because you want to know: the oscars

So, last night were the Oscars... Duh. And I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seat waiting to see what I thought about it all. [By all, I definitely mean the parts I cared about.. Good and bad.]

Don't worry. I'm here now.

First up: Hugh Jackman- The host. A lot of people, including me, were wondering why he was picked as the host... Assuming it was not going to be good. Wow were we fooled.

First of all, the opening act was hilarious. I have never seen any of the movies that were all over this awards show, but I still laughed. And that's how you KNOW it was funny.

He blamed the props on the recession saying they didn't want to pay for an opening act, but he insisted on creating them in his home the night before. And this is what he came up with:



The dancing is what puts the cherry on the sundae, AND the icing on the cake. So great.

And if that wasn't enough when it came to him, he was also a major part of the "musicals are back" performance that everyone had been talking about all week and on the red carpet.

The idea was perfect. They sang songs from TONS of musicals all the way from Singing in the Rain to the new Mama Mia. They even had two people from the cast of Mama Mia, and Zack Efron and Vanessa Hudgins for a little High School Musical Action. They were all dressed up like showgirls and guys. It was great.

It was great, minus one detail anyways. Beyonce was the co-star to Hugh. Ugh. They totally could have picked someone better. But of course, here she comes down the stairs in her typical leotard ensemble. Imagine that.



It's amazing.. But it could have been PERFECT. Had someone else been picked. Who? I don't know. Just someone else.

Speaking of annoying people, though... Brad and Angelina were in full snob-mode as usual. At least Seacrest was able to get an interview this time.. If that's what you want to call it. It was more like a "Yeah we're here. Yes we're hott. Now leave us alone." Even Hugh made a joke about having to mention them a certain amount of times. He hit the nail on the head. And here I am helping them out by mentioning them again. Fabulous.

They kept giving out the awards by bringing out five previous winners of the award. Now, again, I think this is a great idea. The execution wasn't there. It took WAY too long to get to the point [who won the award], and I feel like the people who did come back weren't always people who we remember as AMAZING actors. For example-- Whoopi Goldberg.

There were some funny presenters, though. Real funny ones. Off the top of my head, I remember 2. Tina Fey/Steve Martin, and Ben Stiller/Natalie Portman. Ben Stiller takes the cake when it comes to one person being absolutely hilarious. [Besides Jackman, duh.]





If you don't think it's funny, maybe you haven't seen this.

As for accepting the awards, I'll stay on the funny side for a second. The winner of the Best Animated Short was Kunio Kato. And if you're worried you don't know how to say his name, don't feel bad. He didn't know how to say anything but "Sank You Beddy Much" in English. And make sure you keep your ears open for the highlight of the whole speech. You can't miss it.



That wins best speech of the night, period. But runner-up was definitely when Heath Ledger won for Best Supporting Actor. His family got up and expressed their sorrows and thanks for everything. It was heartbreaking.



Really, that's all worth mentioning that I can think of. Penelope Cruz's speech was pretty emotional, too. But here are some winners:

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Leading Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Leading Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

And, here are some of the good red carpet looks:

And some bad:

Of course, it's my opinion.. But let's be honest.. It matters.

Congrats to all of the winners and Hugh Jackman! You rocked it, guy!

love,
elizabethany