2009 Oscar Highlights; Academy Award Surprising Moments

The 2009 Academy Awards started off with Hugh Jackman's first time hosting gig. Jackman, a great actor and Broadway star, was a breath of fresh air. Hugh Jackman's low-budget song-and-dance of Best Picture nominations was funny and clever. He joked that this year's Oscars had to go low-budget due to the recession, and Jackman's Best Picture tribute earned him a standing ovation from his peers.

Some of the highlights of Hugh Jackman's Best Picture tribute were the homemade props, even cardboard cutouts of the golden Oscars. For The Slumdog Millionaire, Jackman had a Who Wants to be a Millionaire setup that included pizza boxes for the game show monitors. For Frost/Nixon tribute, Jackman enlisted the help of Anne Hathaway who was by far the best Nixon impersonator I had ever seen.

Hugh Jackman turned into a comedian by closing his opening act with "These are the Oscars! This is my dream! I am a slumdog! I'm the reader, the wrestler. I am Wolverine!" A funny take of Jackman's famous role as the Wolverine.

He also joked with Oscar nominees sitting in the front row, joking with Mickey Rourke about the show's 30-second delay "But if you win we have a 20-minute delay."

A beautiful highlight of last night's Oscars was the previous Oscar winners standing on stage and presenting awards. For big winner categories such as Best Actor and Best Actresses, previous Oscar winners such as Anthony Hopkins and Goldie Hawn, stood on the Oscar stage and welcomed the new winners. It showed the Oscar winner talent, that this is the elite group of gifted craftsmen such as Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding Jr, Christopher Walken and Robert DeNeiro.

I liked having the five presenters come out for the categories, showing previous Oscar winners as the elite and as a group to strive to be a part of.

Ben Stiller and Natalie Portman stole the show with their Joaquin Phoenix spoof. Ben Stiller was funny, it was a hilarious skit spoofing Joaquin Phoenix's interview on David Letterman. The best part about Ben Stiller's comedic performance at the Oscars is that it is already available on YouTube. Click here to watch Ben Stiller be funnier than Joaquin Phoenix.

A sad moment at the 2009 Oscars was of course Heath Ledger's win for Best Supporting Actor. Heather Ledger did deserve this Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of dark, and demented Joker in The Dark Knight. A YouTube video available here shows Heath Ledger's family accepting the Oscar on Heath's behalf, thanking everyone and making sure that the public knows the Oscar will go to Heath's daughter Matilda. Needless to say, the entire Oscar attendance was in tears. The camera cut to the audience, showing every Hollywood star crying over this truly somber moment.

An important acceptance speech came from Sean Penn, for his Best Actor Oscar. Watch the YouTube video of Sean Penn accepting his second Oscar win, and speaking out about the importance of gay rights. I know that the critics will say that outspoken Sean Penn had no right to use the Oscar win as a political speech moment, but he did make good points. Penn also called his fellow Hollywood actors "You commie homo-loving sons of guns." which got a big laugh from the audience.

Sean Penn's Best Actor win may also be seen as an upset, as Mickey Rourke was widely expected to win for his performance in The Wrestler. Sean Penn won Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, showing the world that he can take on absolutely any role and make it convincing for the movie audience.