Extra, Extra, Read All About It: The 81st Annual Academy Awards

In case you've been on Mars for the last 24 hours, the 81st Annual Academy Awards were broadcast last night. Without going to into each and every obscure category, [my apologies to sound mixing enthusiasts] I'll share with you my thoughts on the awards in general.

At the outset, I should note that there really were no surprises last night. Unsurprisingly, "Slumdog Millionaire" ruled the night by winning 8 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director [Danny Boyle]. Predictably, Heath Ledger posthumously won the Best Supporting Actor award for his masterful performance of the Joker in "The Dark Knight." Equally predictable, Kate Winslet finally took home an Oscar for role as an SS guard in "The Reader." I think all of these categories went as predicted.

I was somewhat disappointed to see Penelope Cruz take home the Best Supporting Actress award. Cruz gave a strong performance as Javier Bardem's emotional ex-lover Maria Elena in Woody Allen's wonderful movie "Vicky Christina Barcelona." Yet, I would have preferred to see Taraji P. Henson take home an Oscar for her role as "Queenie" in "The Curios Case of Benjamin Button."

In what may have come as a surprise to some, Sean Penn won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his turn as fallen San Francisco politician Harvey Milk in "Milk." Mickey Rourke was predicted by many as the odds-on favorite for that award; winning a Golden Globe cemented this prediction. However, a closer look at how these things are decided would indicate that Penn's victory was no surprise at all. Specifically, Penn was given the same award by the Screen Actor's Guild. Further, recent Oscar awards for best actor have often favored actors playing real life characters (Idi Amin, Truman Capote, Ray Charles).

Finally, I was a bit disappointed to see that "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" did not receive more Oscar nods. From a technical standpoint, this film was a visual wonder. Although it did receive awards for makeup and art direction, its difficult to understand how the film did not garner more awards.