“I want you to win,� Ebert tells Amy Adams, predicting she will win in an upset (his predictions seem to be what he wants to win; he’s gaga over “Crash�); then he reminds her she was once a waitress in a Colorado diner. She concedes the point. He cites this as proof of the old only-in-Hollywood-do-dreams-come-true bromide. Don’t a lot of actors come from modest backgrounds?

Ebert then tells Larry McMurtry, “You’re a great author, as well.� In case Larry was unaware of the fact.

“You know, she wears clothes,� a fashion expert observes of Dolly Parton.

The Channel 7 red-carpet people are all about "Crash," not so much for "Brokeback Mountain."

The ever self-effacing George Clooney says of his multiple nominations, "That gives me three opportunities to lose, which is really exciting for me." Clooney and Ebert discuss the political content of his films, and discourse approaching an IQ is threatened, when Pennacchio gets to the pressing issue of the day: “(Clooney) said he was going to get a new tux – is this new?� It wasn’t, nor was Pennacchio's penchant for banality.