The 73rd Annual Academy Awards

Here's what I think should've won this time:

Best Picture: Traffic

Best Director: Ridley Scott (Gladiator)

Best Actor: Tom Hanks (Cast Away)

Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream)

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich)

Best Supporting Actress: Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock)

The 73rd Academy Awards show was one of the best ever and it was full of surprises. A risk was taken this year when the producers had Steve Martin as the MC, but their risk paid off Martin kept the show going at a great pace and the show seemed shorter than any other in recent history. What made the oscars great were the surprises which took place during the night, many of the predictions I had read stated that Ang Lee was the sure thing for best director and that Crouching Tiger could easily steal Best Picture from Gladiator. When Marcia Gay Harden upset the best supporting actress category with her completely unpredicted win I had a feeling more surprises were in store. Traffic and Gladiator were my two favorite films of this year and I considered Crouching Tiger to be all Hype which it was. So when Steven Soderbergh took best director and Gladiator won best picture I was relieved. The biggest surprise though was probably that Russell Crowe won best actor I presumed I was the only one who thought he deserved it, I thought it would either be mainstream Tom Hanks or the edgy and talented Ed Harris. While the film clips for best picture nominees could have been better I don't have much bad things to say about this years Awards ceremony.

The show was great, although Bjørk's swan dress will probably be more remembered than Gladiator.a very cool dress in my book...I was personally rooting for Crouching Tigre all the way...because once in a blue moon a fantasy flick should win for Best Picture!

...And what else can you feel when Bob Dylan wins an Academy Award other than pure happiness and joy? His humble acceptance speech was no less riveting than his exciting via-satellite performance. I only wished I could've been there to start a standing ovation. Truly memorable.

This was by far the best Oscar show I've seen so far. The show for 2000 was a total bomb where the hi-tech computer look of the show was concerned but the outcome of all the winners were as I expected. This year was worth all the negativity from last year. Russell Crowe and Julia Roberts were my choices for best actor/actress. Marcia Gay Harden (in POLLOCK)was my choice for supporting actress but I figured it go to Kate Hudson for ALMOST FAMOUS (though she wasn't very good). The real surprise for me was Steven Soderbergh as best director of TRAFFIC over predicted winner Ang Lee for the over-hyped CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON... in my opinion he wouldn't have deserved it. It didn't deserve the art direction award either which should have gone to GLADIATOR. The Roman, Toga-donned epic wasn't a surprise winner for Best Picture of course though TRAFFIC did put up quite a good battle. I was happy to see Miss Roberts win best actress but after a while (especially after her over-excited acceptance speech) she started to turn me and a lot of other people off. Host Steve Martin was just adequate and his smart-aleck remarks towards Russell Crowe "hitting on" Ellen Burstyn and Tom Hanks alleged ring-leading of the plot to kidnap Russell Crowe were in really bad taste. I miss Whoopi! But the show was all-in-all a real enjoyment... if only because the sets were reasonably attractive and the winners were deserving.

Please, banish Billy Crystal forever! Steve Martin's sly, understated wit, and his willingness to anger the humorless talent in the audience, was brilliant and refreshing. He was gracious without pandering or being silly. The bad; once again the Best Picture award went to a film nobody will remember five years from now.