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81st Annual Academy Awards
"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" WINS BIG AT 81ST ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
It was "Slum" enchanted evening at last night's 81st Annual Academy Awards as Slumdog Millionaire swept to victory with eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Song and Best Adapted Screenplay. The feel-good story of a kid from the slums of Mumbai who lands on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in a quest to find the love of his life proved irresistable to Oscar voters, beating out more serious fare like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader, Frost/Nixon and Milk. In his acceptance speech, director DANNY BOYLE thanked the people of Mumbai, holding up his Oscar statuette and saying that they, quote, "dwarf even this guy."
After five nominations, KATE WINSLET finally scored her first-ever Oscar on her sixth -- she won for her role as a Nazi prison guard in The Reader. She told the audience, "I'd be lying if I haven't made a version of this speech before. I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror and this would have been a shampoo bottle." Clutching her newly-won statuette, she added, "It's not a shampoo bottle now!"
SEAN PENN won his second Oscar for playing the real-life murdered gay activist HARVEY MILK. At the podium, Penn jokingly called the Oscar voters "Commie, homo-loving son of a guns," and noted his reputation as a "difficult" actor by admitting, "I know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often." Penn also used his speech to call for "equal rights for everyone," and acknowledged the man many thought would beat him for the award by saying, "MICKEY ROURKE rises again...and he is my brother."
As expected, HEATH LEDGER won Best Supporting Oscar for The Dark Knight -- precisely 13 months after his death from an accidential overdose of prescription drugs. His family accepted on his behalf, saying, "This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here -- his peers within an industry he so loved." PENELOPE CRUZ won for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and delivered the second half of her speech in her native Spanish.
As for the actual Oscar telecast, the producers promised something radically different, and in many ways, it was. The stage had more of a nightclub feel, with the orchestra onstage. Host HUGH JACKMAN sang and danced his heart out, starting with an opening number that incorporated "homemade props" and nods to all the nominated films, and some that weren't. The man known to many as Wolverine pointedly asked, in one lyric, "How come comic book movies never get nominated?" Jackman also did a full-blown, top-hat-and-tails salute to movie musicals with the help of BEYONCÉ, High School Musical stars ZAC EFRON and VANESSA HUDGENS, and DOMINIC COOPER and AMANDA SEYFRIED of Mamma Mia!
Other differences: lengthy montages of all the big movies of the year -- nominated or not -- were shown, grouped into categories like romance, action, animation and documentary. And the awards were handed out in the order in which they would fall during the actual creation of a film -- first comes the screenplay, then the costume design, then the special effects, then the music, then the directing, and so on.
The most unusual change in the show was having five past winners in the four major acting categories come onstage, personally address each nominee, and simply describe their roles: no clips from their performances were shown. That amounted to 20 extra mini-speeches. For example, ROBERT DENIRO spoke about Sean Penn's performance, SHIRLEY MACLAINE talked about ANNE HATHAWAY, WHOOPI GOLDBERG discussed AMY ADAMS, and KEVIN KLINE described Heath Ledger.
Other tidbits:
--EDDIE MURPHY presented JERRY LEWIS with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award -- fittingly, since Murphy starred in the hit remake of Lewis' classic The Nutty Professor.
--Presenting an award for cinematography with NATALIE PORTMAN, BEN STILLER came out dressed as a spaced-out JOAQUIN PHOENIX, in dark glasses and a huge bushy beard. Portman told Stiller he looked like an escapee from a "Hasidic meth lab," while Stiller said he wanted to "retire from being a funny guy."
--When ALAN ARKIN was talking about PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN's performance in "Doubt," he accidentally called him "Seymour Phillip Hoffman."
--Man on Wire, a movie about PHILIPPE PETIT, who tightrope-walked between the World Trade Center towers in the early '70s, was named Best Documentary. At the podium, Petit balanced the Oscar statuette on his chin, upside down.
--When JACK BLACK and JENNIFER ANISTON presented the animation awards, the camera kept cutting to ANGELINA JOLIE. We hope that was because Jolie was Jack Black's co-star in Kung Fu Panda, and not because Jolie is now with Aniston's ex BRAD PITT.
--The star who got the biggest applause during the annual "In Memoriam" montage was, perhaps not surprisingly, PAUL NEWMAN.
--The three Best Original Song performances were presented in somewhat of a mash-up, with JOHN LEGEND, at one point, singing PETER GABRIEL's nominated song from Wall-E, "Down To Earth," simultaneously during the performances of the nominated Slumdog Millionaire songs "Jai Ho" and "O Saya."
BACKSTAGE...
Slumdog Millionaire completed what many considered to be a transformation from underdog to awards season favorite last night, winning eight Oscars, including best picture. Backstage, Slumdog director DANNY BOYLE said his movie was "working against the odds" but ultimately triumphed.
KATE WINSLET also triumphed, after losing at the Oscars in five previous tries. The best actress winner said the moment had only started to sink in when she arrived backstage. Needless to say, Winslet exclaimed that it was nicer to win than to lose.
