The 81st Annual Academy Awards Recap
On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored the very best in film at the Kodak Theatre. Hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, the event went on to reward a handful of 2008 films with dozens of nominations and some unexpected wins. Among these high profile films the standouts were Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader. In this video, WatchMojo.com takes you back to the ceremony and re-experience 2009's biggest event of the year.
VIDEO SCRIPT
The 81st Annual Academy Awards Recap
It was an award ceremony that saw a small handful of films take home all of the Awards. Welcome to Watchmojo.com and today we’ll be taking a look at the 81st Annual Academy Awards.
The 2008 Ceremony took center stage on February 22, 2009 at the Kodak theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was hosted by Australian actor Hugh Jackman.
The presentation is notable for being only the 5th time that all five Best Picture nominees were the same as those of the Five Best Director nominations. These included Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon”, Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader”, Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”, David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and the winner in both categories, Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire.”
In total Slumdog Millionare swept the show in 8 major categories, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Mixing, Best original Song and Best Original Score.
Meanwhile “Milk” secured two awards including Best Screenplay and Best Actor, as Sean Penn beat out the highly favored competitor Mickey Rourke for his role as gay rights icon Harvey Milk. The film received recognition for its bold account of the first openly gay activist and politician to reach public office in the United States.
For Best Actress, Kate Winslet beat out 13-time nominated actress Meryl Streep for her part as Hanna Schmitz in the film adaptation of the 1996 German novel “The Reader”, in which she appealed to voters for her dynamic portrayal of a defendant in a Nazi war crime trial.
In the category of Best Supporting Actor, the late Heath Ledger was honored for his exceptional role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight”, while Penelope Cruz was recognized for her part as Maria Elena in the American/Spanish drama romance “Vicky Critina Barcelona.”
For Best Animated Feature Walt Diney Picture’s 3D masterpiece Wall-E beat out Kung Fu Panda. Meanwhile, the age effects that were applied to Brad Pitt won “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” an award for Best Makeup, in addition to its win for Best Art Direction.
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