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81st Academy Awards
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The 81st Academy Awards ceremony was held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to honor its selection of the best films of 2008 on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was televised in the United States on ABC. Australian performer Hugh Jackman hosted the ceremony for the first time. Oscar-nominated Laurence Mark served as the event's producer, while Oscar-winning writer and director Bill Condon served as executive producer. The Academy hoped to revitalize the ceremony through an entirely new production team sworn to secrecy, and the telecast received mixed reviews from critics.
The nominees were announced on January 22, 2009, by AMPAS president Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in the Academy's Beverly Hills headquarters.
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The 81st Academy Awards ceremony was held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to honor its selection of the best films of 2008 on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was televised in the United States on ABC. Australian performer Hugh Jackman hosted the ceremony for the first time. Oscar-nominated Laurence Mark served as the event's producer, while Oscar-winning writer and director Bill Condon served as executive producer. The Academy hoped to revitalize the ceremony through an entirely new production team sworn to secrecy, and the telecast received mixed reviews from critics.
The nominees were announced on January 22, 2009, by AMPAS president Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in the Academy's Beverly Hills headquarters. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button led the nominations with a total of thirteen while Slumdog Millionaire received ten. The Dark Knight and Milk received eight nominations, and Doubt, The Reader, and Frost/Nixon each received five. WALL-E, the winner for Best Animated Feature, received six nominations, tying it with Beauty and the Beast for the most nominated animated film in Oscar history.
Slumdog Millionaire won eight awards, the most of the evening, including Best Picture and Best Director (Danny Boyle). The Curious Case of Benjamin Button came in second with three awards. Jerry Lewis was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. For the first time since the 60th Academy Awards (1987), no Honorary Award was presented.
On February 7, 2009, in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in , the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Jessica Biel.
Nominees and winners
Winners of major awards
This is a breakdown of winners of major awards categories only. For a complete list of nominees and winners, see 81st Academy Awards nominees and winners.
Feature films
Directing
Acting
Writing
Special honors
| Award | Winner | Field |
|---|
| Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Jerry Lewis | Comedic film and humanitarian work | |
Multiple nominations and awards
The following 15 films received multiple nominations.
The following four films received multiple awards.
Premise
and Laurence Mark. The duo attempted to revamp the awards ceremony.]]
Due to the declining viewership of the recent Academy Awards ceremonies, the Academy had contracted an entirely new production team in an attempt to revive the award ceremony and revamp its general script and theming. Marketing for the ceremony had even gone so far as to advertise it as "The Biggest Movie Event of the Year". Producers Bill Condon and Laurence Mark announced their plans to rewrite the script, and they made attempts to keep the entire premise of the ceremony a secret, even from the presenters and performers. Film director Judd Apatow aired a new short film during the ceremony which starred Seth Rogen and James Franco reprising their roles from Apatow's Pineapple Express. Previously, the 74th Academy Awards and 79th Academy Awards telecasts incorporated short films directed by Errol Morris. Chris Harrison hosted "Road to the Oscars", a weekly behind-the-scenes video blog on the Academy's website, oscar.com. David Rockwell designed a new set and stage design for the ceremony. The red carpet was directed by Robert Osborne. Host Jackman expressed his anticipation of the awards in the few days preceding, and had commented that he was thrilled with preparations for the ceremony. The presentation of the four acting awards was styled differently than in previous years (see Notable events section).
Schedule
- As of January 15, 2009
| Date | Event |
|---|
| Wednesday, December 3, 2008 | Official Screen Credits forms due | | Friday, December 26, 2008 | Nominations ballots mailed | | Monday, January 12, 2009 | Nominations polls closed at 5:00 p.m. PST (01:00, 13 Jan. UTC) (8:00 p.m. EST) | | Thursday, January 22, 2009 | Nominations announced at 5:38 a.m. PST (13:38 UTC) (8:38 a.m. EST) at Samuel Goldwyn Theater | | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Final ballots mailed | | Monday, February 2, 2009 | Nominees Luncheon | | Saturday, February 7, 2009 | Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation | | Tuesday, February 17, 2009 | Final polls closed at 5:00 p.m. PST (01:00, 18 Feb. UTC) (8:00 p.m. EST) | | Sunday, February 22, 2009 | 81st Annual Academy Awards presentation |
In Memoriam
Queen Latifah performed "I'll Be Seeing You" during the annual In Memoriam tribute to honor individuals who died since the previous year's Academy Award ceremonies. Listed below are those who were honored during the tribute.
