If it's good enough for the Bagger, it's good enough for me.  Let's put a bow on this puppy and wander off into the spring (if only the weather would get here, already).

If you're a lunatic, then you're already thinking about next year's Academy Awards ceremony.  But it's probably safe to say most clear-thinking individuals would like to move away from this crazy thing called Oscar for the next several months.  And so we shall.

It's been fun making a home at Variety.com.  I'm glad to see the trade take a stab at making sense of that wacky, ubiquitous Oscarweb, and I humbly appreciate the chance to bring a different shade of coverage when I could.  Hopefully you all enjoyed it, and perhaps we'll be right back here hitting the same stride again in, oh, eight or nine months.

For now, I seem to have found the only copy Guitar Hero III for the Wii in Los Angeles, and I have to go figure out how to land that blue fret on "Welcome to the Jungle."  Some things take precedence in one's life, film awards be damned.

Enjoy the leap day, and the year.  You know where to find me.


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This post-mortem Oscar week has been refreshingly low key, I have to say.  But then, maybe that's because I went and hid under a rock for a few days.  In any case, I'm back today because we're going out of business and it's time to wrap things up around these parts properly.  Let's start, naturally, with the year's final Oscarweb round-up:

•  Oscar nominated screenwriter Ronald Harwood ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") writes up his Oscar experience for the Times of London. [Times Online]

•  David Carr addresses the crystal clear disconnect between movie-going audiences and the annual Academy Awards ceremony in one of his final entries of the season. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Jeffrey Wells poo-poos the lack of prognosticating prowess of Movie City News' David Poland on the way to tooting his own horn (17 correct guesses, Wells made). [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Modest Millie over here seems to have had the better showing across the net, but who's counting? [In Contention]

•  Stu VanAirsdale continues his snooty perspective on the ceremony, this time going so far as to dryly mock Brad Renfro's death and exclusion from the In Memoriam montage. [Little Gold Men]

•  Accordingly, he's lept out of the (web) pages of Vanity Fair and into the arms of Defamer. [The Reeler]

•  New York Magazine wonders why Amy Adams got the original song performance shaft while Kristin Chenoweth was blessed with a lavish spectacle for her number. [Vulture]

•  Erik Davis asks the good people to suggest a new category to spice things up at the Oscars.  I still say Best Ensemble isn't asking too much. [Cinematical]

•  Lou Lumenick briefly tries his hand at reading the 2008 Oscar crystal ball. [New York Post]

•  And thanks to Ryan Adams, ou can give your own vote on the upcoming year's most likely candidates. [Awards Daily]

•  Reed Johnson digs into the heavy nature of the Coen brothers' Oscar winning work this year. [The Envelope]

•  Pete Hammond, meanwhile, closes down the season with a hint of perspective on the ratings of the Oscars.  He says the show pulls in viewers "that would be the envy of any other awards show."  Touché. [The Envelope]

•  Patrick Goldstein writes the easy column, that being a "let's give the Oscars a face lift because they're showing their age" spin on things that could have been applicable to any of the last dozen or so ceremonies. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Tom O'Neil writes up a response. [Gold Derby]

•  Anthony Breznican cranked out a delicious backstage account of the ceremony's goings-on that, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't see until today. [USA Today]

•  And in case you missed it, our own Brian Lowery writes up a review of the 3 hour, 21 minute ceremony here at home base. [Variety]

I have to say, a lot of this morning's poo-pooing of the Oscar ceremony last night is a bit hyperbolic for my taste.  The mixed critical reactions, that is.  I found the night to be rather swift and host Jon Stewart to be at the top of his game.  Sure, there were a number of montages that should have been nixed.  The Best Picture bit that Jack Nicholson presented comes to mind as considerably unnecessary.  But by my watch, the thing was over in less than four hours, something around three and a half...and that's ALWAYS a good thing.  Right?