SEAN PENN used the opportunity backstage to further push for equal rights for gays. However, he also had kind words for fellow best actor nominee MICKEY ROURKE, who was a slight favorite heading into the ceremony. Penn said Rourke moved him with his performance in The Wrestler.
Best supporting actress winner PENELOPE CRUZ said it was "magical" when previous winners in that category presented her with the Oscar.
The family of the late HEATH LEDGER addressed reporters backstage after his victory. Ledger's sister, KATE LEDGER, said he believed before he died that he would receive a nomination for his performance in The Dark Knight. While it's already been determined that Ledger's three-year-old daughter, MATILDA, will receive the Oscar once she turns 18, Ledger's mother said the family has yet to discuss who will act as custodian of the statuette until then.
THE PARTIES...
The keywords for some of this year's Oscar parties were "scaled back" and "low-key." Hollywood still celebrated its biggest night with parties all over town, but some hosts said they were mindful of the hard times affecting the country at the moment. Here's a rundown of some of the soirees:
-- More than 15 hundred guests attended the Governor's Ball immediately after the ceremony ended at the Kodak Theater. The traditional after-Oscar gathering featured plenty of champagne and a menu by WOLFGANG PUCK, but event chairperson CHERYL BOONE ISAACS said guests would be celebrating in a, quote, "quiet and zen-like" atmosphere. Instead of expensive flower arrangements, guests were greeted by bonsai trees.
-- Vanity Fair returned to the party scene after a year off, but its bash at the Sunset Towers hotel featured a reduced guest list and decorations recycled from previous events.
-- MADONNA and DEMI MOORE co-hosted a bash at the Hollywood Hills home of the singer's manager, GUY OSEARY. According to Variety, the party was designed to be exclusive, with, quote, "No fluff, no entourages, no security and no hangers on."
-- ELTON JOHN hosted his 17th Annual AIDS Foundation Party at the Pacific Design Center. More than six hundred guests were invited to watch the Oscar broadcast and enjoy gourmet food while bidding on high-end goodies during a silent auction. ELTON and singer RAPHAEL SAADIQ were expected to perform for the crowd.
-- PRINCE hosted a party at the L.A. club Avalon. Your invite got lost in the mail? You'll be able to see footage of the party at LotusFlow3.com.
-- Fox Searchlight Pictures tossed one party for the casts of Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler.
-- JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT hosted the eighth annual "The Envelope Please" viewing party at The Abbey in west Hollywood. The event benefits AIDS Project Los Angeles.
-- LEEZA GIBBONS, OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN and composer DAVID FOSTER joined forces to host the Leeza Gibbons Oscar Night at Mr. Chow restaurant in Beverly Hills. The event benefited Gibbons' Memory Foundation and Newton-John's Cancer and Wellness Center.
-- The 19th Annual Night of a 100 Stars Gala was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. What economic crisis? -- tickets were priced at a thousand dollars apiece.
WHAT YOU DIDN'T SEE...
Here's a rundown of some of the things you didn't see on TV during last night's 81st Annual Academy Awards:
-- Immediately after a winner went on stage to accept their Oscar, a large monitor began counting down from 45 seconds in large white numbers. When it hit ten seconds, the numbers changed to black. When the countdown ended, the screen flashed "PLEASE WRAP UP." However, the clock was not running when Slumdog Millionaire director DANNY BOYLE, KATE WINSLET, SEAN PENN and Slumdog Millionaire producer CHRISTIAN COLSON gave their acceptance speeches. The countdown clock was also not on when HEATH LEDGER's family came on stage to accept his Oscar.
-- Host HUGH JACKMAN came out during a commercial break and told the audience he just received a note from his wife that read, quote, "Baby, you're doing great, and I'm hungry." Jackman then took a plate of cookies into the Kodak Theater audience and gave one to his wife.
-- During another commercial break, Jackman introduced a video montage of average folks and celebrities like SARAH SILVEMAN and REM singer MICHAEL STIPE talking about the best picture nominees. Jackman told the audience the montage had been cut from the live broadcast due to time restraints.
-- KATE WINSLET was talking with MERYL STREEP on the opposite side of the Kodak Theater during a commercial break when a stage manager yelled, "ten seconds back." Winslet rushed back to her seat and managed to replace a blonde "seat filler" just in time.
-- BRAD PITT and ANGELINA JOLIE skipped out while some of the post-production trophies were being handed out and didn't make it back in time to see EDDIE MURPHY present a humanitarian award to JERRY LEWIS. Two female seat fillers replaced Brangelina.
-- ALICIA KEYS reportedly broke a heel moments before walking on stage with ZAC EFRON to present an award, but her dress was long enough to hide the shoe-issue and no one noticed she was walking with one leg shorter than the other.
Dane Cook Scope, Norfolk, VA
Sat, Nov 7, 2009 08:00 PM
Rob Thomas Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA
Tue, Nov 10, 2009 07:00 PM
Can you play Carol of the Bells. Dalilah please!
hey hey! This would be fun if it works. I have a knack for screwing this stuff up tough! Great night to all. Peace a Love!
