Oscarina

or, thoughts on watching the thing on DVR the next day while coughing and sneezing a lot:

1. Why do people devote so much attention to tea-leafing Oscar predictions, and then act so irritated when they turn out to be right? If you want to be surprised, restrain yourself.

2. Neil Patrick Harris' reviews were so bad, his actual work turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

3. Best way to improve the script: remove the puns. All of them. They were stunningly mediocre.

4. This was the first time I had heard Lady Gaga sing. (I do not keep up with this stuff, I really don't, and consider it remarkable that I even knew the name.) I take it that Sound of Music medleys are not her usual repertoire. I thought she was pretty good at it.

4a. But Scarlett, the premiere of the movie was not the first time audiences heard that music. I know you wouldn't be born for another couple decades, but someone should have told you it had already been a successful stage musical for over five years already. And a cast album.

5. Most awesome political moment (of several): "Glory", the song from Selma. Damn, that did make its point. Glad it won, though the competition was not as bad as usual.

6. Best acceptance speech (of several): the message of hope from Imitation Game writer Graham Moore. "When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself ... and now I'm standing here. ... Stay weird, stay different, and when it's your turn and you are standing on this stage, please pass this same message to the next person who comes along."

7. Movies I haven't seen that I most guess I ought to: Birdman, whatever that may be; it wasn't quite clear. Whiplash: a movie about jazz drumming rhythms. Really?