Capping an awards season that garnered him several other awards, Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for Capote. His was one of only three awards that my favorites got. The other two were March of the Penguins as Best Documentary and Crash as Best Picture. The rest of the category winners were a disappointment for me.

Paul Giamatti has the distinction of being stiffed two years in a row — not nominated when he should have been last year and losing out this year to a "popular" person but lesser performance by George Clooney. For a few other awards the "in" thing won awards though they weren't the best in their categories. Nothing new at Oscar time, but frustrating nonetheless.

This was my 50th year watching the Oscarcast. Among all of the hosts I've seen over the years, Jon Stewart was not the worst, just second worst. Another tv star was the worst. Hopefully the Academy has now figured out that a tv star is not a good choice for Oscar hosting. It's too bad, because their Oscar performances may cause some viewers to not watch their tv shows and that would be a mistake. They are good in their genres, just out of their milieaux at the Oscars.

I figured Stewart wouldn't do well even before he spoke — he wore the previous years' trend of long tie with a suit, out of style now. He looked like an undertaker to me. I would liked to have seen him in the traditional tux that most of the men wore, or at least something funky.

I thought the two best speeches were given by Robert Altman and Hoffman. Altman was as interesting and refreshing as his movies. Despite his previous awards, Hoffman was overwhelmed and nervous; much of his thanks went to his mother. Competely charming.