And The Final Talley Is......

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards has just come to a close and no doubt the parties will be starting within the hour.  Unfortunately, The Shadow will not be in attendance at these parties.

The ceremony was nothing spectacular, but there were some great moments.  The opening monologue by co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin set the tone for the evening -- these two were great together.

The most drama probably came with the presentation of the final two awards -- best Director and Best Picture -- and it did not disappoint with Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker winning both awards respectively.  Bigelow now becomes the first female to ever win in the Best Director category, beating out her ex-husband, James Cameron.

The final listing is as follows:

• Best Picture -- The Hurt Locker
• Best Director -- Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
• Best Actor -- Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
• Best Actress -- Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
• Best Supporting Actor -- Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)
• Best Support Actress -- Mo'Nique (Precious:  Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
• Best Original Screenplay -- Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
• Best Adopted Screenplay -- Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious:  Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
• Best Animated Feature -- Up
• Best Cinematography -- Avatar
• Best Original Score -- Michael Giacchino (Up)
• Best Original Song -- "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), Ryan Bingham and T. Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)

One other matter that The Shadow must address.  During the presentation for Best Documentary -- which was won by the movie, "The Cove" -- one of the people on the stage tried to put a save the dolphin message on the air on a banner.  ABC cut the shot from the stage to the audience until the banner was rolled up again.

For those of you may not have seen the banner, it said "Text Dolphin to 44144".

See you next year.  Good night and good luck.

And The Oscar Goes To....

The Academy Awards will be taking place tomorrow in Los Angeles.  As has been tradition for several years, The Shadow wil give you his predictions for the big night.

There will be some favorites and some suspense in the Best Director and Best Picture categories.  The other categories seem to be a slam dunk this year, but there have been surprises in the past.  We can only wait and see.

The Shadow's predictions in the main categories are below.  After the awards ceremony tomorrow night, The Shadow will post the names of the winners.

• Best Picture -- Avatar
• Best Director -- Kathryn Bigelow
• Best Actor -- Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
• Best Actress -- Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
• Best Supporting Actor -- Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Bastards)
• Best Supporting Actress -- Mo'Nique (Precious:  Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
• Best Original Screenplay -- Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
• Best Adopted Screenplay -- Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious:  Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
• Best Animated Feature -- Up
• Best Cinematography -- Avatar
• Best Original Score -- James Horner (Avatar)
• Best Original Song -- Take It All (Nine)

Good night and good luck.

The Shadow Returns

As many of you know, The Shadow gave his final entry on his world-known art blog "The Shadow Knows" last June.  Since that time, many people have written and appealed to us to return.  After much consideration, we have decided to do so and will make our debut on this blog "Good Night and Good Luck".

We will not return to the art focus that made us known in the art world, but we will be providing art news along with other news and commentary.  We hope to make this blog as well known as "The Shadow Knows" was in the four years that it existed.

And so, we are back.  And ready to report to you once again.

Good night and good luck.