The awards were as safe and predictable as could be, and I think that Bob appositely described the situation at hand.
I am rather glad that The Social Network did not receive the momentousness approval that the movie advertisements claimed in the Oscar awards. It had many crucial elements in place and I found, for what it was as a movie revolving all around dialogue to still be rather good. It's just that in the end, I look back on it like it as I would towards making brussels sprouts mildly interesting instead of something I would downright pass on. I'm split though because in my gut seeing The King's Speech take the best picture just seems so boring. Excuse my apathy towards The King's Speech (I'm sure it is quite good), but the premise just can't draw forth an inkling of excitement to see the film.
Last year just seemed so much more interesting with Avatar being a major departure from the norm and actually showing a strong standing. I'm not a big fan of the film, but I still enjoyed it greatly (but the trilogy thing has me very skeptical).
The increase in nominees leaves me feeling like it was more of a courtesy for ostensible movie/genre diversity instead of a solid lineup of many "Oscar Bait," "Artsy," "Progressive," ad nauseum films. But I suppose it is the aforementioned Oscar-favored movie types that lead me to not give a hoot about The Academy. They can excuse me as I continue to enjoy Inception, The Town, Red, Fantastic Mr. Fox, probably a few Jason Stantham flicks for good measure, ect.