Oscar Night

Is there a better chance to bag on celebrities than on Hollywood’s most bizarre and over touted night of the year? And where besides the Oscars can you find someone wearing half million-dollar shoes?

While I do not profess to be a connoisseur of haute couture, I think I have a general idea of what looks good and what looks bad. Or very bad. And so I am off to do Joan Rivers proud.

We start with Jennifer Hudson. Hudson, who was nominated in the supporting actress category for “Dreamgirls,” topped what seemed like an okay gown with a short silver jacket. The comments in our office ranged from “she’ll be okay when she time travels to the year 3000” to “it looks like she is trying to power a solar energy device” — was this part of the plan for going green? Also Hudson needs to get her hands out of her pockets – most unprofessional.

The overwhelming trend for this year’s Oscars seems to have been “sparkly” or “shiny,” with many actresses including Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren and Kirsten Dunst going for a look that is reminiscent of the bedazzler days.

Despite Mirren’s overly glittery appearance, her dress was elegant and may we say, age-appropriate. Also careful was 10-year-old Abigail Breslin, nominated for “Little Miss Sunshine,” who looked exactly what she is — a young girl having a lot of fun in a fairytale dress.

Prominent on the red carpet were form-fitting gowns and long trains a la Gwyneth Paltrow, which is a classic if impractical look. Asymmetrical necklines were also popular.

All in all, most of the actress seemed overdone in some way – with either to many frills (Penelope Cruz), too many bows (Anne Hathaway), or too much lace (Rinko Kikuchi of “Babel”). However, a few kept it classy such as Kate Winslet who wore a demure sea foam green gown.

Not to forget the men, most of them seemed to sticking to what they know – a basic black tux, for which we are all thankful. Eddie Murphy looked strikingly awkward in a dark slate blue. The normally extraordinary Peter O’Toole (“Venus”) may have taken things bit too far with his smoking jacket-inspired eveningwear. Some nominees such as Ken Watanabe (“Letters from Iwo Jima”) chose to pair classic suits with colored ties.

This may be a brief, non-objective and most unfair analysis, so please chime in. Do you disagree — in your opinion did Penelope Cruz not look like a cake?

The night kicked off with a brief piece of several of the nominees talking about their nomination and generally making fun of themselves. But the night really got started with host Ellen DeGeneres, a tambourine and a gospel choir.

With the exception of best supporting actor (Alan Arkin) and best supporting actress (Jennifer Hudson) primarily technical categories’ winners have been announced so far — “Pan’s Labyrinth” is off to a good start, the ones that everyone waits to see come after bedtime. And who wants to wait up for that?

Please send us your Oscar thoughts. Tell us what you thought was the good, the bad and the ugly.