Just before the ceremony, I wrote this piece with my five best predictions for the big Oscar awards.

You can read those predictions here.

It looks like there was only category I had wrong and I expect a lot of other people got wrong, too. Best Actor. It seems like Sean Penn was the upset win against Mickey Rourke’s tour de force as The Ram in The Wrestler. Having said that, I think Sean Penn’s speech, thoughts and feelings about the equal rights of all American’s, regardless of sexual orientation are always welcome and necessary in any forum.

Overall, I think the Oscar’s Ceremony was pretty good, though the host, Hugh Jackman, seemed strangely absent. Jackman also performed capably, it’s always a treat to see a great actor cut loose as a song and dance man, but we need Jon Stewart back on hosting duties ASAP.

In fact, I’d hope that we could give Jon Stewart the position of Oscar host permanently.

I’m quite pleased that, of the films nominated for Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire took the award. It’s quite a good film and I can’t wait to see what Danny Boyle comes up with next. If you’re suddenly a lot more interested in his work, do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy of Shallow Grave. It’s a really tight, Hitchcockian sort of thriller. For more family-friendly fare of Boyle’s, check out Millions.