Academy awards aftermath

So most of my Oscar picks were dead on: George Clooney and Rachel Weisz picked up best-supporting nods for Syriana and The Constant Gardener, Philip Seymor Hoffman took home best actor for his eerily accurate portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote, Reese Witherspoon won best actress for playing country songstress June Carter in Walk the Line, and Ang Lee took the directing trophy for Brokeback Mountain.

The big surprise, of course, was the ensemble race-drama Crash beating out the huge hype monster Brokeback Mountain to win best-picture. Big ups to Canadian born screenwriter/director Paul Haggis for winning the award in the end, although I wasn't a huge fan of the movie - I have a number of problems with the story and how the race tensions are resolved in the flick - personally Brokeback was a more enjoyable and complete movie overall. Oh well, it's still a pop-culture phenomenon that doesn't need an award to diminish its merits.