Oscar’s Unforgettable Night!

So what if we got four of our six predictions correct last night at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. The most interesting surprise was that the biggest night in film actually turned out to be a rather entertaining show with the addition of one key element that was so clever, we’re surprised that it had never been tried before!

Starting off with an inspired set design in round with “Dreamgirls” glitter above, last night’s Oscar’s seemed to hit all of the right notes. In addition to his high-profile of Wolverine, Oscar host Hugh Jackman is also a fine song-and-dance man. He gave the audience just enough entertainment including a nice little dance number with Beyonce and never appeared to force something that wasn’t there.

While the categories were largely predictable, the addition of past nominees coming out to salute individual nominees was inspired genius. For many shows, the focus is always on the winner of a particular category. Not so last night as actors such as Robert Deniro, Halle Berry, Michael Douglas, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Shirley McClaine, Sir Anthony Hopkins and other came out to say very kind words to nominees in the major acting categories. For many nominees that had no chance to win, hearing their peers shower them and their performances with praise in front of billions worldwide almost feels like a win . . . when you lose!

Some of the evening’s highlights included:

“Slumdog Millionaire”
which took home eight awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapated Screenplay. The film we called “the little indie that could” overwhelmed several films that traditionally are tailor-made for this show. Left on the outside looking in were films such as “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Doubt,” and “Milk.” Thank god for the Academy’s new presentation because there were groups of people that weren’t in “Slumdog” who went home empty handed.

Sean Penn
Who in one of the evening’s biggest surprises upset Mickey Rourke to win Best Actor. Rourke, whose professional career closely mirrored that of his character Randy “The Ram” Robinson in “The Wrestler,” clearly was the frontrunner coming into the show. The only thing that saved Rourke from feeling too bad was that Penn saluted his friend with some kinds words and indicated that former star is back!

Diversity
While both Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis were shutout, there were plenty of other nations represented at last night’s show. India was in the house in a MAJOR way with “Slumdog’s” multiple wins. Spanish star Penelope Cruz, Japanese winners for Best Foreign Film and England’s finest Kate Winslet took home awards last night. Even Aussie host Jackman drove home the point that the best movies and performances of last year had a definite anti-patriotic slant.

Black Star Power
There were several members of the O-Unit on display light night including Eddie Murphy, Gooding, Queen Latifah (nose job and all!), Berry and Will Smith. Maybe they had obligations and couldn’t be in the house but where were Samuel L. Jackson, Forest Whitaker, Don Cheadle, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard and Denzel Washington?

Our Predictions
We knew our choice for Best Supporting Actress was in jeopardy when Cruz won The Spirit Award on Saturday night. Just as we thought, she repeated that feat on Oscar night making us 0 for one. We were right on Winslet, Ledger, director Danny Boyle and “Slumdog Millionaire.” Other than Penn surprising Rourke, we pretty much hit the nail on the head. Four out of six ain’t bad; it would be good enough to win an NBA playoff series!

All in all, we thought that last night’s show was one of the best and most entertaining that the Academy has produced. Now if they could only do something about that three and a half hour runtime!