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The 81st Annual Academy Awards were given out at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA last night and pretty much everyone on Earth tuned in to watch the show … or, at least, they should have because last night’s Oscars were the most entertaining of any show in recent memory. A bunch of tweaks to the traditional format, coupled with an energetic and engaging (ie. HOT) host conspired to give us, IMHO, THE best Academy Awards ever. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals last night:

God bless Brangelina, they showed up to last night’s awards with the biggest smiles they could muster to try and show the world that they were honored “just to be nominated” because, judging by their collective track records during this year’s awards show season, they knew they were going home empty-handed … which is exactly what ended up happening by night’s end. Sarah Jessica Parker looked like a DREAM in that beautiful dress … it was a little Carrie Bradshaw but she pulled it off wonderfully. Generally, I was quite pleased with what I saw on the red carpet … Sophia Loren didn’t scare the hell out of me until she showed up on the Oscar stage to present her award. In HD, she was not treated too kindly.

For me, tho, the big star of the night was Hugh Jackman. He really turned in an amazing performance and totally made the show. His opening number (and subsequent numbers, I must add) really showed that there is life yet in the old Academy Awards and they are worth watching:

I was also very impressed with the way the Academy chose to honor the acting nominees by having former winners in their categories come on stage to say nice things about them. I know I was touched by some of the nice things said about the actors who were nominated this year … I can only imagine what an honor it was for the nominees to hear those same things being said about them, to them. I hope they will continue to honor the nominees in this way in future shows … it was my second favorite thing about the show after Hugh‘s job hosting.

And how about those winners! I think everyone was pretty surprised by that “shocker” of a winner. After the jump, check out some photos of some of the winners posing with their shiny new Oscars and read about what went down last night — oh, and watch Hugh Jackman‘s amazing Oscar opening one more time — it’s deffo worth it …

Just like it was for music, 2008 wasn’t really a great year for movies or television … the Writer’s Strike at the start of the year really decimated Hollywood and severely hurt television programming. That said, there were a few really amazing films (highlighted by really amazing acting performances) and a select few TV shows that really brought the entertainment this year. Here is my list of my Fave Movies of 2008 … I think the #1 pick might surprise you.

At #10 is The Incredible Hulk:

This movie may not have been the best superhero film of all time but it beat the hell out of Ang Lee‘s Hulk and really did a service to both the comic book series and the TV series from the ’70s. This film really paid homage to the beloved TV series for the first half of the film and then represented the comic books very well in the second half of the film. All I know is that I had a really good time at the movies watching this film … and isn’t that what’s most important?

At #9 is W.:

Oliver Stone films are really hit or miss and this one was a pretty nice hit. Josh Brolin played a superb GWB and managed to put our soon-to-be ex-president in real context. I am no GWB fan by any stretch of the imagination but this film actually made him a sympathetic character. Props to Oliver Stone for actually doing the impossible.

In the #8 position is Doubt:

This film is all about the acting. And among the amazing acting performances, Meryl Streep far outshines everyone else in this film. She absolutely turned in the most powerful acting performance this year … she absolutely deserves all the Best Actress awards and, IMHO, the Best Actor awards as well — she is that good in this film. I feel bad for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, who both turned in exceptional performances, cuz Streep just steals the spotlight. She made this movie such a delight for me to watch.

At #7 is Milk:

At long last, the story of Harvey Milk‘s life made it to the big screen … and Sean Penn did his memory a great service. Milk may not have been a blockbuster but it is a very important story that is told so expertly that I wish it had made more money at the box office. Penn‘s cast of supporting actors were also pretty phenomenal … as a whole they told a tale that an entire generation of people were hearing for the first time — which was eerily similar to the events that were playing out on the streets of SoCal this past November.

At #6 is WALL•E:

OMG … what can I say about WALL•E that hasn’t been said a million times before? The movie is just cute as hell and actually caused kids and grown adults alike to fall in love with a sweet little animated trash compactor. I had my doubts about this film before I saw it for myself … but man, once I saw it — I was hooked. WALL•E is absolutely the Best Animated Film of 2008.

After the jump, check out my Top 5 Fave Films of 2008 as well as my list of my Fave TV Shows of the Year …

Last night I met up with Steph and Alek so that I could deliver a couple of birthday presents for the two of them that I procured on my most recent trip to NYC. Because either they or I were out of town on their respective birthdays, I wasn’t able to partake of their bday celebrations. I tried to get them to come out to the movies with me last night but they initially opted out because of work they had to do. Once they heard I was going to see Slumdog Millionaire, they were happy to put the work on hold and come out to the movies with me:

I’ve been hearing really great things about this film but never really paid much attention to seeking it out. When David told me the premise (an Indian boy goes on the gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? to win the love of his life) I kinda dismissed the idea that the film would be any good. Then I heard that Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Sunshine) directed the film (with a little help from Loveleen Tandan) and I learned that Dev Patel (who played Anwar on the amazing British series Skins) stars in the film and, well, I had to see the movie. Man … the movie is so great. It’s one of those indie films that tugs at all the right heartstrings and really makes you cheer for the protagonist. By far the most impressive acting performances came from the very young actors Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail. They play Jamal and his brother Salim (respectively) at their youngest and are phenomenal! Just amazing acting performances for such little kids. The use of music was also something that I really responded too … Paper Planes by M.I.A. is featured in the movie but so is a song called Aaj Ki Raat by Sonu Nigam, Mahalaxmi Lyer & Alisha Chinoi — what a great pop song! It sounded to me like an Indian Kylie Minogue song. As soon as I got home, I downloaded the soundtrack from iTunes. There are some really great songs on this soundtrack.

I don’t want to give anything about the film away … I think the film works better the less you know (after all, I almost dismissed this film just from hearing David’s description). I will say this, tho, after seeing this movie I now have new questions of how Meridith Vieira might be behind the scenes on the US version of WWTBAM? ;) By far, this was one of my fave movies of the year. I can’t think of a thing about the film that I didn’t like … it’s a great story — and the ending? Well, you’re just gonna hafta see it for yourself. I suspect you’ll be on the edge of your seat like I was. Loved this film! I think you will, too.

I believe I’m meeting up with the guys again tonight to take in a little show by Candis Cayne at The Abbey. I hear it’s not to be missed. I may venture out to see what all the fuss is about.