Mixed reviews, but some moments you won't forget

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, March, 2006 | by Karen Heller and Tanya Barrientos

We wait all year for this. Oscars come and Oscars go, but yes, finally, viewers were treated to a spectacularly egregious production number, the sort that sticks to the roof of the mouth and the shoals of memory, and won't let go for dear life.

It was gorgeous. It was deplorable. It was Oscartastic.

Kathleen "Bird" York sang Crash 's lilting "Into the Deep" while cars burned and zombies rose behind her. You almost expected the Allstate man to emerge to make the claim. And how can you fault "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" for winning best song? From Henry Mancini to Bob Dylan to Eminem to Three 6 Mafia.

These were the highlights in an otherwise uneven, often forgettable, telecast. Jack Nicholson was again sitting courtside, the same seats he has for the...