comes to the bottom line, and even more so when it comes to the Middle East. Michael Moore is not from, or of, Hollywood, so his harsh attack on the President and the morality of this war would never be well-received by an audience consisting largely of studio executives, attorneys, and producers (he later got an ovation from the entertainment press, which has less to do with his populism and more to do with his congeniality over the years with the Fourth Estate; in that respect, he's not unlike the current President).