Just finished watching last night's Oscars (we had plans to be out, so I tivo'd for later viewing). My one gripe is that it seemed like a lot of the winners of "lesser" awards got barely 30 seconds to say their piece, and then get hustled off while the orchestra drowns them out. Yet they dedicate what seemed to be a good 20+ minutes of the show to solicited testimonials about the best acting nominees from their peers. These were all touching, but I didn't feel they added to the program in the slightest, and some of that time could have been better distributed among a few of the other winners who got short shrift. For that matter, the whole show up until the last half hour seemed rushed--I always enjoyed the pace of the show, except in those years when it went well beyond the 4 hour mark.
All that aside, I was glad to see Jeff Bridges get recognized (note that no one cut off *his* acceptance speech--nor should they), and I guess now I gotta go see The Blahnd Sahd (as my wife's aunt, from No. Carolina) calls it. At least I know it's playing somewhere within 15 miles or so.