THE OSCARS

There is something awful about the Oscar awards ceremony. Despite being almost 100% actors, everybody seems so wooden, reading or remembering cheesy lines. The applause is even more canned than normal. The thank-you speeches are terrible (don't you think the nominees would rehearse one, in case they won?), as are some of the frocks. Having well-known actors give pre-result eulogies to the nominees for best actor and actress is a particularly toe-curling idea.

It was good this year that Avatar did badly (I am one of the few people on the planet that hasn't seen it, but my 15-year old daughter says it is crap). Good that small-budget films did rather well. And good that a woman, Katherine Bigelow, finally got the best director award.

Apart from that, good that it won't come round again for almost a year!

Walter Blotscher