Sean Penn > Mickey Rourke!

As I wrote earlier, I didn't watch most of the Oscars telecast last night, but Nikki Finke's blow-by-blow is hilarious.  But I don't get the fanatical devotion that many people had--including Finke--to seeing Mickey Rourke win for Best Actor. It's obvious that he was the "populist" choice to many, to the point that there were some saying that Rourke should prevail while acknowledging that Sean Penn gave a better performance. (????!!!!!) Others are saying Penn's win was "a make-up Oscar for Brokeback Mountain" or a nod to anti-Prop 8 sentiment.

If conspiracy theories make hardcore "Wrestler" fans feel better, fine, it's a free country. But it's pretty simple and obvious why Mickey Rourke, who is a wonderful actor, lost. He was outshined by his longtime friend.

Sean Penn will go down in history as one of the best film actors of all time--maybe even THE best. His performance in Milk is sublime, the literal meaning of a tour de force. He was better than Mickey Rourke, and his colleagues rewarded the best performance in that category. The BEST ACTOR won the Best Actor Oscar last night.