Penn’s Oscar Acceptance Speech

As promised, here’s Sean Penn’s Oscar acceptance speech:

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The Oscars: random thoughts/semi-live blogging

I’m starting this at 10:30pm (eastern time) on the dot.

Random thoughts as of 10:30pm:

1. The simpler, less extravagant Oscars are a plus.

2. Heath Ledger winning The Oscar was a powerful moment in Oscar history.

3. Bill Maher is an awful, awful comedian – I hesitate to even call him a “comedian.” Damn, he sucks. I mean, he really, really sucks. What an arrogant, terrible human being.

4. I’ve enjoyed the comedy so far – Seth Rogen, Ben Stiller, and Tina Fery come to mind.

5. The opening was pretty damn good.

6. I am ashamed of how behind I am this year when it comes to movies.

7. What is the deal with Hoffman’s hat?

10:35pm

Will Smith was a good choice. And Slumdog Millionaire is looking good for the win.

10:55pm

I really enjoyed the last acceptance speech (score for Slumdog Millionaire) – why? Because the guy finished with “God is great.” In your pompous face, Bill Maher!

11:06pm

Hugh Jackman has been a good host.

11:16pm

Roy Schneider, Isaac Hayes, Charlston Heston, and Paul Newman… where was Heath Ledger?

11:20pm

Boyle just won Director.

11:32pm

Kate Winslet has won Best Female Actor.

11:47pm

Sean Penn just gave one hell of an acceptance speech – I’ll be sure to post it ASAP.

11:56pm

Slumdog wins Best Picture. I was very pleased with The Oscars this year. Sean Penn > Bill Meyer.

Polling meets The Oscars

This is pretty cool:

Fivethirtyeight– the polling-based blog and website, which predicted the 2008 election perfectly (I think it got Missouri wrong or just had it as a “toss-up”), has posted its predictions for The Oscars. The website used “a database of the last thirty years of Oscar history to predict the recipient’s of this Sunday’s Academy Awards.”

The predictions?

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (86% chance of victory)
Best Supporting Actress:Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (51% chance of victory)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (71% chance of victory)
Best Actress:Kate Winslet, The Reader (68% chance of victory)
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (99.7% chance of victory)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (99.0% chance of victory)

And the Oscar goes to… Ledger?

There’s a lot of talk going around about it – I’ll have to wait till I actually see the film. It wouldn’t surprise me, however. Heath Ledger did get nominated for Broke Back and the reviews for his performance in the new Batman have been more than just positive.