Al Gore gets his Oscar

I was glad to see "An Inconvenient Truth" win the Oscar for Best Documentary film last night. The groundswell of support for the film also gave Melissa Ethridge the Oscar for Best Song (However, I think Beyonce gave the best performance of a song during the Oscar ceremony).
Al Gore conducted himself well. He let the director take most of the credit for the film and then was short and concise when given the microphone himself. I thought the routine he did earlier with Leo DiCaprio was hilarious. After Leo prods Gore to make a "big announcement," Gore finally pulls out a speech that sounds like he is announcing his candidacy for president only to be drowned out by the music because his time ran out.

I thought it was interesting that just after Will Ferrell and Jack Black did a funny sketch about how comedians are never nominated for an Oscar, Eddie Murphy (who won the Golden Globe) is passed over for the Best Supporting Oscar.
It was a good night for Martin Scorsese who finally got his directing Oscar as well as Best Picture for The Departed. But Pixar's Cars definitely got robbed in the Animated Film category by the penguin movie Happy Feet.
The one other film I've actually seen this year - Pirates of the Carribbean 2 - won for Best Visual Effects.

I thought Forest Whitaker, who won for Best Actor, gave the best acceptance speech of the night. I was pulling for Leo. I think him and Tom Cruise are two of the best actors out there who still haven't won an Oscar.
I also thought Ellen DeGeneres did a pretty decent job as the Oscar Host. She wasn't gut-bustingly funny, but she wasn't irritating either. She was a comforting presense throughout the night. I did like when she tried to end the show on time only to be scolded by the producers for leaving out the most important awards categories.

The awards were distributed pretty evenly which is always nice to see. None of the top films went away empty handed. Unlike last year, I actually want to see the Oscar winner this time as well as several others like The Queen.