Blogging the Oscars...Continued from page 2

Second Oscar, Best Makeup

WINNER: "Pan's Labyrinth"

It's 2-for-2. Why wasn't it nominated for Best Picture?

9:00 p.m: Third Oscar, Best Animated Short

WINNER: "The Danish Poet"

I knew it! (No, I didn't. Of COURSE I didn't.)

Fourth Oscar, Best Live Action Short

"West Bank Story"

The clip made it look like "West Side Story" between the Israelis and Palestinians.

9:05: Clips of "Letters From Iwo Jima," with Clint Eastwood’s voiceover: It's not about right and wrong, he says, but about the sacrifices the Japanese soldiers made. "They made them."

9:11: The sound effects choir. Nifty!

Fifth Oscar, Best Sound Editing

"Letters From Iwo Jima"

Two men want to say their "thank yous," but one guy is using up all the time. The second man looks panicked -- maybe he won't get a chance to say something? He won't. First guy used up all the time. How gracious.

Sixth Oscar, Best Sound Mixing

"Dreamgirls" gets its first Oscar of the night.

Seventh Oscar, Best Supporting Actor

WINNER: Will it be Eddie or Alan? It'll be -- Alan Arkin! "That's a good sign for 'Little Miss Sunshine,'" my wife says.

Arkin has put his Oscar on the floor, so he can use both hands to read his notes. Now Ellen is walking the aisles and chatting up the nominees. Her first choice: Mark Wahlberg, who just lost in the Best Supporting Actor category! Nice goin', Ellen.

Horrifyingly, Ellen asks us to "welcome" a dance troupe who will "interpret" various films.

9:30: In what is, for me at any rate, the musical highlight of the night -- I don't care much about the music in "Dreamgirls" -- James Taylor is singing his nominated song from "Cars," written by Randy Newman, who's playing piano. I just saw this film last week, and the song sequence is one of its strongest. Great use of a song, well performed. Taylor is incomparable. Newman is great, although he recently won an Oscar after a long dry spell. Will he win again this year?

Now it’'s Melissa Etheridge, singing about how we all can (should, must?) do our part to reduce carbon emissions. How odd for the Best Song category, but she's singing her heart out.

9:35: Priceless! While Al Gore and Leo DiCaprio pat each other on the back for their environmentalism, the camera cuts to a shot of a bored Jerry Seinfeld, making a face.

Eighth Oscar, Best Animated Film

WINNER: "Happy Feet"

No Pixar victory. "Happy Feet" director George Miller looks like a penguin. That’s intentional, right?

And now, a clip job about writers and how the movies portray them. Do we need this? Really, do we?

9:50: Ninth Oscar, Best Adapted Screenplay

WINNER: "The Departed"

It has crackling dialogue, but it’s hard to imagine a more profane screenplay.

Backstage, Tom Hanks puts on a happy face when Chris Connelly asks him if more fun awaits those watching the broadcast. "You bet, Chris! More fun!" Tom shouts. We forget that Hanks is, first, a comedian, a guy who's hosted "Saturday Night Live" six or seven times (I lost count long ago).