But let's get into it.  The season has come to a close and the Coen brothers, Scott Rudin and "No Country for Old Men" had their day to shine.  Good for all involved.  It's the most un-Academy win since "The Silence of the Lambs," but that's the way things go sometimes.

There were surprises in store for some.  Such as Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton taking the leading and supporting actress trophies, swooping in at the last minute to steal away the thunder of the night's frontrunners.  Personally, I saw this coming, but no one could deny the possibility was there and the situations were ripe for upsets.  Both speeches, by the way, were quite good.  Cotillard was appropriately emotional (as was Diablo Cody, who even choked me up with her teary acceptance).  Swinton, meanwhile, offered that Tilda charm and sass that has become something of a staple this season for the "Michael Clayton" star.

The biggest shocks of the night for me came in the craft races, where "The Bourne Ultimatum" snuck in and grabbed the sound editing and sound mixing statuettes.  The latter category had been primed as a race between "Transformers" and "No Country for Old Men," a considerable media concentration given the nominations tally of Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell.  Sadly, they missed yet again and this was their last shot at getting it together.  They'll go off and, obviously, churn out great work separately, so this isn't the end of days.  But it would have been a nice bow on their partnership, to be sure.

I think the best moments of the evening both involved the film "Once."  The first was Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's performance of "Falling Slowy," which elicited a huge cheer from the crowd.  The second was Jon Stewart's insistence that Irglova come back out and be given her moment to offer what ultimately was, let's face it, the bes speech of the evening.  Trigger happy bands really piss me off and someone needs to key them into the fact that some people you just don't scoot away like that.  This was a songwriting DUO, the two STARs of the film, for Pete's sake.  Give them both their moment, please.

The "Enchanted" numbers became a bit tedious after a while, and I couldn't help but wish Eddie Vedder had been there to mix things up.  There are no two ways about it.  The music branch embarassed itself this year.  That's my opinion, in any case.

Apparently the ratings were the lowest ever, which it is foolish to attribute (as some have) to the actual show.  I would say one need only look at the slate of rather unpopular Best Picture nominees to find out why the public at large wasn't very interested.  Personally, I thought it was the best year for movies in a long while.  But just look at the box office rankings to see what people preferred.  It's not in line with Oscar.

Anyway, now we look ahead to next year, right?  RIGHT?  Well, those of us who are nuts, in any case.  Scott Rudin and the Coens will be back, for different projects.  Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, Frank Langella, Russell Crowe, George Clooney -- all heading back to the race.  Returning filmmakers include Ridley Scott, Joe Wright and David Fincher, while Paramount Pictures once again has the glut of product to consider.  And there'll be a "titanic" reunion in store for the nostalgic romantics in the crowd.

But we'll get there.  For now, let's just all enjoy the release of another Oscar year in the rear view mirror.  It's been a blast contributing here at variety this season,a nd I hope you've all enjoyed reading.  We'll weather the fallout in the coming days and call it quits at the end of the week.

Happy Monday.

•  Anne Thompson was at the Governor's Ball, and she has a thing or two to say about it. (Lucky!) [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jeffrey Wells has 11 observations on the night's festivities, including some stage coaching for the Coens, a cheers to Colin Farrell for supposedly urging producers to let Marekta Irglova speak, and some fashion criticism for Jon Stewart. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Even though it was a tight, swift show, apparently no one watched.  Maybe it has something to do with the vast unpopularity of the nominees? [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Sasha Stone sticks it to the jerks who can't help themselves but continue to give Diablo Cody hell. [Awards Daily]

•  David Carr rounds up the show and the Ball. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Tom O'Neil rounds up the critics' reactions to the show, which was apparently "a bore and a sporadic thrill."  Uh, ok. [Gold Derby]

•  David Poland spoitballs reactions to the festivities. [The Hot Blog]

•  New York Magazine wraps up its coverage with some Jon Stewart talk. [Vulture]

•  David Edelstein, meanwhile, has some reactions as well (he dug the decision to bring Irglova back as well). [The Projectionist]

