I didn’t liveblog the Oscars because I was busy hosting an awesome Oscar party with awesome people at it. It was the most fun ever. And it only made it better that the Academy got most everything exactly right! I got 14 out of 24 categories right (that’s after I changed my Art Direction prediction from Atonement to Sweeney Todd, which was my pick anyway), and ALL the ones I really cared about won! So there were no incensed moments like last year’s Pan’s Labyrinth‘s loss. I just had to respell “incensed” about eight times with different combinations of “s” and “c” before I finally got it right. That’s embarrassing.

A few scattered thoughts.

Jon Stewart is the awesomest host ever, if only for bringing Marketa Irglova back onstage to give her acceptance speech after the music cut her off before she got to say anything. Also because he’s hilarious and didn’t get in the way very much. Also, yay Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard and Once!!!

And yay No Country for Old Men for a very deserved sweep. We were all so nervous that somehow it wouldn’t win, but then it did, and we were very pleased with the Academy for once. Though none of us are particular fans of Daniel Day-Lewis’s over-the-top acting style, his best actor win was pretty much a given, so we weren’t bothered.

Of course, I was still upset with the Foreign Film category, but not because the wrong nominee won; the right films weren’t even nominated. Of the films that were nominated, at least I predicted accurately (Oscar loves him some Holocaust stories).

I picked Julie Christie for Best Actress, but I overlooked the “pretty actress made up to be ugly” factor as well as the “playing a real-life person” factor, which should have led me to Marion Cotillard, since she did BOTH. But both actress categories were unusually strong this year, and really, any of the nominees could’ve won and I would’ve been happy. I’m glad Tilda Swinton won, even though I haven’t seen Michael Clayton, because she’s incredible and it’s about time Oscar noticed.

My beloved Diving Bell and the Butterfly didn’t win anything, though, and that makes me sad, even though I think the films that won against it (in cinematography, directing, and editing) were also deserving.

Helen Mirren wins the best-dressed award hands down. Gorgeous gown. Amy Adams is the most adorable thing in the world, and I just want to put her in my pocket and take her home. James McAvoy too. I’m in love with his accent. SWOON. My friend almost hyperventilated when Cormac McCarthy was in the audience. That was amusing. And Kristin Chenoweth! She’s so much fun. The only bad thing about Kristin Chenoweth singing is it meant Amy Adams wasn’t up there again–the Chenoweth vs. the Adams is a tough choice, though.

So in a way, it was a fairly low-key Oscar ceremony, no huge upsets (only Swinton and Cotillard were even slightly surprising, and as I said, those were both very competitive categories), but immensely satisfying.