Oscars: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Well, another Oscar ceremony has come and gone, and instead of providing a more traditional report on the awards, we’d thought we’d pass along these thoughts about Oscar night:

The Good:
- Martin Scorsese finally wins a Best Director Oscar, and gets the prize for Best Picture of the Year as well, for The Departed.

- Happy Feet beats Cars for Best Picture. Neither were memorable, but it’s nice to see the Pixar streak end.

- Jennifer Hudson’s well-deserved Best Supporting Actress win for Dreamgirls proves that she’s no fluke, but a genuine new talent.

The Bad:
- Host Ellen DeGeneres falls flat. She’s unfunny, shows no spontaneity, and makes David Letterman’s Oscar debacle of a few years ago pale in comparison.

- Alan Arkin steals the Best Supporting Actor Oscar from Eddie Murphy. Murphy is so mad he leaves the show early. Beverly Hills Cop 4 should have Axel Foley investigating this crime.

- Babel wins Best Original Score, despite there being nothing original about it – the music has been heard before on multiple TV shows, most notably HBO’s Deadwood.

The Ugly:
- A choir shows us how sound effects are done? WTF Moment #1 of the evening.

- Dancers form movie-themed silhouettes behind a white screen. WTF Moment #2.

- And WTF?! Is that Peter O’Toole or the Keeper from Tales From The Crypt?!

While some of the awards were well-deserved, the show itself was an unmitigated disaster. Somebody please get Billy Crystal on the phone, pronto! There’s less than 365 days to go!

Ray Liotta Busted For D.U.I.

Actor Ray Liotta, best known for his role as Henry Hill in the movie GoodFellas, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence this past Saturday night.

Liotta was taken into custody after crashing his car into two others in Pacific Palisades, California. He was booked on a misdemeanor D.U.I. charged and released on $15,000 bail.

He is scheduled to appear in court in March.

Anna Nicole Smith Dies

Anna Nicole Smith has died after collapsing in her hotel room in Hollywood, Florida.

The bizarre passing of Ms. Smith comes only weeks after her 20-year-old son, Daniel, collapsed and died while visiting his mother following the birth of Smith's daughter, Danielynn.

Smith rocketed to fame in the early 1990's after she appeared on the March 1992 cover of Playboy magazine. She became one of its most popular models, being named Playmate of the Year in 1993. Smith made news again when she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall. After only 14-months of marriage, Marshall died, and Smith found herself in a court battle with his son over his estate.

Anna Nicole Smith was 39 years old.

Ready To Get Lost Again?

After a long hiatus, Lost returns to ABC tonight with the first of 16 back-to-back weekly episodes that will wrap up Season 3.

But the real question is: will anyone still care? The first six episodes of Season 3 shown in the Fall of 2006 got less than stellar reviews from both fans and critics, with the biggest complaint being the show wasn't focusing on the original set of island castaways from Season 1. The only original characters that were being focused on - Jack, Kate and Sawyer - had been captured by the mysterious "Others" and seemed to be part of some strange psychological test, with Jack locked up in an indoor cell, while Kate and Sawyer were in cages of their own outside. To add insult to injury, the only real non-original cast member than fans cared about - Mr. Eko - was killed off when the actor, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, chose to leave the show.

As if fans weren't already confused enough, Lost will premiere in a new time slot tonight, at 10pm Eastern instead of its old 9pm slot - due mostly to ABC's fear that the show would lose out in the ratings to Fox's juggernaut American Idol.