I was excited, always have been a big movie fan -- the first 30 minutes of "Arthur" as much fun as anyone can have -- and I was curious to see how Hugh Jackman would handle the big event.
I'm a real fan, so I watched pretty much all the pre-event shows leading up to the Academy Awards, and wondered why the reporters had to keep asking such annoying questions.
It was as if every one of them thought they were the show.
When it came time for everything to start, I was a little surprised no one sang the national anthem, but Jackman was leading off, and right away he was a big hit.
He seemed so comfortable in the spotlight, mentioning Meryl Streep's 15 nominations over the years and when talking such numbers, he said, no other conclusion but "steroids."
Now just imagine the practice time involved here for all the singing and dancing, the countdown to airtime, and then putting it all on the line for such a huge audience -- the great ones responding when the pressure is on.
When Jackman went to Anne Hathaway, and she didn't seem to know what was going on, it was brilliant, the clever ruse leading to a clap-out loud moment with Hathaway standing there and giving the Nixon victory salute.
But then I pick up the Los Angeles Times the next morning, and guess what, everyone's a critic.
It was one putdown after another, and this ridiculous headline across a story in the Calendar section: "Hey, Hugh, what was that all about?"
The byline says, "Mary McNamara," and where does she get off writing a title like that?
I don't get it. Why do writers always have to be so negative? Why are they so intent on just tearing things down?
Has Mary McNamara ever worn a top hat, sang and danced in front of millions? Who made her an expert on such things?
Here's Hugh giving it his all, while we have another Times columnist, Patrick Goldstein -- and catch the smirk on this guy's mug in the paper -- beginning his know-it-all column this way: "I guess reinventing the Oscars is harder than it looks."
What kind of cheap shot is that? Let's seem him do better.
I'm just beaming when Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine come out onstage with three other winners to address this year's nominees as if they were sitting together in a restaurant.
MacLaine could read the telephone book and I'd pay to be there, and she's telling Hathaway she's going to be a star for a long time, and frankly, it's a little emotional even now.
