"It's the Oscars of Defensiveness (TM): Four-plus hours in which Hollywood tries to pretend it's not racist -- and Tom Cruise is revealed as that Scary Flaming Eye from "Lord of the Rings.""

Those of you who enjoy watching the Oscars may want to steer clear of this somewhat mean-spirited and scathingly funny Salon column: Oscars 2002 - Somebody Make It Stop!. I haven't read anything this funny in a long time.