Without the Academy Awards, what would there be to complain about on Monday morning? It seems that even during the rush hour commute folks who normally don’t occupy their time with the business of show had something to say about the Oscars, whether it was criticism of the telecast itself or an admitted lack of interest in any of the movies in competition. My favorite remark overheard this morning: “I didn’t see any of the films … I just go to stupid movies.” As I like to see the proverbial glass of water as half-full where the Oscars are concerned, I guess you can chalk that comment up as a tribute to the Academy’s selection of motion pictures that rise above the level of “stupid,” although the industry still seems incapable of shaking off the need to produce so many such movies.

As far as the 83^rd annual Academy Awards was concerned, there had been far too much advance speculation on whether James Franco and Anne Hathaway could cut it as hosts. Anything is an improvement over über-snarky David Letterman or any other such hosts who have nothing to do with the movie industry, in my opinion, but I’m assuming that even the gathered guests weren’t overly impressed by James and Anne’s efforts, as they ever so enthusiastically rose to their feet to welcome back past host Billy Crystal who dropped by to pay tribute to another Oscar host of yore, Bob Hope. Hope has, of course, gone to the great beyond, and Crystal complained openly of the great burden such a job entails, so the Academy will just have to keep searching for the ideal emcee. There’s always the hope that they’ll ask Donald Duck back for his second cohosting gig (his last was in 1958), but then, at 76, his demographic probably skews too old.

Let’s face it, the Oscars can never get it all right, and they never will. Try as they will to streamline things, as they did this year by combining categories, allowing, for example, Tom Hanks to give out Oscars for both art direction and cinematography, they still start spiraling off into all kinds of directions as the evening wears on and fall into a lot of predictability and awkwardness. You savor the good moments where you can. But one man’s highlight is another’s low point, as I’m sure for every moment I said “Hey, this I like,” somebody else was groaning with agony.

There are always the omitted names from the “Obituary” section, for example, to get tongues wagging. Those left off included Betty Garrett, Tom Bosley, Peter Graves, Maury Chaykin, James MacArthur, Oscar nominee Joe Mantell (from Marty; pictured right),  June Havoc, Fess Parker, Dorothy Provine, Kenneth Mars, and Maria Schneider (oops, now I’m going to be criticized for leaving people off the “left off” list). They also passed over Corin Redgrave, despite the fact that his sister Lynn was among those noted, and Corey Haim, who, having died at 38 certainly would have fit the Academy’s goal of appealing to a younger audience, although I suppose seeing someone expire at a tender age wasn’t quite what they had in mind.

For me the absolute pits was a pointless bit of cheesy techno-gagging that turned moments from last year’s movies into musicals. It was as witless as something a misguided “friend” might email you to watch on youtube, made by someone who thinks this sort of thing is the height of satire (like Auto-Tune the News, ed.). This was inserted into a show that did not allow special Oscar honorees Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach, and Kevin Brownlow their moment to be tributed and then gratefully accept their honor before a live viewing audience. No, for the second year in a row this was relegated to an untelevised ceremony held months in advance of the Oscars, of which we were shown about 10 seconds of clips. I can’t complain loudly enough of what a bad idea it is to diminish such awards. If anyone has found such tributes “dull” in past years and hoped they would be banished off the air, well, they have no business watching the Academy Awards, if you ask me.

So what to omit? As Jake Gyllenhaal pointed out it is in the short subject category that most people lose points on their Oscar polls, which has led some to believe that these awards should be given off air too. However, as I know last night’s victory for the film Strangers No More (which was screened at the Paley Center) and its creators, Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman, meant a great deal not only to those receiving the trophy but to a fellow employee and Paley Center blogger here at work, how can we deny this being televised as well? Think of the ceremony as a grab bag effort to reach all kinds of demographics; if you’re not into a specific moment then maybe the next category will thrill you. And there’s always some bit of modern technology to distract you in the meantime, something the Academy wants to keep emphasizing, alas.

What I appreciated  most about this year’s awards, were some of the comments and asides dropped by winners and presenters, the sort to make you stop and think. I loved that the writer of The King’s Speech, David Seidler (pictured left), is past retirement age and drew attention to this fact by  calling himself a “late bloomer.” This is a heads up to an industry notorious for always banking on youth in place of talent and experience. If someone age 73 can write a script as good as this one, especially after being responsible for the telefilm Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story, then there’s no reason to count anybody out. I also loved the fact that Inside Job director Charles Ferguson reminded the audience that not a single one of the corrupt businessmen profiled in his movie has been sentenced to jail. It’s all very well to address problems in movies, non-fiction or fiction, but sometimes we need to keep our minds on the issues long after the camera has turned away, in hopes of seeing things change for the better. I also loved Best Song winner Randy Newman wondering aloud why voters couldn’t come up with a fifth song to nominate in his category, certainly a valid criticism in light of the number of tunes neglected over the years by less-than-astute Academy members. And I was also happy that Steven Spielberg made sure to mention some of notable movies of the past that were Best Picture nominees that did not ultimately win, to remind those who would be going home empty handed that the cliché that “it’s an honor just to be nominated” has some validity.

Along similar lines, it’s always fun for film fanatics such as me to pick out moments of irony. During the “death roll,” Celine Dion sang Charles Chaplin’s lovely and enduring song “Smile,” which, minus lyrics, was the theme to his 1936 movie Modern Times and was not acknowledged with even so much as a nomination at the time by the Academy. Similarly, the event climaxed with the playing of the movie capital’s anthem, “Hooray for Hollywood,” although this song (from the 1937 picture Hollywood Hotel) failed to get recognition of any kind for writers Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer all those years ago. These are outstanding examples of “the work is its own reward,” and yet we’ll still keep tuning in and giving much credence to the Academy Awards and their selections, as long as they are with us. If not, what would we have to mouth off about every award season?

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See Red Carpet and Party photos from the Paley Center's Academy Awards Vieiwng Party