So I stayed up until the very end of the Oscars last night. I paid for it all day today. I’ve been so tired. I’ll be going to bed early tonight! The show actually started at 8:00 but the awards part didn’t begin until 8:30. Billy Crystal did a great job as the host. I always enjoy seeing what he’ll do at the beginning. I love seeing his montage of the movies nominated with his image inserted in just the right spots. This was his 8th time hosting. I wonder if he’ll brake Bob Hopes record of 18 times. The only thing I didn’t care for seeing was Billy Crystal’s naked body (mostly) during several of the clips. I went to the Oscars web site and download the ballot to keep track of my predictions. Of the 24 Oscars handed out last night, I actually predicted 15 of them correctly. Here is a list of the Oscars I predicted correctly:

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Animated Feature
Cinematography
Costume Design
Documentary Short
Film Editing
Makeup
Short Film-Animated
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing
Screenplay-Original

The interesting thing here is that I only saw 2 of the nominated movies. So my picks were completly by random. I mean, I knew Lord of the Rings would get all the technical awards but I didn’t think they would sweep every category they were nominated in. That was quite a feat. I didn’t even see the movie. I’m not a big fan but it seems that many gay men are. Go figure. It must be all those hobit men.

The best acceptance speech was by Charlize Theron. I had seen her a few years ago in a movie called Sweet November with Keanu Reeves and I thought she was great then. I think her speech was the most moving. Other speeches were just okay. And if I remember correctly, there were only two little political statements. I think Sean Penn said some little something about WMDs. Good for him. I considered what Robin Williams said when he grabbed Billy Crystal and said something about being the wedding cake models for San Francisco to be a political statement. Maybe no one else did. I was thinking Tim Robbins might say something because he’s so political. But nothing of a political nature. I do want to see Mystic River sometime. It sounds like a good movie. Every year I say I’m going to see more movies and end up seeing so few. There were many that I wanted to see but never made the time to see them. The last movie I saw was Girl With A Pearl Earring. That was a great movie. It should have been up for more Oscars then it was. I’d recommend you see it.

While watching the morning news shows, they all had segments about the Oscar fashions. They always tear up some and glorify others. I thought the fashions were beautiful for the most part. You can expect Diane Keaton to dress the way she did. That’s her style. The younger women looked fabulous. To me, the dresses seemed like a throw back to the really glamorous days of Hollywood with big bows, long gowns, muted colors. I don’t get into the fashion side of the Oscars at all but I couldn’t create a post without at least mentioning what I thought even though I didn’t give it much thought. It’s been more of an after thought actually.

Now that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy is complete, what movies will dominate the Oscars next year? Any predictions? Maybe The Passion of the Christ? We’ll see. But one thing is for sure, whether or not I actually see more movies, I’ll definitely tune in to see the 77th Oscars.

On a completely unrelated note, March came in like a lamb here in Northern Virigina. The weather was beautiful! It got into the low 70’s. The sun was out and there was a slight breeze. It would have been a great day to go on a hike. I can’t wait for Spring!

It has ended. Sex and The City ended last night on HBO. The final episode ended rather predictably. All the story lines were buttoned up nicely. Samantha fell in love with Smith and decided she wanted to have a monogamous relationship. Charlotte finally heard word that she would get a baby from China after finding out the country couple decided to keep their baby. Miranda will have Steve’s mother move in with them after she had a little stroke. She will be happy in Brooklyn. And lastly, Carrie tired of Aleksandr and was ready to leave Paris when she ran into Big in the lobby of the posh hotel she was staying in. Big came to her rescue and took her back to New York, where she belongs.

The episode ends with Carrie walking down the streets of New York when she gets a cell phone call. She answers it and we see the name John on the display. This is when we finally find out that Big’s real name is John. All these years of watching the show, we have never known Big’s name. We now know. We have placed a name with a face. It was a good ending. Some say Carrie should have stayed single. I think the show left that open. It’s not like Big purposed to her. It’s not like they got married. Big just said she’s the one. I think this means that Carrie is back in New York, back to her writing, back to her friends and the possibility of a long lasting relationship with Big is there.

There has also been talk of a movie in the works. If so, I think they can pick up right where the final episode left off. We can see how Miranda makes out with Steve’s mom living with them. We can find out how Charlotte fairs with a child in her life. We can also find out if Samantha and Smith make it in the long run. And of course, we can find out if Big and Carrie get married and life happily ever after. I think there is plenty of material here to create a feature film. Or even bring the series back some time in the future (doubt that would happen though).

I read it on web sites and heard it on different news shows that HBO filmed three different endings to the series. I certainly hope they include those alternate endings in the DVD release that is sure to come. I would like to find out what those other endings might be. I would hope one wouldn’t be Carrie staying in Paris and being with Aleksandr. That would be criminal.

All in all it was a wonderful series that gave us a relatively realistic (for some I suppose) look at single women in New York. Some of the things were out there and unrealistic but the friendships and relationships portrayed in the series were real enough. We connected with these women like we would with our own friends.

“The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous.”