Oscars '09

I am really thrilled that Kate Winslet won for the Reader. I love her; she was absolutely stunning as Hanna Schmitt, as well as in Revolutionary Road. In both (excellent) movies, she played dark and complex characters, and she portrayed them with staggering intensity. You should see the Reader; it's unbelievably sexy, but at the same time cruel and full of impossible quandries. I am also glad the Sean Penn won for Milk, which was an inspiring movie that holds a particular poignancy at this moment in time. The fact that Penn, Hirsch, Franco, Luna et al. can all play (adorable) gay men and be recognized for it is pretty inspiring in itself.

I actually saw a lot of the movies that were nominated this year, and I have to say there were a lot of good ones. I think people picked Slumdog Millionaire for Best Picture in part because it was the "underdog" of the choices. There are no big name actors, it didn't have a huge budget or the makings of a box office hit. But the story was well-written and well-acted, which carried it through. I particularly liked the creative way that the plot was arranged. The visuals of that movie are just stunning, in some cases disturbing because it has accurate depictions of life in Mumbai, something I think is important to depict. M.I.A.'s Paper Planes got yet ANOTHER feature. Yes, it's a good song, but seriously? Kala came out in 2007, people. I'm done hearing it over and over.

Can I just say I am terrified of Sophia Loren? Oh my god. I thought Alicia Keys looked glamorous in magenta and big hair. So did Anne Hathaway, but she has a hard time looking bad. I was underwhelmed by Frieda Pinto's weird blue Galliano tangle, especially compared to the fantastic mustard yellow dress she wore recently. It's crazy how many bad dresses there are. I'm not really sure what these people are thinking when they look in the mirror. Jennifer Connelly wore a skin-colored dress with a skin-colored scarf... why? Miley Cyrus was wearing a frosted cake of some sort, and Jessica Biel had an oversized napkin hanging out of her dress. Marisa Tomei was a little too wedding perhaps in a huge white Versace gown, but still killer. Penelope Cruz looks good in anything. I thought Heidi Klum would look good in everything, but her dress was kinda fug. Did anyone see Mickey Rourke? I hate white suits so much. And paired with sunglasses? Well, Beyoncé takes the cake for worst dress I've seen this year. It's seriously the most unflattering shape you could imagine. But speaking of fug, I'm looking forward to the lowdown Heather and Jessica will no doubt have tomorrow.