The Oscars

We expect the Academy Awards ceremony to feature a string of jokes, and "The 87th Annual Academy Awards" were no different. But the most important productions to get awarded at any ceremony are the documentaries. Laura Poitras's "Citizenfour" was the winner this year, and so Poitras - accompanied by Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden's girlfriend Lindsay Mills - warned everyone about the dangers of an out of control surveillance state. I wasn't sure if Neil Patrick Harris said "Edward Snowden couldn't be here for some treason" as a joke or was actually implying that it was treason.

Other people who said what needed to get said were Patricia Arquette (who noted the wage gap), John Legend (who noted that the US leads the world in incarceration), Graham Moore (who noted the large number of suicide attempts among gay teens) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (who reminded everyone that the US is a nation of immigrants, and proclaimed that Mexico deserves a better government than it has).

As for the wins. Out of all the nominees in all categories, I've seen only "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (which deserved its wins), "Citizenfour" (which deserved its win), "Into the Woods", "Boyhood" (which deserved its win) and "Gone Girl". I hope to see the rest of the nominees, although I've heard bad things about "American Sniper".

Overall, I enjoyed the ceremony. Julianne Moore has deserved an Oscar for a long time. Idina Menzel needs to REALLY stick it to John Travolta next time.

I did not think that an MC could be more boring than Anne Hathway and her sidekick but Neil Patrick Harris has managed... His jokes are dull and mistimed. The winners take their sweet time in getting to the Microphone and then they go on and on and on...typical American demeanour...The British need to win all the awards as they keep their speeches to a self deprecating style and they are humorous. The American winners are so self aggrandizing that it is uncomfortable to watch. There were far too many moments in this show where it was cringe-worthy. NPH coming out in his underwear is just desperate. When the camera panned the audience, you could see stars like Oprah, Clint Eastwood, Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy who just had a deadpan look: it said it all-boring!

It should be a celebration of film. I don't care how long it takes but the movies should be right left and center. Why do you think that the brief appearance of Julie Andrews and Shirley MacLaine gave the proceedings a bit of luster? This was all TV and Broadway. The Rock was a presenter and many TV names. I really miss the Special Oscars. From Chaplin to Elia Kazan. Those were moments. Now is the Governors Awards who have all my interest. Maureen O'Hara, Jean Luc Goddard, Angela Lansbury... Neil Patrick Harris is likable but, too light weight, uncertain, forced. It needs someone with real swagger and charm. I know it's very easy to come out with comments from within the comfort of my own living room but I'm one of those die hard fans of the Oscars and I lament this morphing into a a third rate variety show. Names please. Representative names of the industry, and the industry didn't start yesterday. Let's look deep into our past so we can plan better our future.

Regarding Oscars 2015, VARIETY reported: "Oscar Ratings Down 16%, Lowest in Six Years". I am only surprised it wasn't lower.

It is almost unimaginable that anyone would sit through 3 1/2 hours of this snoozefest after a 1 1/2 hour pre-show on the red carpet.

And Neil Patrick Harris hosting an awards show - again? Really? And coming out in his tighty-whiteys - yuck! glad we missed that. With all the talent in the country, surely the Academy can find someone better. Although Harris can read his prompters, hit his marks and dance, he's not a very good singer and when he tries to be clever or make a joke, it comes off flat.

With very few exceptions, movies are not what they used to be - even what they were as recently as 10 or 15 years ago. With 20 minutes of trailers and commercials shown in theaters today before the feature begins, we rarely go out to see a movie anymore and generally wait for it to hit DVD or cable.

Whatever appeal the Oscars show one had evaporated years ago when movie actors had looks, charisma and exceptional talent and more films were worth watching and buying a ticket to see.

I just wish Interstellar, one of my favorite films of all time, got some more love. At least it won Best Special Effects. I will admit though, Birdman deserved every award it got. Such a masterpiece.