The 75th Oscars have come to a close without a hitch and with it come a few surprises.

While everyone knew Chicago would win the big one, the other categories were in the air and while it was tempting to give Chicago the win by default, the Academy did the right thing in giving their awards to people who deserved them. Adrien Brody and Roman Polanski deserved those awards. I thought a lack of exposure would hurt The Pianist, the best movie of the year in my opinion, but where there's good work, people will follow and congrats to them. Even more important was that the Academy actually recognized quality work instead of being blinded by popularity and its audience pleasing ways, but they did give Chicago undeserving awards in some technical categories.

Polanski was also thought to be hurt by his outstanding criminal charge of rape of a 13-year-old girl some 20 years ago, which is why he can't step into this country again. His accuser came forward with a new interview to Larry King just days before ballots were due.

Brody made headlines afterwards by kissing Halle Berry, making two dreams come true in one night.

Michael Moore shocked the audience by denouncing President Bush in his speech as he won for Bowling for Columbine. While his opening statement was greeted with cheers, he was booed off the stage for keeping on with the anti-Bush speech.

Another shocker was the win by Eminem for Lose Yourself. It was the best song of the five offered, but would old Academy members stop to recognize such a work? And yes they did. It's nice to see his partner, Luis Resto (above, far right), dress up for the occasion.

The big loser was Gangs of New York, which I thought would do well in at least the technical categories, but instead becomes another loss for Scorsese and his gang.

Steve Martin did a fantastic job in hosting. Yes, a few jokes fell flat, but most were funny and most important, the show ran over only 30 minutes instead of the usual 45-75.

As for my predictions, I missed on 9 of them. I'll run them down. Missing 9 isn't so bad according to the Yahoo prediction game. I'm ranked #160 out of 32,000 predictors.

Brody had an excellent performance in The Pianist, but up against two veterans in quality roles? I thought he didn't have a chance. But he did. Well-done.

Polanski, along with Scorsese, both deserved a win, but here, I thought the Chicago bandwagon would rumble through here, but instead it crashed into Polanski's grand piano. At least it picked itself up for a win in Best Picture.

The Pianist also picked up an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Here, the actions of Brody and the direction by Polanski are truly what make the film, not its writing. The Hours mastery of three storylines would have been a better choice.

The Charming Man won for Live Action Short Film instead of my choice, Inja. Really, I've never watched any of them and based it on other people's opinions and the descriptions of the movie.

Art Direction, Editing, and Sound all went to Chicago. Sound I could understand. But editing should have gone to The Hours, again trying to balance the actions of three storylines, and art direction should have gone to Gangs of New York with its sets of 19th century New York instead of a stage and prison in 1920's Chicago. Chicago was a great film, in its directing and its songs, but technically, it was merely average.

Original score should have gone to The Hours with its piano work, but I will admit Frida's had a nice rhythm to it. It should also be noted that Frida's Goldenthal beat out veterans John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Thomas Newman, and Philip Glass.

So, in total, Chicago won 6 awards while The Pianist scored 3 of more importance. Frida and The Two Towers both won 2.

And that's it. What will I write about now? I've only watched three films in 2003. One good, two bad. It's gonna be a long year.