"Tonight is about the future and the past, and how they come together in so many unexpected ways," the voiceover introduction grandly announced. The 77th Academy Awards, for all its politics and pretension, brought together the finest of American cinema, its most talented men and women. Even host Chris Rock, ever the irreverent barnstormer, found himself compelled to acknowledge the value of film when he said, "Remember when you were a kid ... and every movie was magic?" Maybe it is precisely because we still do remember that we tune in faithfully every February to recapture that innocence.

There were no surprises this year, but the films in contention were never especially strong in the traditional sense anyway. They were all somewhat, but not fully, deserving. It is difficult to escape the sense that these resolutions were underwhelming for anyone not intimately involved. Thank heavens, then, for Jamie Foxx. In an acceptance speech with soul to match that of Ray Charles himself, he gave an emotional tribute to his late grandmother, the inspiration for his performances and his "first acting teacher." Poignant to watch-and to his credit, relevantly so-a particularly nice touch was professing to still speak with her in his dreams. We all know that can only be true in a very limited way, and yet we choose to believe regardless because we want the same for ourselves. That is also the reason most of us watch movies, isn't it?: to supersede the pragmatic and embrace the imagination.

Which is why, excellent film that Best Picture winner "Million Dollar Baby" is, the most imaginative and endearing picture of the Awards is "Finding Neverland." The flavor of life is bittersweet, but we cherish it all the more for that. The category of Best Picture shouldn't be solely about the finesse of the acting, or the charming cinematography or an engaging premise. It should be about the happy, the tragic and the funny, all at once.

Dwelling a bit on the funny, in his second year as master of ceremonies, Chris Rock saw a smatter of predictable laughs. Jude Law, Tobey Maguire, Colin Farrell and Michael Moore all found themselves square in his sights, but Rock rarely provoked more than courteous chuckles. Possibly his best moment, however, came when he jibed, "If you go to the Grammys, there's singing. If you go to the Tonys, there's singing and dancing. If you go to the Source awards, there's singing, dancing and shooting," and the camera immediately panned to P. Diddy. How's that for camera direction?

Finally, a quick word on the awards. Arguably my biggest disappointment was the Academy's reluctance to honour Martin Scorsese with either the Picture or the Directing prize. "The Aviator" may not have been his best-"Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull" and "GoodFellas" all can lay claim to that not insubstantial title-but without serious contention aside from Clint Eastwood in both categories, it shouldn't have been too difficult to be nice. At least we were spared a shot of him when Best Picture was announced.

On the other hand, Cate Blanchett, Morgan Freeman and Foxx, who won Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively, are all worthy of the highest appreciation their industry can offer. Five or 10 years on I may forget who hosted the 77th Awards, who wore which designer's dress (actually, that's already happened) or even what Best Picture was, but Foxx's astonishingly powerful performance isn't likely to fade for some time.