What should I write about again?: The Oscars 2013

This year, Seth MacFarlane caps off the success of last year's Ted, his first foray into live action directing, with being named as the Oscars 2013 host. While I have yet to completely finish watching Ted nor can I honestly say that I enjoy The Family Guy animated series in large doses, I would have to admit that naming Seth MacFarlane as host seems to coincide well with the Oscars effort to appear more current. And I think he would do a better job than the debacle of The Academy Awards 2011 that featured the sleepy James Franco and manic Anne Hathaway.

Here are some of my comments, random thoughts, best of show picks and burning questions relating to the ~~85th Academy Awards~~ Oscars 2013. Or you can just skip ahead and check the results. :)

This was probably the longest opening sequence of the Oscars I've ever watched, with an appearance by Captain Kirk (William Shatner) warning Seth MacFarlane about the bad reviews he is (was? in the future) about to receive from EW. But despite the obvious jitters Seth MacFarlane showed during his opening dialogue, I found it to be entertaining overall. There was a lot of singing, and there was dancing courtesy of the host, Channing Tatum, Charlize Theron, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. JGL singing and dancing! I die.
Best presenter(s) - runner up: The cast of The Avengers (Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson), who, aside from being awesome for just being on the same stage together, were funny and confusing (in a funny way).
What is up with the "you're out of time, wrap up your speech" music? I thought that the shark from Jaws was going to come on stage and eat the long-winded Oscar recipient.
In keeping with the theme of paying tribute to music in this year's Oscars, they were able to incorporate their homage to the 50 years of James Bond in film and the franchise's use of great music over the years. Capping it off with Shirley Bassey singing "Goldfinger" was a nice touch, especially since Adele won't be able to sing the nominated (and eventual winner) "Skyfall" till later in the show. Too bad they weren't able to continue with their original plan to have all the actors who ever played 007 introduce the homage, instead of Halle Berry.
Despite the fact that not all of his jokes get the laughs, Seth MacFarlane does a great job at turning the joke on himself. I do find it weird that he laughs every time his jokes gets a laugh from the audience. But still, decent job. And great singing voice.
I think there might be something wrong with the teleprompters. Presenters keep flubbing their lines. Surely, they all don't have bad eyesight.
John Travolta's hair isn't really hair, it it? Or at least, it's not really his hair.
All the participants of the tribute to musical films... you're all great. Really great. It's just that Jennifer Hudson really shut the house down with "And I Am Telling You". All she needed was a mic and the lights. Very worthy of the standing ovation it received.
Best presenter(s): Ted and Mark Wahlberg, if only because Ted looked like he was really there. And because they got away with talking about orgies during Oscar night without offending anybody. I don't think they even offended Jack Nicholson, purported host of Oscar night orgy party.
Best attempt at seriously explaining a tie: "No B.S. We have a tie." Classy, Mark Wahlberg.
Best presenter introduction: Seth MacFarlane introducing Christopher Plummer, who was supposedly going to be joined by the Von Trapp Family Singers. It all turned out to be a reenactment of the famous scene from The Sound of Music, when the Von Trapp family was announced as winners of a singing competition and were found to have already escaped the numerous German soldiers keeping guard.
That's alright, Jennifer Lawrence. Even if you fell on your way up, you still look great and you now have the shiny trophy to look at in case you hurt yourself.
I'm still pissed about the Oscars snubbing Ben Affleck in the Best Director category, but I'm also pleased that Ang Lee won for Life of Pi. Besides, every other award show pretty much gave the Oscars a slap in the face by giving Ben all their directing awards.
Best winner: Daniel Day-Lewis. If you didn't watch the award show, you better find a replay telecast or YouTube video of his acceptance speech, where he mentioned that he was actually supposed to play Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, while Meryl was actually supposed to be Lincoln.

Best Picture: Argo
Best Director: Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Best Writing - Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Argo
Best Animated Feature Film: Brave
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour
Best Documentary - Feature: Searching for Sugar Man
Best Documentary - Short Subject: Inocente
Best Live Action Short Film: Curfew
Best Animated Short Film: Paperman
Best Original Score: Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Best Original Song: "Skyfall" by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth, Skyfall
Best Sound Editing: (tie) Paul N. J. Ottoson, Zero Dark Thirty, and Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers, Skyfall
Best Sound Mixing: Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes, Les Miserables
Best Production Design: Rick Carter and Jim Erickson, Lincoln
Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell, Les Miserables
Best Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina
Best Film Editing: William Goldenberg, Argo
Best Visual Effects: Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer and Donald R. Elliott, Life of Pi

You can get the full list of nominees from the official Oscars website.

Happy viewing!!