Last years academy awards was a classic year because ...<br /><br />A ) Steve Martin was a brilliant host and <br /><br />B) There were some shock winners <br /><br />This year`s awards were very boring because ...<br /><br />A ) Billy Crystal wasn`t as good as Steve Martin and <br /><br />B ) There were no shock winners <br /><br />Before everyone writes an angry private message to me I will point out that in no way was Crystal bad it`s just that I didn`t find him all that good apart from his New Zealand one liners and his plea to Bill Murray not to walk out . As for the rest of the jokes during the ceremony can someone please tell Owen Wilson and Jim Carrey they`re not funny.<br /><br />As for the Oscar awards themselves I was absolutely delighted to see RETURN OF THE KING pick up all the Oscars it was nominated for ( But I can`t help thinking Andy Serkis deserved a best supporting actor nod for Gollum ) and the academy recognising this film for being the masterpiece it is was the closest we got a surprise winner , everything else was so predictable with the only real contest being between Bill Murray and Sean Penn for best actor. Penn won much to the heart breaking disappointment of Murray . I couldn`t help noticing Francis Ford Coppola seemed disgusted with the result , I doubt if Penn`s next starring role will be a Coppola production<br /><br />In terms of shocks and presentation I do hope next year`s ceremony will be an improvement and we get to see Steve Martin in a cheeky mood<br /><br />As a footnote we in Britain get to a see a slightly different Oscar show . In the American presentation there`s ad breaks while over the pond we get to see Johnathan Ross interviewing guests for their opinions during the ad breaks . This year his guests were composed of Rob Brydon , Roni Ancona and Alistair McGowan and what this trio`s connection to Hollywood is I have no idea and none of them had either interesting or funny to say . If the BBC insist on flying over guests to LA to talk about movies could they please use people with a passionate interest in movies . There`s hundreds of people who contribute to this site wondering why they weren`t invited