It was a night filled with lots of emotion and little surprise at last night's 79th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. 'The Departed' took home the award for Best Film, beating 'The Queen', 'Babel', 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Letters From Iwo Jima.' In a four-hour tribute to the glory and majesty of Hollywood, there are many things that can completely ruin a viewer's experience, and not seeing people get the awards they deserve is one of them. As a host, Ellen DeGeneres was terrific. Her jokes were consistently funny, and her wide-eyed enthusiasm for the spectacle and the celebrities was fun and refreshing. She could be an all-time great host if she is allowed to return, in the vein of Bob Hope and Billy Crystal. The little vignettes were also great. The dancers who formed human statues representing different movies were extremely impressive and exemplified a unique change of pace. Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's song about how comedians can win Oscars was very funny, and it was nice to inject some underappreciated comedic talent into a ceremony that otherwise tends to over appreciate a lack of it.

Helen Mirren won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Lead for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen.” Mirren had been nominated in 1995 for “The Madness of King George” and again in 2002 for “Gosford Park.” Forest Whitaker picked up his first Oscar statue for Best Actor in a Lead for his portrayal of Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.” It was Whitaker’s first nomination for an Academy Award an amazing accomplishment seeing that it was really his first film with a lead role.

The main story of this year's Oscars, though, was Jennifer Hudson. In less than two years, she went from American Idol wannabe to an Academy Award winner. In some ways, this demonstrates the effect that American Idol is having on the process of choosing winners: only complete, unabashed talent deserves recognition. Jennifer Hudson proved life is bigger than reality television.

But of course the night belonged to Martin Scorsese who finally had the opportunity to take the stage and accept his first Oscar. Considered America’s greatest living director, Scorsese had been nominated in 1980 for “Raging Bull,” 1989 for “The Last Temptation of Christ,” 1991 for “Goodfellas,” 2003 for “Gangs of New York,” and 2005 for “The Aviator.”