The 78th Annual Academy Awards

I was surprised to find Don Knotts left out of the Memoriam section during this years awards. He's one of the most beloved comics of his generation. His films made a fortune? GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN. THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPETT. Classics. I know Barney Fife was a TV character, but still, he's one of the most influential comedians of the post-War years. And he didn't even get a mention in the Memorial section? Let's not go into the fact that the composer of the GODZILLA theme was left out. That might be consider an obscure credit for an American awards show. But Don Knotts? Who's more classic that Don Knotts? What's up with that?

For the first time in a long time, the Academy Awards have actually been funny, interesting, and unpredictable. From surprise Best Picture winner "Crash" to Ben Stiller in a green skin tight suit presenting the Best Visual Effects Oscar, this year was truly entertaining. The entire evening the Academy kept it interesting with film montages, funny jokes, shorter acceptance speeches, and fewer commercial breaks (it was a half an hour before the first commercial break). The funny thing is, is that I hadn't seen any of the Best Picture nominees so I was expecting to be bored, but I wasn't. Here are some memorable moments from Hollywood's biggest night.

-The opening number which consisted of previous Oscar hosts turning down the spot of emcee for the evening, was extremely hilarious. You missed out if you didn't see it.

-Pre-taped segments that poked fun at everything from the Best Actress nominee's names, to accusing Keira Knightley of "acting while beautiful". This was one of the reasons the evening was so fun.

-Ben Stiller in a green bodysuit insisting that no one could see him and stating, ''For the first time in Oscar history, an Academy Award will be presented by no one," while dancing around the stage with a "floating envelope".

-Will Farrell and Steve Carrell presenting the Best Make-Up award while wearing ridiculous make-up that looked like they put it on themselves. And Steve Carrell's fake eyelashes were something I won't soon forget.

It wasn't a perfect Academy Awards show though. One thing I hated was how the orchestra played music throughout everyone's acceptance speech, which was kind of like reminding them to "hurry it up". And while I liked the fact that the acceptance speeches were shorter, many people were cut off or didn't get to talk at all. Once there was two people on stage accepting an award, and after the first guy finished, the second guy stepped up to say a few words, but immediately the orchestra started up and the lights went down on the poor guy. This is their big moment, and the Academy kept cutting them short and making them go fast. It was not very courteous of them. And an upset for me was the group 3 Six Mafia winning Best Song for the film "Hustle and Flow". A song called "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp" won Best Song? Get real! And then the groups acceptance speech consisted of incomprehensible street jargon and a swear word that was bleeped out. Plus, they totally ignored the evenings black-tie dress code, with the group wearing huge coats, sunglasses, hats, and (gasp!) jeans.

Overall though, the night played out great, and the movies that I wanted to win, won. I think the Academy Awards have finally made their comeback from previous, boring telecasts. I applaud you Oscar! For a complete list of nominees and winners, go to Oscar.com.

Brian Ledtke,16, lives in Thomas Township.

At the closing of the Academy Awards, I really enjoyed the music the orchestra was playing and I'm trying to find out what it was.

They actually played two songs, one while Jon Stewart was saying goodbye and then transitioned to another while the credits were rolling.

It's the second song that I'm interested in.

I've already gone to Oscar.com and the Academy Awards websites, but can't find anything there or where else to go look.

John Conti was the orchestra conductor.

HELP!!

All I have to say after watching the 78th Academy Awards is: Good for you Oscar! After all of the overwhelming media attention received by certain movies, let's say Brokeback Mountain for example, the Academy proved itself better and didn't follow what everyone said was inevitable. After many years of having to admit some disappointment with the Oscar's I had decided that if it turned out the way everyone said it would I would have to give up on Hollywood. This was their final chance, and all signs pointed to them giving in to the pressure and handing out all the awards to Brokeback and TransAmerica.

But they were better!!! They went against what all the critics and all the press said and Brokeback was denied almost every award it was nominated for. Apart from giving just a great show, the Academy has proved that maybe, just maybe they have some goodness left in them. Was it the correct choice? It doesn't really matter, cuz it was the right thing to do. And that's something Hollywood has rarely been brave enough to attempt.

So way to go Academy! You've restored my faith in you at least a little longer, and you've shown that there may yet be some hope for Hollywood- maybe not much, but there is some still left.

Jay Addison

It's not often that I give the Academy Awards 10/10; after all, what is it except self-congratulation? But Jon Stewart was the perfect host. He was exactly right in his question to Steven Spielberg when referring to "Schindler's List" and "Munich": what will happen to us Jews next?

The only problem this year was the final award: "Brokeback Mountain" was something new, while "Crash" was a little too safe. But other than that, I liked "The 78th Annual Academy Awards". Back in the days when only big, overblown, pompous musicals could receive nominations for Best Original Song, who would have guessed that there would be a winner called "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"? But, as Jon Stewart noted, it just got a lot easier for a pimp!

Anyway, I agreed with most of the winners, even if there were some predictable ones (but don't get me wrong: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon both did very well in their performances). And I laud George Clooney for encouraging Hollywood to make more movies about what's going on in the world, such as "Syriana". Knowing what a great host Jon Stewart was, I would like to see Stephen Colbert host the Oscars one year; in his persona, he could rant against Hollywood for hating America (let's face it: how many movies has Hollywood made saying anything good about the US of A?).

All in all, a great ceremony, especially with Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin overlapping their dialogue to award Robert Altman (RIP) his Honorary Oscar.