Academy Awards Wrap-up

Everything last night was Hollywood perfection. I haven't enjoyed an Academy-thrown shin dig this much since Whoopi abdicated hosting duties. But last night's 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by the incomparable Hugh Jackman, was hands down the most entertaining show they've put together in years.

Jackman was sensational as the all-around song and dance man. He was charming, funny, and enjoyable. We won't even discuss those gaytastic musical numbers... Sure, I would've tolerated a little more skin on his part, but there's always next year. For its part, the production team hit the nail on the head. The old world feel of the stage and the big band-style accompaniment was classic and elegant. They reworked some of the classic theme songs and made them fresh and fun. I wonder if they'll release a recording...

Anyway, for me the highlights of the ceremony centered around the acting award introductions. In what can only be described as a stroke of pure geneius, each acting category was introduced by 5 previous winners of that award. The ranks of the Best Supporting Actor/Actress included Whoopi Goldberg, Angelica Huston, Goldie Hawn, Christopher Walken, and Chris Klein. Best Actor/Actress intros were done by Anthony Hopkins, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Marion Cotillard, Sofia Loren, and Shirley MacClaine. They pulled out all the stops with these people and reminded us of some wonderful Hollywood memories.

The night was capped off with big (and long over-due) wins for Kate Winslet and Sean Penn. Although I haven't seen The Reader, I've enjoyed Kate in every thing she's done and have no reason to suspect her role there was anything less than spectacular. As far as Sean Penn's win is concerned, I started crying from the moment he got up form his chair. What an upset. What a well-deserved, badly needed upset. Between his speech and that of Milk screenplay writer Dustin Black, I was a wreck.

By night's end, I took some personal satisfaction in knowing that the only two Oscar-caliber films I saw-- Slumdog Millionaire and Milk-- won big. Oh, and WALL-E, too! A list of the big winners follows:

Best Picuture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Animated Feature: WALL-E

Best Original Screenplay: Milk, written by Dustin Lance Black

(List via CNN)