The Oscars. Already a distant memory right? Not even the best efforts of the sharply witty and trendy Jon Stewart could give these golden statues a boost. Reportedly, the ratings were down even from last year. This is being attributed to the “heavy” subject matter of the films that were in contention. Maybe it’s just that these movies really aren’t as good as everyone keeps saying. But I digress.

The Fashions

Despite the public’s ambivalence, the stars were out in fine form. There was a lot of pre-show gushing over Jessica Alba’s golden Versace gown and Felicity Huffman’s sexy black Zac Posen vision of a dress, two of my favorites. (Felicity looked great despite the Academy snubbing her film costarring husband William H. Macy – The Splendiferous Zeppelin Escapades of Filliam H. Muffman as reported on The Colbert Report – “Not enough people saw that”).

Many others were in muted, neutral tones, including Nicole Kidman, who looked stunning and her Aussie pal Naomi Watts, usually a style icon, instead looked like she wore something from the closet of Kong.

The Ceremony

As for the actual award ceremony, Jon Stewart, in my admittedly biased opinion, did a great job. His intro montage of former hosts was hilarious and it was nice to see Dave Letterman’s inclusion also. Stewart’s monologue was full of great jokes, as were his wry one-liners throughout the show (“That Charleton Heston is fit. It looks like he’s been lifting 20 commandments!”).

But, the Hollywood audience seemed a little unsure of how to take things, as usual. It must be so frustrating to stare out at a sea of people whose lives are full of scandals, act shocked and uptight about jokes like “Good evening Ladies, Gentlemen. Felicity”. You just want to shake them and say ‘relax already’! Or is that just me?