Jack Valenti: 1921-2007

We interrupt our post-Oscar hibernation to note the death at age 85 of Jack Valenti, for 38 years (1966-2004) the president of the Motion Picture Association of America. He was a controversial figure, and not everyone agreed with his stands on the ratings system and antipiracy technology, but there's no arguing that he was an effective spokesperson for the industry.

The morning after

Here's what critics had to say about last night's Oscarcast:

Newsweek: An "unusually warm and fuzzy Oscarcast."

New York Times: "For all the red carpet gowns and glitter, inside the Kodak Theater the evening was molded to DeGeneres’ low-key comic style."

Washington Post: The show was "a bore and a horror," but DeGeneres was "crisp and unpretentious."

Philadelphia Inquirer: "The pacing was off, and the intentional padding seemed egregious. It's not what people tune in to watch."

San Francisco Chronicle: "It was long. It was flat. And it was bloated. Worst of all, it was boring."

Chicago Tribune: "DeGeneres’ light approach made what can be a long night more enjoyable."

Roger Ebert: "The most elegant and somehow gentle Oscarcast I can remember."

Los Angeles Times: "Gospel singers, interpretive dance troupes, a sound effects choir . . . after being glued to the tube for nearly four hours, it felt more like we'd just watched a PBS pledge drive, not the 79th annual Oscar ceremony."

The scorecard

No dominant film this year -- but then we knew that going in. This year's multiple Oscar winners:

The Departed: 4
Pan's Labyrinth: 3
Little Miss Sunshine: 2
Dreamgirls: 2
An Inconvenient Truth: 2

On my Oscar ballot, I got 15 correct out of the 24 awards. I was 8 for 8 in the big awards, but there were too many upsets in the smaller categories. I'll get 'em next year!

Wrap-up: Winners and losers

The big winners at the Academy Awards:

The Departed: Four Oscars, the most of any film, out of five nominations. (The only loser: supporting actor Mark Wahlberg.)
Martin Scorsese: If you saw the surge of excitement when his name was announced showed, pretty much everyone in Hollywood wanted this guy to win this year. It was Marty's party.
Pan's Labyrinth: Five nominations, three wins -- although it did not, as expected, win best foreign film. That went to ...
The Lives of Others: Pan's was more widely known, but this critically acclaimed but little-seen German film benefited from the rule that voters in this category must see all five films.
Ellen DeGeneres: Not many killer jokes that got big laughs, but overall she did a fine job filling the shoes of Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. She'll be back.

The losers:

Babel: Seven nominations, only one Oscar, for Guillermo Santaolalla's score.
Children of Men: Three nominations, zero Oscars.
Dreamgirls: Eight nominations, two Oscars, for supporting actress and sound mixing. Shut out for original song.

And a couple of mixed bags:

Little Miss Sunshine: It got best original screenplay and Alan Arkin scored a mild upset as best supporting actor, but it missed out on the biggest prize of the night.
The show itself: Producer Laura Ziskin's offbeat opening worked well, as did the decision to push the supporting actor awards further back into the show. The show was short on the pomposity that has marked many Oscars in the past. But: The show really seemed to lose steam in the second half -- and some of the later pieces, like Michael Mann's montage about what movies say about America, seemed pointless.

Best picture: The Departed

There wasn't really a favorite this year, but this was the safe pick. Compared with the electricity that would have run through the Kodak Theater with a win by Babel or Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed's victory seemed almost anticlimactic. but it completed a victorious night for Martin Scorsese.

The show's final running time was under four hours after all: 3 hours 50 minutes.

Best director: Martin Scorsese

It's the moment he's been waiting for ... for 30 years. He got a standing O from the house. He thanked all the people who had wished this for him over the years, "even strangers ... in elevators!" Congrats, Marty.

Best actor: Forest Whitaker

Wow. His speech on what acting means to him is the most powerful acceptance speech so far: Lots of tears in the audience, not just Whitaker's wife Keisha but also fellow nominee Will Smith.

Best actress: Helen Mirren

No upset here: "This is the biggest and the best gold star that I've ever had in my life." She also saluted QEII herself, ending with a topper that may or may not have been an homage to James Cameron as she held the Oscar aloft: "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the queen."

Philip Seymour Hoffman looks like he needs a nap.

Push comes to shove

Now we get down to brass tacks: the Big Four awards.

R.I.P.

OK, I'll admit it; I have a soft spot for every year's montage of recently deceased film figures. Jodie Foster, who introduced it, lent some unexpected poignance to it this year when she said (while choking up) that she lost a good friend herself recently.

No upset in this year's Applause-O-Meter winner: Robert Altman.

No Marty curse here

Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese's longtime editor, just won her third Oscar for film editing; her first two were for Raging Bull and The Aviator.

'Wake Up' wins it

The big question with original song was whether the Dreamgirls vote would be split among its three nominated songs. I guess the answer was yes -- Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up" took the Oscar. One more loss in my pool.

'Ewwww' moment

The announcer guy just called Jennifer Lopez an "excellent reason for high-definition television." Stay classy, Oscars!

J-Lo: Bad choice in dress, by the way.

It's Jennifer Hudson singing "Love You I Do." Gotta watch.

EDIT: Is it me or did we just come dangerously close to a wardrobe malfunction there?

No. 2 for Little Miss Sunshine

But everyone already thought Michael Arndt's screenplay would win, so it looks like best picture is still up for grabs.

First Oscar for Babel

I almost picked Gustavo Santaolalla's score in my pool, but went with the favorite The Queen instead. My bad.

You got that right

Clint Eastwood, after flubbing the introduction for honorary Oscar recipient Ennio Morricone: "Shoulda worn my glasses."

Uh oh ... it's Celine Dion. Good time for a bathroom break.

Most emotional acceptance so far

... goes to Davis Guggenheim of An Inconvenient Truth, who also waved Al Gore up to the podium with them -- which Al was maybe a little too happy to accept.

Supporting actress: Jennifer Hudson

Well, all is right with the world: Jennifer Hudson won, just as we all thought. But, you know, can the orchestra be not quite so strict about cutting off the winners' speeches? After all, it's why we watch. Even if it's not a great speech. She did squeeze in a shout-out to Jennifer Holliday, who was the original Dreamgirls' Effie White on Broadway.