K/O: Hollywood Legend Keeps Title from the Hands of the Little Italian

Split the votes - HA! The Academy ain't doing no 'please everyone' voting this year. They ain't even thinking about distributive justice. It was all about rewarding the Best Film and the people that made it that way. Guess that's sorta what the Oscars are about , we just don't see it much anymore. Or rather, the connectedness of it all doesn't always present itself. And although I thought Million Dollar Baby was the best picture (of those nominated anyway), I don't think that Freeman and Swank outshone their fellow nominees. But, since Million Dollar Baby is nothing without them...

In business we call it "bottom up strategy". You choose Million Dollar Baby as the bottom line best film. Then, you back track to find the elements that made it that way. So we get surprise announcements of Morgan Freeman in the first half hour. And Knife-Through-the-Heart -of-Annette-Benning Awards in the last 20 minutes.

My sentiments got four calls right - no shame in them being the most obvious ones and the Best Picture winner.
But what about the rest of the telecast you ask? ... Oh, you didn't? Well too bad, here are some random thoughts anyway...

Sean Combs' total snub of E!Talk Daily's Ben Mulroney on the red carpet during the CTV pre-show was priceless and a wonderful punishment for Ben's fan-boy foolishness in his other interviews.

Beyonce pulls a hat trick, including one in French. Day-um that girl is beautiful, can sing and rocks eyeshadow like noone else.

Pierce Brosnon does the most seemless co-present with an animated character in telecast history (he must have gone to rehearsal) and Edna Mole steals the scene completely.

The new twist of having in-the-crowd awards is a stroke of timing brilliance but a sad theft of spotlight for the winners. This move solidifies the Oscars as a TV spectacle over an awards gathering of peers.

Chris Rock is the man. He was brash, loud and borderline insulting in the right combination. His on-the-street segment brought the pathetic reality of mainstream filmgoing right to the Academy door and put more black faces on the telecast than ever before.

Clive Owen is devastatingly HOT!

I know declare Martin Scorcese the Susan Lucci of the Academy Awards.

Best Dressed goes to Kate Winslet because I covet her blue gown completely and to Jaime Foxx who knows how a tie, shirt and jacket work together.