"The Departed" Leaves A Winner

The Boston mob hit The Departed cleaned house last night at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. It took home the most awards of the evening with four, including Best Picture and Best Director.

When Martin Scorsese was announced the winner of the Best Director category he kiddingly asked the presenters: "Could you double-check the envelope?" This was Scorsese's sixth nomination for director and his first win.



Minutes after Scorsese left the stage it was announced by Jack Nicholson that The Departed had been named Best Picture. Nicholson starred in the film as the Boston Irish mob boss. The Departed also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing.

Many other categories had winners that were expected to win. Helen Mirren was regal in her victory for Best Actress for The Queen. Forest Whitaker was also royal with his award for Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland.

Of course it was a dream come true for Jennifer Hudson who won Best Supporting Actress for her outstanding performance in the movie musical Dreamgirls.

Yet, surprisingly Little Miss Sunshine star Alan Arkin beat out Dreamgirls' Eddie Murphy for Best Supporting Actor. Also nominated was Boston's own Mark Wahlberg for his work in The Departed.

Another upset came in the category for Best Song. Dreamgirls was nominated for 3 songs, all of which were performed in a Dreamgirls medley just prior to the announcement. While Knowles, Hudson, and the cast brought the house down with their powerful voices they were no match for the hurricane strength of "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth, which ended the dream and knocked Cars' "This is Our Town" right off the road.

Former Vice President Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth also won Best Documentary. Gore joked with Leo DiCaprio about the possibility of running for President in 2008. Gore was about to make an important announcement that began with "My fellow Americans..." but he was out of time and drowned out by the orchestra.

Here is the full list of the Oscar Nominees and Winners

Of course Ellen was a very funny host. She played on the fact that this was the most international Oscars ever. She also mingled with the nominees. She just so happen to have a screen play for Martin Scorsese to read, she vacuumed the front row, and took a picture with Clint Eastwood for her MySpace page. She mentioned Jennifer Hudson who America didn't vote for on American Idol and how great it was that she was nominated for an Oscar. Followed by a friendly jab at Al Gore who she said "America did vote for."


My Opinion: I enjoyed this year's Oscars. I was surprised by Best Song and Best Supporting Actor. Overall I believe I went 3-3 in the 6 major categories. I predicted Hudson, Scorsese, and The Departed.

Ellen was a great host. I really hope she is invited back for next year, she kept me laughing the whole time.

Congrats to all the winners and nominees! I'm going to go re-watch The Departed now. When you live in Boston and watch that movie you find yourself looking over your shoulder as you walk down the street a little more than usual. It's fun, exciting, and terrifying all at the same time.