Promising a fresh approach, the 81st annual Academy Awards came through with an intimate new set, crowd-pleasing tributes, surprise presenters and an energetic host in Hugh Jackman.
Jackman, a former Tony Awards host with a background in music and dance, won the Oscar crowd over in the opening moments with a musical tribute to the films nominated for Best Picture.
"Due to cutbacks, the Academy said they didn't have enough money for an opening number," Jackman declared. "I'm going to do one anyway." He said he stayed up all night putting one together in his garage, and certainly the set and props look improvised. Then he pulled Best Actress nominee Anne Hathaway out of the audience for a cheesy but entertaining song and dance routine for "Frost/Nixon."
"When I was four my back was sore and I had pubic hair," Jackman sang about reverse-aging tale "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which had Brad Pitt laughing in the audience.
It was enough to have some wondering why the producers didn't choose the "Sexiest Man Alive" to host over a comedian long ago.
The crowd gave him a standing ovation, and it was clear this was going to be a much more laid back and casual Oscars.
The Swarovski-crystal adorned set, despite looking too glitzy and overdone from the outset, was actually quite intimate. Presenters and winners were only a few feet away from the stars. It made for a lot of reaction shots from Meryl Streep, who was seated in the front row.
Even though the presenters list was kept hush-hush before the big show, there were no real shockers. Jack Black, Jennifer Aniston, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Walken and Will Smith all made appearances, along with Ben Stiller, sporting a long beard and dark classes, spoofing Joaquin Phoenix's recent bizarre appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
"I just want to retire from being the funny guy," deadpanned Stiller.
Buzz on the Internet was largely favourable for the "new and improved" Oscars.
"This is definitely one of my favorite Oscars in quite some time. Way to cheer us all up in such a crappy time with the economy," said one Twitter user named Zureick.
"Ben Stiller's impersonation of Joaquin Phoenix on the Oscars is still my favorite moment of the night. And Hugh Jackman is a rock star!" tweeted BUTR.
"I have to admit I'm surprised, Hugh Jackman is doing a great job," echoed Raymond JR.
The major acting categories also featured five Oscar veterans taking the time to talk about the nominees and their roles instead of just reading their names -- Shirley MacLaine, Marion Cotillard, Halle Berry, Sophia Loren and Nicole Kidman presented the award for Best Actress to Kate Winslet, while Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Adrien Brody, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley presented the award for Best Actor to Sean Penn.
It was well worth the extra time.
Other awards were grouped in themes, such as Art Direction, Best Costume and Makeup, which were presented by Sarah Jessica Parker and Daniel Craig.
And even with tributes and montages that may not have meant anything to younger viewers, there was an attempt to reach out to them with a montage of popular movies focusing on love stories, many of which that received no Oscar nominations, including "Sex and the City," "Twilight" and "Australia," set to a Coldplay tune.
Judd Apatow's taped skit was also well-received, with "Pineapple Express" stars Seth Rogen and James Franco giving colour commentary on the year's nominated pictures.
Jackman also paid homage to the comeback of musicals, with a song and dance number featuring Beyonce, "Mamma Mia's" Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper, and "High School Musical's" Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.
Also new were the trailers for upcoming movies at the end of the awards, rewarding those who watched until the very last moments.
The only thing the show didn't deliver was sticking to its promised three-hour timeframe, coming in 30 minutes over the deadline.
Oh well, there's always next year.
