The first of my ongoing (possibly spoiler-filled) notes about the Oscarcast:
• The ceremony began with gay Tony and Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris doing a song-and-dance about how he wasn’t the host this year. Then actual hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did their shtick, which was pretty funny with lots of jokes about Meryl Streep as the new Jack Nicholson cutaway.
• Christoph Waltz wins the first award of the evening, as the coolly evil Nazi in Inglourious Basterds — and the first of the predictable acting awards is handed out. Will there be an upset?
• Presenter Penelope Cruz makes the first in my favorite of flubs, saying “and the winner is” instead of the more PC “and the Oscar goes to.”
