The 69th Annual Academy Awards

OK, so Billy Crystal is little more than a joke machine when hosting the Oscars, but he does tell some good ones. But I can't understand why the Oscars gave Best Picture to "The English Patient" (which I found uninspired when I saw it) when there were "Shine" and "Secrets and Lies".

But otherwise, I enjoyed "The 69th Annual Academy Awards", especially when David Helfgott played the piano, and when Muhammad Ali came up on the stage (it would have been neat to have Larry Flynt on the stage).

So, it was an OK ceremony. But it seems like this one paved the way for them to over-award "Titanic".

Overall, the 69th Annual Academy Awards was not exciting. Although the beginning clip that Billy Crystal and his writers created with his presence in all five movies nominated for Best Picture was hilarious! Something that wasn't done before and the cameo with David Letterman made it a classical moment in Oscar history. With his hiatus from hosting the Oscars since the 65th Annual Academy Awards and the opening clip to welcome him back, delivered a very well earned standing ovation to his return to the Oscars. Let's not forget the memorable moment of Cuba Gooding Jr's acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor. Instead of letting the music cut him short of his acceptance speech, he continued on & on by thanking everyone he could possible think of at the moment. He yelled as loud as he could with his arms raised in the air and jumping up for joy to end his speech. A very heartwarming and sincere moment that you wish every acceptance speech was like at the Oscars. After the first half-an-hour, well; the rest of the Academy Award was pretty uneventful.