•  Pete Hammond writes up what is becoming the most over-done talking point of the past 12 hours: the international love fest that was the Oscars. [The Envelope]

•  David Halbfinger files for the Gray Lady. [New York Times]

•  And Erik Davis thinks the performance of "Falling Slowly" was the night's best moment. [Cinematical]

The night's two biggest awards are handed out as "No Country for Old Men" takes Best Picture and Best Director(s).  The Coens become the only duo to ever win Best Director and Scott Rudin finally gets his Oscar.  So that's a wrap, and a rather unsurprising one at that (despite Rudin's attempt at modesty).  Here's how we wrapped things up at The Movie Blog.

Alright, I'm going to head out for now and do some socializing.  I'll be back either late this evening or in the morning to wrap the night up.

The final acting honor of the evening is handed out and, well -- no major surprise (except maybe for Tom O'Neil!).  Daneil Day-Lewis takes the win for "There Will Be Blood" in what had to be a cake walk.  Here's what we had to say.

After a short segment, the boys and I get into Diablo Cody's win for Best Original Screenplay and her near wardrobe malfunction.  I might have gone with last night's get-up for this evening's festivities, darlin'.  Take a listen.

Alright, so Dario Marianelli grabs the Best Music - Original Score trophy for "Atonement," which, let's face it, was well received.  The documentary awards are handed out, and the boys and I are glad to see that Jon Stewart asked Marketa Irglova to come back out and actually say a few things.  Maybe someone should key Bill Conti into the fact that you don't play certain folks off the stage.   Check it out.

Wow, this marathon of podcasts is getting out of hand!  Another tight race is answered as Robert Elswit takes the Best Cinematography statuette for "There Will Be Blood" and the annual In Memoriam sequence lands.  I thought Heath Ledger's passing demanded something separate, but the boys had some good points to make to the contrary.  Here's what we had to say.

The guys are tired of the "Enchanted" tunes, and our resitant "Jewban" points out that Holocaust movies continue to dominate the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars.  Meanwhile, "Once" wins Best Original Song but the band makes the stupid decision to play poor Marketa Irglova off the stage.  (We notice now they made the right decision to bring her back out and say a few words.  Classy move.  Thank you.)  Take a listen.

Jack Nicholson presents a Best Picture package that couldn't have been more pointless, as Christophe Rouse reigns victorious in the Film Editing category in a sweep for "The Bourne Ultimatum."  Meanwhile, Jon Stewart cracks what I think is the best joke of the night and Nicole Kidman presents art director Robert Boyle with this year's Honorary Oscar.  Here's our take on the last few minutes.

The boys are livid as "Transformers" misses out on Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and lets face it, that Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell remain Oscarless is a total crock.  And now, they'll have to aim for thg old separately as "Transformers" was their final collaboration.  Also handed out was Best Actress, a three-way race and a big question finally answered.  Check it out.

Alright, a slight surprise for me in the adapted screenplay race (though not for plenty of the net's prognosticators), as well as another musical performance (the guys are NOT impressed).  I also add a shout out to Al Pacino in "Heat" toward the end because, let's face it, we were running out of stuff to talk about.  Give it a listen.

The short film awards have been handed out as well as yet another acting award, something of a surprise for many: Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton." (Which begs the question -- is this a harbinger of Best Picture?)  Oh, and we finally got to the art direction category.  Check out our commentary here.

Well, the first two surprises of the night (one of them a true shocker) have landed.  The guys are PISSED about "Transformers" missing Best Visual Effects (told you -- net geeks).  "Sweeney Todd" also upset "There Will Be Blood" for Best Art Direction (though we ran out of time to discuss it), while the night's first acting honor was also handed out.  Here's what we had to say.

By the way, according to Robert, what Javier Bardem basically said in Spanish was, to his mother, "this is for my parents, this is for my grandparents, your parents, this is for Spain," etc.