Like any good filmphile, I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the Oscars. I love all of the pundits who take so much time to criticize the telecast. What's the freakin' point? I mean, if the Oscars were solely for entertainment value, they'd do a much different show. For one thing, they would get rid of all of those pesky awards. They tend to get in the way of watching the mimes wander around the stage. Who cares if Jon Stewart is or isn't as good as Billy Crystal? I'm not tuning in because of the host. I'm tuning in because of the films. I want to enjoy a celebration of the craft of flim making. Some other random thoughts:

I enjoyed Crash, but didn't feel it was the best pic of the year. I read Ebert's comments and he persuaded me a bit, but I'm still not convinced it was the best pic. By the same token, I'm definitely convinced Brokeback was not the best pic (see previous blogs).

Go Wyoming! If you didn't notice (and you probably didn't because you were taking a leak during this particular commercial break), Wyoming ran a tourism ad during the telecast. Go Wyoming! That is so cool. That is emblematic of Wyoming thinking. Everybody is going to be talking about Brokeback and how beautiful it us. Let's buy advertising to increase tourism. Perhaps this whole Crash/Brokeback controversy is really being stirred by some think tank in Cheyenne...

Twelve. I saw twelve of the feature films nominated for Oscars. I'm proud of that. I think it's the most I've ever seen. I even saw two of the documentary features. Cinderella Man came via Netflix a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still not interested in popping it in. Damn Russell Crowe and his mumbling.