Note: Several notable individuals including Sam Bottoms, George Carlin, Don S. Davis, Beverly Garland, Estelle Getty, Eartha Kitt, Harvey Korman, Don LaFontaine, John Phillip Law, Patrick McGoohan, Anita Page, and Robert Prosky were not included in the "In Memoriam" tribute, though they died within the last year. Heath Ledger died shortly before last year's ceremony, and a tribute to him was included then.
Presenters and performers
The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters
Performers
Advertisements
ABC aired a number of themed commercial advertisements which were shown during the ceremony. The Academy's ban that had previously disallowed film commercials to be aired during the telecast was lifted in mid-2007, thus allowing film companies to promote their upcoming films for the first time during the broadcast. Thirty-second commercials cost between $1.4 million and $1.7 million, compared to up to $1.8 million during last year's show. The decrease was due to the recent global economic crisis.
Voting trends and summary
and Sid Ganis present the nominees for Best Picture at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.]]
Continuing a trend in recent years, the field of major nominees did not include a bona fide blockbuster at the U.S. box office, with all but one of the nominees for Best Picture performing even more poorly than those of the previous year. In fact, The Dark Knight earned more money than all the Best Picture nominees combined in its first four days of release. However, the top money earner in this year's field of Best Picture nominees performed slightly better in box office receipts compared to last year's highest grossing Best Film nominee, Juno. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $104.4 million in domestic box office receipts (compared to Juno which grossed $87 million prior to its nomination). The film was followed by Slumdog Millionaire which earned $44.7 million, Milk with $20.7 million, and Frost/Nixon with $8.8 million. The Reader rounded out the Best Picture nominees with $8.3 million.
Among the rest of the top 50 releases of 2008 in U.S. box office before the nominations, 32 nominations went to eight films on the list. Only The Dark Knight (1st), WALL-E (5th), Kung Fu Panda (6th), Bolt (19th), Tropic Thunder (20th), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (21st) received nominations for best picture, directing, acting, or screenwriting. The other top-50 box office hits that earned nominations were Iron Man (2nd), and Wanted (16th). The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, WALL-E, and Wanted each received more than two nominations.
For the first time since 2004, two films received more than eight nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received thirteen and Slumdog Millionaire received ten.
For the fourth consecutive year, four of the Best Picture nominees were rated R (under 17 requires an accompanying adult). Of the 86 nominations awarded to non-documentary feature films (apart from the Foreign Film category), a majority of 46 went to R-rated films (down from 50 one year earlier), 35 to films rated PG-13 (up from 29 the previous year), two to PG-rated films (down from 4 the year before) and eight to a G-rated film (up from five from last year). Duplicating the rating-related division among the nominations for the past three years, R-rated films captured 27 of the 40 nominations for Best Picture, directing, screenwriting and acting; while non-R-rated films received 25 of the 43 nominations in the remaining categories, primarily those in "below the line" areas.
Surprise omissions
Many critics expressed surprise at some of the nominee lists, such as the omission of WALL-E and The Dark Knight from the Best Picture category,, Sally Hawkins for "Happy-Go-Lucky" (which Hawkins had won a Golden Globe for) and the omission of Clint Eastwood's performance in Gran Torino from the Best Actor category. The Academy also surprised critics when it only put forward three nominations for the Best Song category, excluding Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" and the theme from Gran Torino. The shortened list led Rolling Stone to accuse the Academy of snubbing Springsteen.
Winners
For the seventh consecutive year, at least one lead acting award went to an actor playing a real-life person (Sean Penn for his portrayal of Harvey Milk). This is also the eleventh year in a row that any of the acting awards went to the portrayal of a real person. For the second year running, the Best Actor trophy has been awarded to a previous Best Actor recipient. Also for second year running, a Spaniard (Penélope Cruz) has won in a supporting category (previously Javier Bardem), and for the fourth year a British actress (Kate Winslet) has won an award (previously Tilda Swinton, Helen Mirren, and Rachel Weisz consecutively). This year also marks the second time Stephen Daldry has directed an actress into a Best Actress win (the other was Nicole Kidman, who also was a presenter), and the third time an actress he directed was nominated (Julie Walters). It was also the fourth time Woody Allen directed an actress into a Best Supporting Actress win (the others were Dianne Wiest, twice, and Mira Sorvino). This is also the first time the Award for Best Supporting Actor has been awarded posthumously, to Heath Ledger, and only the second posthumous acting award in Academy history. (The first was to Peter Finch for Best Actor in Network in 1976.)
