I preferred last year's ceremony where the announcements of the nominations and the winners were declared without the fanfare. A year later after the Writers Strike, I was stunned to see the stars to be inebriated on stage. I would recommend that they don't serve liquor until after the awards are complete. In fact, Mickey Rourke's speech was memorable because he remembered to thank his dogs--his canine pets alive and gone. I think Kate Winslet's double win wasn't right but it's long overdue since she was nominated before. It's kind of sad that there are not enough good female roles around in the movies. I was really happy about Slumdog Millionaire winning all four awards including Best Drama. Still, I felt like the awards also forgot to remember those who passed away over the last two years. They omitted that to the television audience. I don't care what people wear but I think people should be better behaved at these events like staying sober. Tina Fey's wins are no surprise since her show is the only one that seems to get critics approval. There were funny moments in the show and they avoided showing clips. Steven Spielberg's moment receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award was probably the best of the night. It was good to see John Adams, the mini-series based on David McCulloch's amazing book, to win awards for Best Mini-Series, Actor Paul Giamati, Actress Laura Linney, and Supporting Actor Tom Wilkinson OBE who played Ben Franklin. He wasn't there to pick up his Emmy so it was finally nice to see him there. I was surprised to see Dame Eileen Atkins CBE there who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Cranford. She didn't win the award. I was surprised and embarrassed by Ricky Gervais' comment that "if you do a Holocaust film, you get a GOlden Globe" regarding Kate's first win of the evening. I was happy for Bruce Springsteen winning for "The Wrestler." In the time where our economy is suffering at a depression status, films like "The Wrestler" and "Slumdog Millionaire" are recommendations to avoid seeing the silliness, over-indulgence, and millions of wasted dollars in the industry. Those two movies are character based and can relate to most of us out here who are trying to survive. I believe Spielberg's Cecil B. De Mille Award was from last year and I don't understand why they didn't award a recipient for this year. But if the actors want to strike, they can go ahead because I wouldn't mind losing the Oscars.
