For the first time in years, I actually saw all the major Oscar winners BEFORE last night's awards show. And I believe the Academy voters got it right!

Best picture surely was "One Battle After Another"...did you know the director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson's partner is Maya Rudolph? I didn't till last night. But I did knew that his movie was going to win because of it's scope and story. Really enjoyed it.

Michael B. Jordan deserved "Best Actor" playing twin brothers in "Sinners". Does he get two statues?

Irish actress Jessie Buckley was amazing as Mrs. William Shakespeare in "Hamnet". A very moving film for me. And the young boy who played her son was very good as well.

Even "Golden" from Demon Hunters won for best song...I've only heard that about 1,000 times via my grandkids LOL

I'm always very critical of the red carpet shows ...splitting the screen between the person you're interviewing, with a shot from the nearby red carpet photo shoots, stars pulling up to the venue AND a countdown clock ticking away is too much by half.

For this diehard NY Giants fan, it's always nice to see their former QB Jesse Palmer being so good at his current job. He asks good questions and then let's the person actually answer them without interrupting. Can't say that about all the reporters.  

The in memoriam segment was very long because of the movie titans we lost in 2025...no offense to Redford but I though Robert Duvall deserved a bigger goodbye. Barbra singing a bit of the Way We Were was so touching...always call that movie the saddest I've ever seen.

All in all, I think Hollywood got the top awards correct and overall it was an entertaining show. Here's to next year at the Oscars!