The biggest names in Hollywood have taken to the red carpet to celebrate the great films of the last year at the 81^st Academy Awards! As promised this year, a marring of sophistication and simplicity helped reinvigorate the Awards after a bout of disappointing viewer ratings over the past few years.   A singing and dancing Hugh Jackman oozed charm and confidence as the ceremony’s host, dispelling concerns that he would not suit the role that comedians usually undertook.

A clear favourite became a clear victor; Slumdog Millionaire was called to the podium 8 times in total, winning in categories such as best film, best director (Danny Boyle) and best adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy).  Not bad for a film that cost a mere $14 million to make.

Winning big in the technical categories, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took home 3 Oscars for best makeup, best art direction and best visual effects.

Kate Winslet showing off her Best Actress Oscar for The Reader

Uncommon for multiple award winners, neither Slumdog nor Benjamin Button won in performance categories. After a career total of six Academy Award nominations, a breathless Kate Winslet (The Reader) accepted her award for Best Actress, proclaiming to fellow nominees Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie and Melissa Leo that “I can’t believe we’re in a category with Meryl Streep!”

Taking to the podium for best supporting actress was Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), whom after thanking Woody Allen and the late publicity executive Robert Garloc, finished off her acceptance speech in Spanish.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night came in the Best Actor category, with the Academy favouring Sean Penn (Milk) over favourite Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler). Penn, who accepted the same award five years ago for Mystic River, opened to concerned laughter when jokinging stating to the audience,  ”You commie, homo-loving sons of guns.” Yikes..

As unanimously predicted, Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight. The poignant acceptance speech by Heath’s family was met with many teary eyes in the audience, clearly a community still in mourning over the actor’s sudden death just over a year ago to an accidental prescription drug overdose. Even though The Dark Knight was nominated in 8 categories, Ledger’s win was only the films second, after winning an Oscar  for best sound editing.

Left out of the winner’s pool this year was The Wrestler, despite the films recent success at the Spirit Awards and at the Golden Globes earlier in the year. As it has entire awards season, Frost/Nixon also left the ceremony empty handed, losing to Slumdog Millionaire in four of the five categories it was nominated in.

Below is a full list of nominees and winners from the 81^st Academy Awards:

Best picture
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Director
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Actor
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Actress
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

Original screenplay
Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E”

Adapted screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Animated feature film
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“WALL-E”

Foreign-language film
“The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany
“The Class,” France
“Departures,” Japan
“Revanche,” Austria
“Waltz With Bashir,” Israel

Documentary feature
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

Documentary (short subject)
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306″

Original score
Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
James Newton Howard, “Defiance”
Danny Elfman, “Milk”
A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Thomas Newman, “WALL-E”

Original song
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Animated short film
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory — Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

Live-action short film
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)”

Film editing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Cinematography
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Art direction
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”

Sound mixing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”

Sound editing
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”

Costume design
“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Duchess”
“Milk”
“Revolutionary Road”

Visual effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”

Makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”

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