'Slumdog' is top dog at the Oscars; Ledger gets posthumous award

Posted February 22, 2009 10:00 pm

Dann Gire

"Slumdog" had its day at the 81st Academy Awards show Sunday night, winning eight of its 10 nominations to become Oscar's top dog by taking best director and best picture.

Sean Penn won best actor for his role as assassinated gay activist Harvey Milk in the drama "Milk."

Penn was met with a standing ovation as he accepted his award. He added a quiet plea in his speech: "We've got to have equal rights for everyone!"

Kate Winslet, as expected, won best actress as a Nazi prison guard in the drama "The Reader." "I'd be lying if I said I haven't made a version of this speech before. I think I was probably 8 years old and staring into the bathroom mirror, and this would have been a shampoo bottle. Well, it's not a shampoo bottle now."

For his enthralling role as Batman's villain the Joker, Heath Ledger became only the second actor ever to win a posthumous Oscar, arriving 13 months after his death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs last year.

"Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one," said Penelope Cruz as she became the fifth performer to win an Oscar in a supporting role in a Woody Allen movie. "Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank you for having written all these years some of the greatest characters for women." The "greatest night in Hollywood" became a mixed blessing early on. First-time host, Australian sex-symbol Hugh Jackman, displayed his song-and-dance talents with a couple of production numbers in an unusually intimate stage at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, decorated with more than 100,000 refracting crystals.

The night was dampened by a plethora of agonizingly dull acceptance speeches, many that sounded like people reading a film's closing credits. (You'd think Oscar-winning screenwriters could at least whip up something fresh, wouldn't you?)

The production did cut down on time used introducing a zillion presenters by forcing a smaller number of presenters to multitask. Will Smith handed out four awards alone, cutting down on presenter introductions.

Instead of the usual clips showing the acting nominees, five past Oscar winners from the Academy's four acting categories gave testimonials to each of the nominated performers, a personal and wonderful way to celebrate all five nominees as winners.

The night's production was cluttered with mind-numbingly junky montages inserted to keep people awake. Most of them added unnecessary running time to the program.

The series of action movie clips, unexciting and without context, had little meaning or resonance. Then came the abortive musical movie montage.

"The musical is back!" Jackman declared, then proceeded to lead a musical montage - created by Baz "Australia" Luhrmann for Ritalin junkies - that mangled and maimed some of the greatest tunes in movie musicals.

Jerry Lewis, usually a master of self-promotion who likes to hear the word "genius" attached to all his introductions, seemed uncharacteristically humble and gracious when accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his decades of work as a fundraiser to fight muscular dystrophy.

"For most of my life, I thought that doing good for someone didn't mean you received commendation for that act of kindness. At least until now," Lewis said. "This award touches my heart and the very depths of my soul because of who the award is from and those who will benefit. The humility I feel is staggering and I know it will stay with me for the rest of my life."

The evening's best political acceptance speech (in a single sentence no less) came from Dustin Lance Black, winner of the original screenplay Oscar for "Milk," about the gay-rights politician slain 30 years ago.

"If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told they are less than by the churches, by the government, by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours."

In picking up his Oscar for best animated feature, "WALL•E" director and writer Andrew Stanton said, "I guess I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my high school drama teacher Phil Perry for 28 years ago casting me as Barnaby in 'Hello Dolly.' Creative seeds are sown in the oddest of places."

From left, Heath Ledger's mother Sally Bell, father Kim Ledger, and sister Kate Ledger hold the Oscar for best supporting actor on behalf of Heath Ledger who won for his work in "The Dark Knight." Associated Press

Sunday night's Oscar winners Best picture "Slumdog Millionaire" Best actor Sean Penn, "Milk" Best actress Kate Winslet, "The Reader" Best supporting actor Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" Best supporting actress Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" Best director Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire" Best original screenplay Dustin Lance Black, "Milk" Best adapted screenplay Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire" Best cinematography Anthony Dod Mantle, "Slumdog Millionaire" Best editing "Slumdog Millionaire" Best art direction "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Best costume design "The Duchess" Best makeup "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Best original score A.R. Rahman, "Slumdog Millionaire" Best original song "Jai Ho" by A.R. Rahman & Gulzar, "Slumdog Millionaire" Best sound mixing "Slumdog Millionaire" Best sound editing "The Dark Knight" Best visual effects "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Best animated film "WALL•E" Best foreign language film "Departures," Japan Best documentary feature "Man on Wire" Best documentary short "Smile Pinki" Best short film, animated "La Maison Petits Cubes" Best short film, live action "Spielzeugland" Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Jerry Lewis <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=OSC-FASH3-2009022EV&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Oscar trendsetters: Davis, Cyrus, Winslet </a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=OSC-SLUM-20090222EV&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">'Slumdog' cast looks like a 'Million' bucks</a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=OSC-PROTEST-20090222EV&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Protesters criticize Jerry Lewis award </a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&g=0221dv_oscar_gifts_video_essay&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Video essay: Oscar's gifts for art's sake </a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=OSC-BITES-20090222EV&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Stars sound off on red carpet </a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=OSC-FASH2-20090222EV&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Going for classic glamour </a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=OSC-FASH1-20090222EV&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Stars sparkle </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>

Article Comments

Article Categories
Entertainment Lifestyle Movies

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.