BuzzMachine

Oscar Schmoscar 11:50 pm
: I would quote Pedro Almodovar’s speech but I couldn’t understand it.

Oscar Schmoscar 11:40 pm
: Why the hell did I start this? I want to go to bed.

Oscar Schmoscar 11:30 pm
: The predictions were wrong. Tom Hanks did show up.

Oscar Schmoscar 11:20 pm
: Nicole Kidman addresses the tough questions: “Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do. And you want to honor that. And it is a tradition that needs to be upheld. And at the same time you say there is [sic] a lot of problems in the world since 9.11 there’s been a lot of pain in terms of families losing people and now with the war families losing people and God bless them…”

She’s no Michael Moore, thank goodness.

Oscar Schmoscar 11:15 pm
: Barbra Streisand: No speech, just: “I’m very proud to live in a country that guarantees every citizen, including artists, the right to sing and say what they believe…”

: What a disappointment: Cameron Diaz is an open-mouthed gum-chewer.

Oscar Schmoscar 10:55 pm
: Adrien Brody won twice. He got an Oscar. He kissed his presenter Halle Berry. Really kissed.

: The band’s about to play him off and he shuts them up to make his real speech: “I’m also filled with a lot of sadness tonight because I’m accepting an award at such a strange time… [Working on his film, The Pianist, gave him a realization of] the sadness and dehumanization of people in times of war… Whether you believe that Allah or God watches over you, let’s pray for a peaceful and swift resolution.”

Standing ovation.

He also wished his pal from Queens, now in Kuwait fighting, safety.

Oscar Schmoscar 10:45 pm
: Susan Sarandon gives the peace sign. Quaint.

She introduces the obits. Then she’s gone. No chance for a speech.

: Steve Martin next: “Later we’re doing a montage of people you think are dead but aren’t.”

A word from our sponsor, CNN
: CNN breaks its silence on silencing the Sites blog. This from a longer Howard Kurtz piece on weblogs and war (which I excerpted on my warblog):

…spokeswoman Edna Johnson saying that covering war “is a full-time job and we’ve asked Kevin to concentrate only on that for the time being.”