Oscar's 81

I am hoping that opening number was supposed to be cheesey. The man was laughing at himself through out, or maybe he was just out of breath...I will say this, Hugh Jackman can rock a tuxedo. Even while hip-hopping and dancing with men in tights. Or perhaps it's still the astonishment that Wolverine sings and dances better than he rips heads off. I was surprised at how good Beyonce was. That number wasn't really her type of music. (Zac Efron needs to learn how to bow and keep his top hat on.)

If you haven't guessed, it's time for the Academy Awards again.

I love that there's a table this year for the winners to place the statue. It's been said that the little gold man is heavy. I also love when the young punks in the audience don't know they are supposed to stand for an amazingly famous star.

The little montages were cute - and helpful for one who hasn't seen a movie in the theater all year...wait no, I did see one, Momma Mia!, last summer - and here's my question: why do most of the climactic scenes in a movie take place in the rain? You would think it would be problematic with costumes drooping and make-up running and hair hanging down.

I liked having five past winners present the current five nominees. It was different and fascinating, touching and appropriate I thought. (And since we've all supposedly seen the movies we don't need a clip - which may or may not have been the scene that got them nominated - of said movie so a personal commendation from someone who has won an Oscar was lovely.) What was up with Christopher Walken's hair? And why did they play Gone With The Wind music for the best actress presentation? None of those women had anything to do with GWTW. And neither did the nominees. Just saying.

There were some awkward moments - the presentation by Ben Stiller and Natalie Portman was odd. I did love her dress though. Also loved Reese Witherspoon's dress.

Query: Did anyone else notice that the color scheme for the night was cream with silver brocade? And straight up black tuxes and white ties for the men. Bo-o-oring. I read the pre-show articles about having semi-famous people lead the delirious winners in the right direction when leaving the stage, but I didn't notice anything special about the escorts. They didn't seem overly famous or particularly more beautiful than in years past.

I didn't notice anyone get played off - does that mean they're actually giving shorter speeches? Or just talking faster?

This is me, with the Academy Awards review and it felt like the timing wasn't quite on.