Mickey Got Robbed!

Happy post-Oscar day everyone! I'm sure you all stayed up until the pumpkin returned last night and are paying the price today. But if for some unknown reason you decided to forgo the song and dance routine of this year's 81st Oscar ceremony, please allow me to fill you in on all the orange spray-tanned goodness. Hugh Jackman was the hostess with the mostest last night and wow did he perform his pants off. This Aussie is a genuine triple-threat and he brought out all the stops by singing, dancing, and charming his way into Oscar hosting history. Too bad whoever wrote the opening montage was clearly snorting glitter. I think Hugh even self-consciously laughed at himself at one point (specifically while he stuck his face into a hole above a body of a baby reminiscent of the near-death Benjamin Button...yeah exactly). The only intelligible thing I made out of his opening song was that he didn't see The Reader...shouldn't that be one of the requirements of hosting? All in all, I'm just relieved Hugh made it through his little diddy with Best Actress nominee Anne Hathaway in one piece. If that girl was hungry, I'm convinced her enormous mouth could have eaten his face whole.

Anyway, after the feathers and sequins were cleared off the stage, the broadcast kicked off big with the award for Best Supporting Actress. Penelope Cruz was adorable as she accepted for her role in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (still waiting for that to make its way to Michigan). Her dress was a vintage 60-year-old Pierre Balmain gown that she had been saving for a very special occasion. She was one of the best dressed of the night by far. After the hoopla for Best Actress they trotted out the boring awards for all the actual work that goes into making movies...bla bla bla. Benjamin Button cleaned up in these categories for making Brad Pitt look like an old man baby.

The best speech of the night was given by Dustin Lance Black who won for writing the original screenplay to Milk. He was genuinely emotional and his speech was really moving (not to mention he's super cute).

Best animated feature film went to Wall-E (yay! so awesome)

Supporting Actor was a huge category thanks to the nomination of Heath Ledger. I think if he didn't win, the audience would have burned the building down. There wasn't a dry eye in the house as his mom, dad, and sister accepted the award with an understated speech. If Heath wouldn't have been in this category, I would have loved to see Philip Seymour Hoffman win for his portrayal of a possibly corrupt Priest in Doubt. He's genius in everything he does.

The wackiest wackadoodle of the night goes to Phillippe Petit who is the guy that walked across the World Trade Center towers back in the 70's on a wire, hence the best docu win for Man on Wire. I saw him a few weeks ago on The Colbert Report and I think even Stephen was speechless. This guy is a French fireball...not to mention incredibly talented at walking on high wires and balancing Oscar statues on his chin, which he did last night.

The Best Song category was dominated by two Slumdog Millionaire songs, O Saya featuring AR Rahman and MIA and the winner, Jai Ho by AR Rahman who either killed the other performers backstage or seriously doesn't know how to delegate responsibilities. Rahman had just accepted the Oscar for Best Score for Slumdog when the Song category's performance kicked off and the poor guy rushed out with a microphone to sing. Twice. Then accept the award for one of those songs.

Best Director went to Danny Boyle for...guess...Slumdog Millionaire! He was my favorite person to watch during the ceremony. He was genuinely excited to be there and so happy for every single award they received. He even did a little Tigger inspired hop when he went onstage because he promised his kids he would accept the award as Tigger. This from the guy who directed Trainspotting! I would never have guessed.

Finally, as midnight snuck up on us, the last three awards were handed out. I think Anne Hathaway was starting to eye poor Frank Langella as a snack (who was AWESOME as Richard Nixon by the way), so when they announced her category it was a huge relief. Kate Winslet won for her role in The Reader and gave a very controlled, gracious speech with almost zero rambling. The girl must have practiced.

Best Actor was one of the most uncertain categories of the night as most people had Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn head to head for the win. Personally, I was on team Mickey. The Wrestler was a brilliant movie that left me totally and completely emotionally exhausted for hours afterwards. If he doesn't make another movie, he's still a fabulous actor in my book for his role as Randy the Ram. Sean Penn walked away with the trophy for his depiction of Harvey Milk in Milk and I hear it was well-deserved (I haven't seen it, but will for sure rent). I thought his speech was hilarious ("Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns.")

FINALLY, to no one's surprise, Slumdog Millionaire wrapped up the Cinderella story of the year by winning the big prize, Best Picture. I loved this movie and I think everyone who has a pulse would agree. I'd like to think that Frost/Nixon would get a runner-up award if there was one, but we'll never know.

As for the fashion, a quick summary of my personal favs/worst list would be:

Favs: Penelope Cruz, Angelina Jolie (loved the emerald jewelry), Natalie Portman, Taraji P. Henson, and I think I really do like Miley Cyrus' gown.

Least: Jessica Biel, Reese Witherspoon, Beyonce, Heide Klum (the hair was the worst), and Tilda Swinton (maybe she's fashion-forward and edgy, but I can't help but think she's an alien - OMG her and Anne Hathaway are so plotting something...)