It was both a good year and a bad year for the Oscars this year!

Halle Berry made it into the history books as the first Black female to win the Best Actress Oscar in the 74 years of the event, which may be seen as a great thing, but it should not have took 74 years to a black woman to get recognition for her contribution to cinema!

It was nice to see Denzel Washington pick up his Best Actor Oscar (and about time) and for Jim Broadbent to pick up best supporting.

As for the rest of the Oscars, Shrek deserved to win the 1st Best Animated feature Oscar, but Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings deserved Best Film and Best Director.

No offense to winner, Ron Howard, but his best motion picture to date was the incredible Apollo13 which was over looked at the '96 Oscars.

REM/Bono back Buck

It was interesting to hear of REM's Michael Stipe and Mike Mills along with U2's Bono appearing at a court in Islington as character witnesses for REM guitarist (and Rock God) Peter Buck.

Berry accused of "Air Rage" and being drunk and disorderly is one thing that you would never imagine a member of REM to do!

The trial continues.

Naomi wins on a technicality!

Piers Morgan (Editor of the Mirror) may have lost the case on a technicality, but, Naomi was the one reeling from the case after being being branded a lair a judge and awarded a mere £3,500 damages from the Mirror for reporting that she was attending Narcotics Anonymous.

Prima-donna Naomi is the only looser in this case, for the Mirror has had the best free publicity in the world over this, their reporters, editors are vindicated but her reputation is in shattered after being accused of lying and exposed as a hypocrite.

This judgment is not only a good sign for the Mirror newspaper, but for Journalism itself.

Mini Reviews:

I have seen three great movies this week, and what with everything else that I am doing time is short so apologies for the briefness of these reviews

Ice Age (cinema) After Monster Inc. failed to live up to Disney/Pixar's previous computer animated record, it is great to see Fox studios come up tops with an animated feature that is as funny as it is beautifully animated!

Admittedly, like Shrek, the 'Mouse House' has the edge when it comes to animation, but for story and humor Ice Age has Monster Inc. beat!

When the unlucky Sid the Sloth and his companion Manny the Mammoth find a baby Neanderthal they decide to return him to his tribe with the help of the untrustworthy Tiger Diego.

Now the story is very much painting my numbers, but the characters are beautifully rounded and the relationships make for some great moments.

Highlights include the rat-come-squirrel Scrat who keeps popping up at key points trying to bury his beloved acorn.

Now this is a movie for both the young and old and should be in with a shout at next years Oscars!

Rating:****

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Region 1DVD) I know that I dedicated a whole editorial column to the cinematic release of this movie in December, but, this DVD is one sweet looking disc that it deserves a mention!

If you do not know who Jay and Silent Bob are, then go and rent/buy Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma then sit back with a big bag of popcorn and enjoy the biggest In-joke in cinematic history!

With a great commentary, 42 deleted scenes (with intros from Kevin Smith and cast) , music videos, makings of DVD-Rom etc. this is one of the nicest 2DVD sets I have seen in a long while.

The coolest thing about this disc (other than the deleted scenes) is Kevin Smiths admission that if you have not seen his other films then a lot of the jokes are lost (something he denied on cinematic release)!

Rating:
FILM ****
EXTRAS *****
COMMENTARY: ****
VALUE: *****

Ghost World (Region 1 DVD) Pure brilliance! This is what is wrong with the multiplexes in this country! The one movie that I wanted to see last year opened in the UK to a limited release, but at last I have been able to see the incredible Ghost World via an import DVD and it was well worth the wait!

Based on the cult comic book of the same name Ghost World follows outsiders Enid (Thora Birch and Rebecca Scarlett Johansson) who after graduating high school seem intend on tormenting those around them.

All is fine until one of them falls for one of their victims.

What makes this film so refreshing is that it does not let up from the start to the finish. All of the characters are screw-ups at the start of the film ands they are still screw-ups at the end.

This is a movie for anyone who is an outsider, the people who walk on the other side of the street, the biggest dose of reality since Kevin Smith's Clerks!

Steve Buscemi puts in an incredible performance as Seymour, a guy whom you cannot help but to feel for while Thora Birch is definitely one to watch!

The extras on this disc are hardly worth mentioning with a music video, trailers, and some deleted scenes really do little!

Rating:

FILM ****
EXTRAS ***
VALUE ****