By Dennis Hartley

Well, we got through the Oscar telecast last night, and the world is still here. Yes it was awkward (I had to disable my Liberal Guilt Chip before tuning in), but it’s part of my duties as an alleged movie critic.

Thank god for Chris Rock, who found the sweet spot between acknowledging the elephant in the room and keeping everything moving along. He doled out some shaming on the Academy (as there  should have been), but Rock is such a pro that everyone was too busy laughing to be taken aback; and when he made a direct statement about affording people of color more opportunities in Hollywood, it was refreshingly devoid of sanctimony or grandstanding.

I dug Leo’s stump on global warming  (anything that makes the deniers twitch is OK in my book) but the most eloquent moment of the night was Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s acceptance speech for winning Best Documentary Short.  Of course, now I’ll have to face my own shaming for admitting that I haven’t had a chance to see any of the Best Documentary Short nominees (bad critic! bad! bad!).  However, I did manage to see and review the other shorts nominees.

I don’t normally “root” for one movie or the other, but I have to say that I was pulling for When Marnie Was There (my review), which lost to Pixar’s Inside Out for Best Animated Feature  I expected a little love for Studio Ghibli,  especially since this wonderful film  is purported to be the swan song for anime master Hayao Miyazaki.

But you can’t have everything. Hey…is there a trophy for that?

BTW your thoughts on the Oscars are welcome (be civil)…