some recap so far
Host Hugh Jackman started the night off well with some charming jokes and an opening musical number that, although it referenced excrement and pubic hair, made us simply embarrassed for adorable Hugh Jackman. (And for those of you who were wondering... yes, Anne Hathaway did change her dress. Huh.) After an energetic (but in our humble opinion flat) musical number, Jackman perused the crowd calling out the front row celebrities.
The first presenter? Try five of them: Eva Marie Saint, Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Tilda Swinton and Angelica Houston. The female talent powerhouses honored each of the Best Supporting Actress nominees in bizarre testimonials in what can only be called a stilted waste of our time.
At least it settled one question... the leaked winner list is totally fake. It had Amy Adams list, but the Oscar went to Penelope Cruz. (Sorry, Amy.)
Next up Tina Fey and Steve Martin rocked their jokes and the screenplay awards. Best Adapted Screenplay went to Dustin Lance Black for "Milk" and Best Original Screenplay went to Simon Beaufoy for "Slumdog Millionaire."
The weirdness continues. Jennifer Aniston presents the award for Best Animated Feature with Jack Black. OK, first of all, why is Black, voice star of "Kung Fu Panda," one of the nominated films, presenting an award for his own category? Second off, why is Aniston (of Pitt-Jolie drama) presenting an award with Jolie's co-star from "Kung Fu Panda"? The only redeeming thing about their presentation? Wall-E won! But don't get too excited... they both remained onstage and butchered the names for the Short Animated Films. I'm not sure what Jack Black said when he announced the winner, but the Oscar went to La Maison en Petits Cubes.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Daniel Craig were next up to present the awards for Art Direction and Costume Design. (Ah, so this is how the show will be kept to time: 2-fers.) "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" took home its first Oscar of the evening (out of 13 nominations) for Art Direction. "The Duchess" won for Costume Design.