Hats off to the Academy for putting together a very entertaining show last night. Hugh Jackman proved to be a great pick as host, kicking things off at 7:3o with a recession shaped musical tribute to the 2009 nominated movies, and later anchoring an overblown big-time production number created by Baz Luhrman with Astaire like grace.”Slumdog Millionaire” was the night’s big winner with 8 statues and it was a joy to see the entire cast hit the stage to accept, especially the adorable child actors who were flown in from India for the event. I had “Slumdog” as Best Film and Danny Boyle as Best Director but overall my picks were not quite as successful. I was skunked on several peripheral categories, I missed with Mickey Rourke as the best actor, but was impressed with Sean Penn’s acceptance. I had Kate Winslet as Best Actress and even though I thought Amy Adams would win as Best Supporting Actor I was right in saying Penelope Cruz should win, and she did. My pick tabulation: 9 right, 11 wrong, and in four categories I was correct with my “should win” predictions. This is why I stay away from VegasThe attempts at comedy were thankfully more successful than not. Tina Fey and Steve Martin set the bar high with some clever writing, Ben Stiller hot the mark with his parody of a distracted Joaquin Phoenix , and Judd Apatow delivered a clever “Pineapple Express” segment with James Franco and Seth Rogan reprising their stoners in a salute to the Comedies of 2009.I really liked the concept of having past winners deliver their well written tributes to the nominees in each of the major acting categories. The emotions seemed quite heartfelt.The show has it’s legitimate detractors, it’s always too long, but I must say I was very impressed with what seems to be a very successful reworking of the production. Way to go Academy, I’m looking forward to another year of cinema.
