LIVE OSCAR BLOGGING! — Best Make-Up, Lord of the Rings. Best Sound Mixing, Lord of the Rings. Best Sound Editing, Master and Commander. I didn't predict in these categories so I'm still six for eight.
The broadcast seems to have scaled back on the fancy computer graphics as winners walk to the stage, but I think I'd still rather see winners walk to the stage. I believe the thinking was that there weren't enough recognizable stars in the audience and that even a lot of them were out in the lobby shmoozing for much of the telecast. So if the director kept showing the house, you'd wind up seeing a lot of seat fillers and wondering where Clint Eastwood had gone. Okay, fine. But a six second clip from the movie just takes us away from the sense of the ceremony and usually isn't on-screen long enough to register.
Oh, well. At least we didn't have an animated presenter this year. I'm sure it always seems like a good idea but it never works that well.