Oscars Finally Get Interesting:

Finally.

I'm sick of all that self-congratulatory garbage dressed up in nauseating pomp and circumstance. This year, two things came together to make the Academy Awards worth more than a cursory glance.

The first was the decision to have Steve Martin host. His acerbic wit and biting jokes about Hollywood and the critters that populate it were welcome in my house, where a flag-waving, praise-god-and-america ceremony would have been an affront. I think few in the audience were entirely aware of just how cutting his comments were, though after one particularly nasty jibe the camera caught Diane Lane with a hand to her mouth saying "Oh my God."

Yup.

And there was Michael Moore, who refused to play the "somber and serious" game in the Hollywood vein, choosing instead to use the forum to open his mouth and say exactly what was on his mind. Having won an oscar for his brilliant film "Bowling For Columbine," he took the stage with all of the other nominess joining him, and gave these remarks:

"On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan from Canada, I'd like to thank the Academy for this.

I have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to — they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction.

We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times.

We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president.

We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.

Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush.

Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you.

And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up.

Thank you very much. "

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Bravo, Michael, for defying Ari Fleischer and reminding all of us to keep questioning, keep speaking up for the truth.