Controversies
Like the previous year's awards, this year's Oscars has also faced multiple controversies.
Disputes over Ledger's statuette
Because Best Supporting Actor winner Heath Ledger died in January 2008 making his nomination one of posthumous recognition, the Academy had disputes over who should accept the award and who should gain ownership of it should Ledger win it. Following talks with Ledger's family in Australia, the Academy ruled that his previous domestic partner Michelle Williams could not accept the award as the two were not married. They then decided that Ledger and Williams' three-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, would own the award. However, due to Matilda's age, she will not gain full ownership of the statuette until her eighteenth birthday in 2023. Until that time, Michelle Williams will hold the statuette in trust for Matilda. Ledger's family attended the ceremony to accept the award on his behalf.
Faked winners leak
Shortly after the voting polls were closed for the awards, a purported list of winners was posted online. The list, which bore a purported signature from Academy president Sid Ganis, stated that Mickey Rourke won for Best Actor, Kate Winslet won for Best Actress, Amy Adams won for Best Supporting Actress, Heath Ledger won for Best Supporting Actor and Slumdog Millionaire won for Best Picture. It was later confirmed as a fake list. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spokeswoman Leslie Unger later revealed that the list was "a complete fraud", and that PricewaterhouseCoopers had just begun to count the ballots. The list was proved false as the first award of the night, Best Supporting Actress, was awarded to Penélope Cruz, not Amy Adams, the purported winner in the falsified list. (The last time names of award winners were leaked prior to the ceremony was at the 12th Academy Awards for 1939, before the Academy adopted the use of sealed envelopes for voting results.)
Other controversies
Prior to the nominations announcement, it was suggested that the 2008-09 Screen Actors Guild labor dispute could affect the awards by discouraging actors' attendance at the ceremony, However, as talks to end the dispute between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) were ongoing, the expected strike did not affect the awards ceremony, although a resolution between SAG and AMPTP has not yet been reached.
Peter Gabriel, who was originally scheduled to perform his nominated song "Down to Earth" from WALL-E during the live broadcast, declined to perform after learning that he would be allowed to sing only 65 seconds of the song during the ceremony's Best Original Song nominee performances. Gabriel still attended the ceremony. John Legend performed the song in place of Gabriel, backed by the Soweto Gospel Choir.
Notable events
- During his opening monologue, Hugh Jackman joked that the Academy had not been able to prepare an elaborate opening number due to the recession, so he had created his own. Jackman's opening number parodied Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, and The Wrestler with cardboard sets and backup dancers. It was given a standing ovation by the crowd.
- The presentation of the Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Actor awards changed significantly from recent years. Instead of the previous year's winner of the opposite sex presenting the award with clips of the nominees in each film being shown, there was a montage of past winners in each category. Then, five past winners in the specific acting category appeared onstage and each gave a detailed characterization of an individual nominee.
- When Ben Stiller and Natalie Portman apeared onstage to present the award for Best Cinematography, Stiller spoofed Joaquin Phoenix's recent appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, telling Portman "I'm trying to be a serious actor" and joking that Slumdog Millionaire was filmed entirely on a cell phone.
- The 81st Academy Awards ceremony would be the last during Sid Ganis' tenure as president of the Academy. Host Hugh Jackman acknowledged that Ganis was stepping down from his position, one which Ganis has held since 2005.
- Throughout the ceremony, instead of montages of past films being shown, the ceremony incorporated a "movie yearbook" that showed montages of various genres of movies released in 2008. The yearbook was composed of montages of the animation, romance, comedy, documentary, and action film categories.
- Instead of a pre-recorded instrumental tune, the annual In Memoriam tribute was accompanied by a live performance of "I'll Be Seeing You" sung by Queen Latifah.
- The Best Picture nominee segments which are usually seen throughout the telecast were instead incorporated into one whole montage preceding the presentation of the award, with each nominated film being compared to various past nominees and winners in the category.
