By Michael Walsh

While I still can’t get over red carpet co-host Sherri Shepherd calling Twilight’s Taylor Lautner “the most famous werewolf in motion picture history,” or co-host Kathy Ireland stiffly standing by Precious star Gabourey Sidibe while conducting some of the world’s most awkward and robotic interviews, I must admit that the 2010 Academy Awards were mostly a success.

Looking past the façade of glitz and glamour Hollywood typically spews at viewers during the annual marathon broadcast, Sunday night’s Academy Awards were home to some very special and ultimately memorable moments in cinematic history.

Sunday night saw The Hurt Locker lead the awards with six Oscars, which included a best picture win over director Kathryn Bigelow’s ex-husband James Cameron and his mammoth film Avatar. Bigelow also made history by becoming the first woman to win best director, a moment which will be replayed for years thanks to Barbara Streisand’s nice touch, adding “Well, the time has come,” letting us all know who won before we even heard Bigelow’s name.

The night did have a few surprises, such as El secreto de sus ojos winning best foreign language film over heavy favorites The White Ribbon and Un Prophete. Mark Boal might have stolen best original screenplay for The Hurt Locker from pen master Quentin Tarantino, but that’s hardly an unjust decision, as Boal used his experiences in Iraq to write the tense screenplay for the honored film.

And while the Academy truly shined as far as the awards are concerned, the broadcast production team hardly left the night with a passing grade. The only memorable moments of the night were caused by the artists themselves.

The ceremony was moving at a comfortable viewing pace until someone decided that the best original score category needed to be introduced by way of interpretive modern dance, or something else I’m not hip enough to understand. All the dancing did was slow the show down drastically. And in favor of letting the best original song nominees perform their honored songs? A mistake as far as an entertainment is concerned.

A shallow mistake was also made by only allowing Governor’s Award winners Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman to stand up and be applauded. I know they were honored at a separate ceremony at the end of 2009, but when you have two legends like that in the house, they should be utilized better.

And it makes me wonder whatthe priorities really are: what kind of expensive dress the actresses are wearing on the red carpet, or the emotional and meaningful moments inside the theatre? For most of these winners, it might be the only time they are on that stage. It has always rubbed me the wrong way to have to see certain nameless and low-key award winners played off by the orchestra too quickly.

I know time constraints are an issue, but when you spend a half hour pre-show awkwardly interviewing celebrities with superficial questions and butt-kissing comments it doesn’t put the Academy in the best light.

Not to mention the fact that they spent far too long letting an actor or actress friend of each nominated best actor or actress wax poetic about that specific nominee. While some of the comments were thoughtful, funny and insightful, the overall procedure was painfully self-pleasing. These are just actors and actresses, folks. George Clooney was not nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize last night.

And what would the Academy Awards be without the tributes. I won’t even begin to get into the mess that is forgetting Farrah Fawcett in the memoriam tribute. A special stand alone tribute was given to the late John Hughes, who died in 2009, far too early for a man of his kind, was paid tribute to by many of the actors and actresses that appeared in his films. The kicker? Hughes was never nominated for an Oscar.

With the touching tribute to Hughes being an ode to the ignored genre of comedy, they coupled that with a shallow tribute to horror films. Presented by none other than Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner of the non-horror film Twilight, the clips reel wasn’t all that satisfying, with footage of films like The Silence of the Lambs, which is undoubtedly more thriller than horror, dominating appearance time. They even had the nerve to include Twilight. They should have simply titled the highlight reel “A tribute to horror films: Or, sorry we’ll never respect your genre as art.”

If I didn’t love films and care about the awards they won, I would stay far away from the painful theatrics that the Academy Awards really are. When these artists win an Oscar, it’s the crowning achievement on a usually long and hard career. And the emotional reactions and dedications from winners such as best actor Jeff Bridges and best actress Sandra Bullock are what truly matter in life, even in a vain world like Hollywood.