Oh What A Night

Oh, the Oscars. Every year as I watch I wonder what it is about them that I love so much, and every year I have a harder time figuring it out. I don't really know why. They are superficial, incredibly self-indulgent, and often times painfully awkward to watch, and yet there I am on my couch every March, filled with excitement as the first glammed-up stars make their way down the red carpet. Isn't it great?

Here is my own personal list of Best and Worst of Oscars 2010:

BEST

Sandra Bullock's Best Actress Win - For being an actress I once couldn't stomach watching, she sure has made it high on my list of favorites. Although I still have not seen The Blind Side, she says bitterly, I think she deserves it just for being an amazing actress and starring in so many great movies. Her acceptance speech wins my vote for best acceptance speech of ALL TIME, and completely summed up what I love about her: She was emotional, endearing, and funny all at the same time. LOVED IT.

Gabourey Sidibe - When she sat and listened to Oprah's tribute to her with tears streaming down her face, I wanted to cry with her. I loved seeing what she was feeling: a young girl plucked out of obscurity to become this epic star over night, sitting at her very first Oscars, possibly about to win the award for Best Actress (she didn't). I love that she was able to put aside the plastic-y show that all stars encompass at the Oscars and...feel. It was a very real moment.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin - As co-hosts, these guys had me cracking up every time they were on stage. Their casual banter was soooo much funnier and easier to watch than the put-on, rehearsed jokes that the usual non-comedian hosts do.
Kathryn Bigelow's Best Director Award - Only because I love witnessing history. The first female to ever nab this award, she was shaking like a leaf as she accepted both this and the best picture award (for her movie The Hurt Locker) and was gripping her Oscars like her life depended on it! So sweet.

WORST

The Best Actress/Actor peer tributes - Does anyone else HATE these? In theory, it's a swell idea to have someone the actor worked with introduce them. But four minutes of a "peer" gushing over the nominee while the camera parks itself in front of said nominee for the duration is painful!! What ever happened to just good ole"and the nominees are..."??

John Hughes' tribute - Sure, I liked Ferris Bueller's Day Off as much as the next girl, but, seriously? I lot of great people in the movie industry died last year and all they got was a blip on the In Memoriam montage. I was left wondering why this guy deserved so much air time.

Sean Penn - Presenting for something (I can't even remember), he made a confusing, uncomfortable comment that I'm sure if I understood would have been controversial.

Sandy Powell - Accepting her award for Best Costume Design, she began by saying, "I already have two of these." (meaning Oscars.) Hey, Sandy, maybe hide the plethora of Oscars you have, because I know of at least four other people who would gladly bludgeon you to death with them.

And that was my take on the 82nd Academy Awards.
What did you think?