Oscars...

You know me and my movies...so the Oscars are a pretty big deal. Not that we actually watch many of the nominated films before the ceremony, but we like all the dresses and the awards and the grandness of it all.

So, I think Billy Crystal did a really good job. A little bland, but good overall. The opening number was pretty cool, and there were just enough jokes throughout the night to keep it lively. The presenters did a pretty good job as well. As much as I hate to say it, because I really don't like either of them, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis crashing those cymbals at Brad Pitt was pretty funny. Although Angelina Jolie really got on my nerves. Okay, I get that you can't show your gorgeous legs in that dress, even with that thigh-high slit, but really? You have to jut your leg out for the whole world to see while you're on stage? On the red carpet, fine, but you're up there presenting an award...nobody cares to see your leg for the hundredth time that evening.

Anyway, Hugo seemed to dominate the visual effects categories, which was fine. Harry Potter didn't win any of its three nominations...I thought they should have done some sort of tribute considering that it wasn't nominated in any big categories and was a huge box-office franchise, but that's just my opinion. And here's my (albeit late) predictions/I hope they win for the acting and best picture categories.

Best Supporting Actor. Wanted to win - Christopher Plummer (for Beginners). Thought would win - I don't know, maybe Max Von Sydow (for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, even though I've never seen it). Won - Christopher Plummer (for Beginners), which marks his first Oscar win ever, and he's now the oldest winner in any of the acting categories at 82 years old.

Best Supporting Actress. Wanted to win - Berenice Bejo (for The Artist). Thought would win - Octavia Spencer (for The Help). Won - Octavia Spencer (for The Help). I've never seen The Help, so I don't really know how good she played the role, so I can't really have an opinion.

Best Actor. Wanted to win - Jean Dujardin (for The Artist). Thought would win - the polls had all been saying that Jean Dujardin was likely to win. Won - Jean Dujardin. Yay! So happy for him - he did a wonderful job in The Artist. He actually ended up dropping the French equivalent of the F-bomb during his acceptance speech, but the censors didn't catch it, so it didn't get bleeped out. He was obviously very excited...lol.

Best Actress. Wanted to win - Rooney Mara (for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) or Michelle Williams (for My Week with Marilyn) just because they were both underdogs in the category. Thought would win - Viola Davis (for The Help) because of the movie's popularity. Won - Meryl Streep (for The Iron Lady), which annoyed me because she really doesn't give good acceptance speeches. She did perfectly fine with her speech about the Honorary Academy Awards and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, but when she got up on stage to accept her Best Actress award, she sounded like she was drunk. Annoyed me to no end.

Best Picture. Wanted to win - The Artist. Thought would win - The Artist. Won - The Artist. As they say, silence is golden. So happy it won - the film was beautiful. And it also marks the first time a silent film has won Best Picture since the very first Academy Award ceremony held back in 1929. How awesome is that?

And I think the only other thing left to talk about is the dresses. Which were, as Kathie Lee Gifford put it, not very incredible. I found most of the dresses really...nondescript. There wasn't really a stand-out, "oh my gosh" dress that I completely and utterly loved. Which was really one of the only disappointments of the night. Anyway, this year's Oscars were pretty awesome, and I can't wait for next year!