The 79th Annual Academy Awards was a subdued affair with nothing too memorable, no real stand outs. The entire show seemed to blend together, plenty of beautiful people and speeches, but not much else. It seemed like the Oscars were slower than usual even at the three hour time frame, with more commentary, clips and performances, but the acceptance speeches were sped up.

Ellen DeGeneres' first time out as Oscar host proved that it's one of the toughest shows on Earth. It's hard to find that happy medium between amusing and boring. It took Ellen a little while to get into her groove because jokes about recycling old jokes and a two "I wouldn't want to follow that act" just don't cut it.

But when she was on, it was Ellen working the audience. Pandering to "The Departed" director and actor Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg during one jaunt and "Letters from Iwo Jima" director Clint Eastwood during another, she got deserved laughs. Making Steven Spielberg take a photo of her with Eastwood for her MySpace was very funny.

Although Ellen wasn't at the level of Billy Crystal or Whoopie Goldberg, but she should get another shot.

However, the old Hollywood saying is don't work with animals or children because they steal the show. "Little Miss Sunshine" star Abigail Breslin and "The Pursuit of Happyness" star, as well as Will Smith's son, Jaden Smith

What was up with the narrators giving random information out about the winners? An Indian hand reader told Helen Mirren that her success wouldn't peak until her 40s. Screenplay writer for "Little Miss Sunshine," Michael Arndt had to quit his job as Matthew Broderick's assistant to make the movie. Forest Whitacker began his Hollywood trip as an operatic tenor. Corny and odd.

Unlike past shows, this year's Oscars provided much more live entertainment for the Awards that usually don't have the celebrities to back them up. The award for Costume Design had the costumes on models versus film clips of the movie and sketches. Preceding the awards for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, an orchestra of human sound machines created sounds of rockets launching and chariot races.

Although a bit weird, dance troupe Pilobolus created scenes and items from the night's nominated movies by melding their bodies together. The troupe's creations include four "Happy Feet" penguins, the VW bus from "Little Miss Sunshine", the pump with a pitchfork for a heel from "The Devil Wears Prada," a gun that fired for "The Departed" and, from the movie Samuel L. Jackson wishes was nominated, the logo for "Snakes on a Plane."

Probably the best part of the show itself are the blended and mixed film clips.

There were plenty of awards that were predictable, while others came as a shock.

The first upset of the night came with the Supporting Actor category as Alan Arkin took home the Oscar for "Little Miss Sunshine" leaving the seemingly shoo-in "Dreamgirls" star Eddie Murphy out.

But there were a few other upsets that followed.

Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" seemed to be cleaning up through most of the night, but when the Foreign Film category came around, it fell short. German entrant "The Lives of Others" took the award, yet it was the only movie that would be able to steal it away from "Pan."

Three nominations in one category for "Dreamgirls," a roof-shaking performance by the movie's three divas -- Hudson, Beyonce Knowles and Anika Noni Rose -- and Melissa Etheridge takes the award for Best Original Song.

The Kodak Theater erupted as Martin Scorsese finally grabbed his Oscar for Director. It was a well-deserved win and it's about time. To follow his award came a win for "The Departed" as Best Film. It was a good night to be Scorsese and his crew.

It was also a good night for "The Inconvenient Truth" with a win for Best Documentary Feature besides Etheridge's win. The Academy and the celebrities in attendance were more than appreciative of Vice President Al Gore, as everyone prompted him to say he'd be running for president again. But he kept on point, go green and how thankful he was to be involved with the movie.

Royalty won both Best Actor and Actress awards. Mirren and Whitaker won for their roles as rulers of countries, Queen of England and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

From reality television roots to Best Supporting Actress, Jennifer Hudson got her reward for "Dreamgirls," one of the only ones the movie got. But she wasn't without her flaws. She walked the red carpet with a cropped, silver jacket that, thankfully, she shed for the show and she almost popped out of her red dress during the "Dreamgirls" medley.

All in all, not the best Oscars ever, but the Academy has an entire year to prep for the record 80th show. Let's just hope that the competition will be stiffer than this year so that it'll be tougher to predict anything.