The Oscars

I found this year's Academy Awards to be something of a letdown. There was a large build-up for the festivities this year. I couldn't tie my shoes without hearing something about the event. According to what I heard, the Oscar's this year were going to be very different from years past. The goal was to hearken back to the 'Golden Age" of cinema and the Oscars. They did make a valiant attempt from the get-go by getting Hugh Jackman to host. I thought this was a bold move being that he is primarily and action star best know as Wolverine in the X-Men movies. Apparently Jackman is a well-trained theater and "song and dance man". I actually felt that he did an adequate job. My beef lies in some other areas.
For starters, as usual, I had a problem with some of the nominations, and lack there of. I was a gigantic fan of the Dark Knight. Despite it being a superhero movie, I really felt it merited Best Picture and Best Director consideration. I realize that it is not the typical movie that receive these accolations, but in this case exceptions should have been made. I also think that "The Wrestler" and director Darren Aronfsky should have been given consideration as well.
People have told me, and I agree, they didn't show clips from the nominated movies during the best acting categories. When it came time to award the Oscar from Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, 5 previous winners of their respective categories came out and sung the praises of each individual and their performances. I liked seeing past winners but the praise for each person eventually became repetitive and felt forced. I think seeing a clip of the actor's performance speaks volumes compared to someone talking about how good they were. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
I really felt that Mickey Rourke got snubbed in terms of not winning Best Actor. For those who are seen "The Wrestler" you can probably attest to the raw, awesome performance of Rourke. Not to take anything away from Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, but Rourke was one of the most believable characters I've ever seen in film. He swept up all the other awards like the Golden Globes. He really should have taken home the statue this year.
I always enjoy watching the Academy Awards every year, and this year was no different. I'm glad I watched it, I just had some issues with it.