- After five failed nominations, Kate Winslet finally wins on her sixth nomination for The Reader (film). In her speech, she thanks many who have helped her along the way, even giving thanks to recently departed producers, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella.
Memorable quotes
- "Fifteen career Oscar nominations. That's a record. I hate to say it but when someone puts up numbers like that, it's just hard not to think steroids." – Host Hugh Jackman to Meryl Streep (during his opening monologue).
- "It's not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now. Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one." – Penelope Cruz, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
- "When I was 13 years old my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas, to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk and it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life." – Dustin Lance Black, accepting the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Milk.
- "There are certain places in the universe you never imagine standing. For me, it's the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here." – Simon Beaufoy after winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.
- "Who do you think is a better actor? Ronald Regan, or Barack Obama?" - Saul Silver (James Franco) to Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) during the Comedy 2008 montage.
- "This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here – his peers within an industry he so loved." – Kim Ledger, accepting the Best Supporting Actor Oscar on behalf of his son Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight.
- "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." – Kate Winslet, upon winning Best Actress for The Reader.
- "I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone. And there are, and there are, these last two things. I'm very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president and a country who, for all its toughness, creates courageous artists." – Sean Penn, upon accepting his Oscar for Best Actor in Milk, commenting on California's vote for Proposition 8.
- "When we started out, we had no stars, we had no power or muscle, we didn't have enough money really to do what we wanted to do. But what we had was a script that inspired mad love in everyone who read it. ... Most of all, we had passion and we had belief and our film shows that if you have those two things, truly anything is possible." – Producer Christian Colson accepting the Best Picture award for Slumdog Millionaire.
- "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." – Jerry Lewis, quoting Mohandas Gandhi, upon Lewis accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Reception and ratings
The show received a mixed reception from media publications. The Los Angeles Times says the show "fell flat" and from "Jackman's strangely self-conscious, low-rent opening musical number to Ben Stiller's obscure spoof of Joaquin Phoenix's recent appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, the awards had a tone problem — they tried to be something for everyone, coming off like a movie script that had its edginess and guts airbrushed out by too many studio notes." The Los Angeles Times awards insider page The Envelope says host Hugh Jackman surely "obliterated all memory of the Uma-Oprah thing", in reference to the negative reception David Letterman received when hosting the 1995 Academy Awards ceremony. The Boston Globe states the show "aimed for flash...but ultimately, fizzle prevailed." The Baltimore Sun says "the Oscars show itself took a different direction this year: It went Tony with a vengeance. It was like a concept musical with a flaccid concept, badly in need of a Parisian riot or an exploding chandelier." The Chicago Tribune states the "New format, host are unable to rescue a plodding telecast." The New York Times says of the ceremony as "it was fun for a while, but then it just started to seem long."
Baz Luhrmann, who has been dismissed in the past by the Australian media as a postmodern for his adaption William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, put together a performance for Jackman hailing the comeback of musicals. This divided the critics, with one Australian journalist saying it was "perhaps overstated" and others applauding the (apparent) focus upon a younger audience.
Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Perez Hilton called the performance "wonderful"; E! Online said that "Jackman nailed it"; the Associated Press stated that "the key word was charm" and that Hugh Jackman "gave his all"; and Salon.com said "Hurray for the Recession Oscars, the sincerest, sweetest, most heartfelt Oscars ever!" Roger Ebert said of Jackman: "I had a feeling Hugh Jackman would be a charmer as host, and he was." Of the show itself, Ebert added, "It was the best Oscar show I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty." The Toronto Star, Japan Today, and The Sydney Morning Herald also gave positive reviews, and many in the British media were particuarly favourable of Hugh Jackman's hosting performance.
Results from online polls conducted by Newsday and Entertainment Weekly showed a mostly positive response from viewers.
The 81st Academy Awards was watched by 36.31 million people, which was a 13% increase in viewership compared to the previous Academy Awards, but was the third least watched ceremony since individual viewership figures began being compiled in 1974, ahead only of the previous year's 32.01 million and the 33.04 million for the 2003 ceremony.
International broadcasters
Some of the broadcasters outside the United States (telecasted on ABC) showing the event live:
See also
External links
Official websites
News resources
Analysis
Other resources
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