The underdog tale of Slumdog Millionaire and the bittersweet nomination of the deceased Heath Ledger may have had a few more people tuning in to last night's Oscar broadcast, which aired on Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC Network. Preliminary Nielsen ratings indicate a 6% increase from last year.

The bad news? Last year marked a record low for the awards broadcast as 32 million viewers tuned in. And this year, if early numbers hold true, will be among the three least-watched Academy Awards broadcasts ever.

Released last July, The Dark Knight -- the second installment in director Christopher Nolan's latest adaptation of the Batman mythology -- continues to score box-office dollars. Distributed by Warner Brothers, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), the movie crossed the $1 billion mark late Friday, joining an elite quartet to pass this high-water mark.

Leading the list of top all-time box office grosses are Titanic ($1.84B), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12B), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07B).

More than half of Dark Knight's box-office dough ($533.1 million, to be specific) was earned domestically, while $468 million was collected from overseas theaters. Movie-watchers were driven to the theaters in droves due to stellar reviews, positive reaction to its predecessor (Batman Begins) and the shocking and premature death of costar Heath Ledger, who died last January.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), which made people believe that mice can talk, elephants can fly and that ducks are shrewd businessmen, can't make the Oscars entertaining.

Everytime I think the Academy Awards show can't get any more pointless and boring, I am proven wrong. Last night's telecast was about 30 to 40 percent longer than it needed to be. I could have done without the interpretive dance numbers, the montages and the idiotic bits of trivia about the winners.

It seems like ABC hasn't noticed that Oscar ratings have been sliding. I am not optimistic that this year's telecast will do much better. Many of the big awards were given after Midnight eastern time when many people were asleep. Host Ellen DeGeneres didn't help maters by being as gentle as a kitten.

ABC needs to make the Oscars relevant to today's audience. Otherwise, people will tune out and advertisers will flee along with them.

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With the Grammy Awards now behind us ("My Humps?" Really? And did I actually see Slayer on the list of winners?), the red-carpet watchers can turn their collective attention to Oscar night, which is now less than two weeks away.

A handful of publicly traded entertainment companies will be in focus as potential beneficiaries of eight and a half pounds of gold-plated honor. This year may be one of the least exciting broadcasts, with clear front-runners already established in the major categories. Forest Whitaker has come a long was from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, with a powerful turn as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, released by Fox Searchlight, a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS). Fox Searchlight was also the force behind Little Miss Sunshine, a simple family dramedy holding its own against some major competition and nabbing a Best Picture nod.

As for Best Actress, a Helen Mirren victory seems like a foregone conclusion for her nuanced turn as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (also a Best Picture nominee). The Queen was released by Walt Disney's (NYSE:DIS) Miramax division. (Incidentally, the Oscars will air on DIS unit ABC Networks).

Former Latin students of the world:

Salvete! I have good news!

No, your Latin teacher didn't actually give herself a lethal paper cut on your shoddy translation of Virgil's Aeneid. And, no, your local school board didn't finally decide that Latin was, in fact, "dead enough" to give up on trying to teach it.

But it's almost as good. Earlier today, Warner Bros. movie studio, a unit of Time Warner, announced plans to remake the old Latin class stand-by Clash of the Titans. The original feature film, which follows the codpiece-wearing hero, Perseus, as he fights monsters and Medusa, to save the beautiful Princess Andromeda. Andromeda, in typical princess style, spends most of the movie chained up to a rock, waiting to be rescued by the divinely chartered hero.