"The 79th Annual Academy Awards" hosted by wacky and funny Ellen turned out to be a delight, and a ball of fun with the show running nearly four hours long. The skits and speeches from Ellen and the presenters was full of wit and laughter, and many of the speeches from the winners were touching and warming especially Forrest Whitaker's. And the awards went pretty much as expected with the only real surprise was Alan Arkin upsetting Eddie Murphy for best supporting actor. Helen Mirren's award for best actress was no surprise as everyone said she was a lock for her role in "The Queen", and Forrest Whitaker had been expected to win for "The Last King of Scotland", so it's a hail to the king and queen night victory. Really the most pleasing moment of all was Martin Scorsese's win for best director after five previous nominations, finally Martin you won! And to add icing on the cake Scorsese's "The Departed" wins best picture! Clearly "The Departed" was the best film of 2006 and certainly deserved the award for best picture. "The Departed" had a plot and twist of complex characters that any other film simply couldn't match. Overall a pretty good Oscars show, that finally paid tribute to a long over due directing legend like Martin Scorsese, it was finally Martin's time! Also a last note it was just fine to see legends Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton present the best picture award, and a shaved bald headed Jack now that's wild and freaky!