For another year, the Oscars have come and gone. As everyone predicted, this year was something we could have quite easily dubbed the “Lord of the Rings Awards.” Indeed, this was the year of Peter Jackson, director of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. For the past two years, his movies have been nominated over and over again, and for almost every nomination he received, there was brutal disappointment to follow.Yet the night was not devoted entirely to Mr. Jackson. “Mystic River” took home both Best Leading and Best Supporting Actor for the works of both Sean Penn, and Tim Robbins. Charlize Theron took the award for Best Leading Actress for her role in “Monster,” while Renee Zellweger took best supporting actress for her role in “Cold Mountain.” Russell Boyd was awarded the Cinematography award for his work on “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” while Richard King claimed the Sound Editing award for the same film.”The Lord of the Rings” swept the show without a doubt, receiving 11 award nominations, and the same number of awards to go along with them. Oscars given to them include Art Direction, Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Make up Artist, both music awards, including Best Song, and Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay, and last, but surely not least, Best Picture.Sofia Coppola was awarded Best Original Screenplay for her film “Lost in Translation” making her the third member of her family to be awarded an Oscar, following her father Francis Ford Coppola, and her cousin Nicholas Cage.For Best Foreign Language the award went to “The Barbarian Invasions” a film out of Canada directed by Denys Arcand. The Documentary short Oscar went to “Chernobyl Heart” by Maryann DeLeo, and the Documentary Feature Oscar was given to “The Fog of War” by Errol Morris and Michael Williams.In the category of animated films, the winner of Best Animated Short went to the film “Harvie Krumpet,” by Adam Elliot. The winner of Best Animated Feature however, was Disney/Pixar film “Finding Nemo.”All in all, the Oscars proved to be an entertaining and memorable night for everybody. Bringing with it both happy and sad memories, from Billy Crystal’s elaborate yet comical introduction, to Jack Black and Will Ferrell singing along with the acceptance speech music, to remembering those great actors and actresses that are no longer with us. The night held a magic and spirit that only the movies can hold for us. Bringing us to another world, while still right there at home.Movies fill a void in many of our lives that is impossible to fill any other way. We live a small part of our lives through movies. They take us to places we never thought we’d go otherwise, and they always leave us with something more that wasn’t there before. The Oscars are really just a tribute to the magic the movies hold for each and every one of us. So, even if we don’t appreciate that magic the other 364 days a year, at least we can remember to appreciate it on Oscar night-the one night when it really matters.