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'Slumdog' rules Oscars with 8 prizes, best picture

BY RAFER GUZMAN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

12:51 AM EST, February 23, 2009

Sean Penn trumped Mickey Rourke as best actor, Heath Ledger became the first man since Peter Finch to win a posthumous acting Oscar and "Slumdog Millionaire" crushed the competition with eight awards, including best picture, on Sunday night's 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony.

As expected, Kate Winslet won best actress for "The Reader" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" reaped a handful of technical awards, including art direction, makeup and visual effects. Perhaps the only surprise was the foreign film award, which went to a little-known Japanese movie, "Departures."

-Click here to see red carpet photos

-Click here to see highlights from the ceremony

Coming off last year's broadcast, the least-watched in Oscar history, the ceremony leaned hard on boldface names to attract viewers. Hugh Jackman, brought in as emcee to change the talk-show approach of past hosts like Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres, kicked off the event by rehashing Billy Crystal's beloved best-picture medleys and performed a musical number with Beyoncé. Troupes of past winners were brought in to directly address new nominees: Shirley MacLaine praised Anne Hathaway, and Robert DeNiro lauded Sean Penn. No less a powerhouse than Steven Spielberg handed out the best picture award to "Slumdog Millionaire."

"Milk," a topical film about the gay politician Harvey Milk, won only two awards, including for original screenplay, but Penn used his time to castigate those who voted for California's recent ban on gay marriage. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone," he said.

Here are some notable highlights:

FAMILY TRIBUTE. Accepting Heath Ledger's posthumous award for supporting actor, his sister, Kate -- accompanied by father Kim Ledger and mother Sally Bell -- looked upward: "Heath, we both knew what you had created in the Joker was extraordinarily special, and we even spoke about you being here on this very day."

MACHO TALK. Introducing the best actor award, Robert DeNiro ribbed his friend for convincingly portraying a gay politician: "How did he do it? How for so many years did Sean Penn get all those jobs playing straight men?" Penn, accepting the award, called the Academy a "bunch of commie, homo-loving sons of guns."

THE OSCAR BOUNCE. Accepting the best director statue, Danny Boyle of "Slumdog Millionaire" literally jumped up and down, then explained that he once promised his children "that if this miracle ever happened, I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger."

-Click here to see photos of the cast of "Slumdog Millionaire" celebrating at the Oscars

CROSSING OVER. Penélope Cruz, accepting her supporting actress award, recalled watching the ceremony as a child in Alcobendas, Spain, then delivered her closing thank-yous in Spanish.

NO OFFENSE, TOM. Introducing the screenplay category, Steve Martin, who once seemed to poke fun at Scientology in "Bowfinger," rattled off a joke about aliens creating the Earth -- to which co-presenter Tina Fey replied, "No one wants to hear about our religion that we made up."

SCENERY CHEWING. Sporting a giant beard and Dylan-style shades -- a riff on Joaquin Phoenix' weird appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" -- Ben Stiller goofed around so much during the cinematography award that co-presenter Natalie Portman could barely stick to the script. "Slumdog Millionaire" winner Anthony Dod Mantle deadpanned: "I found that very inspiring, Natalie and Ben."

ODD FELLOWS. In a short clip, Seth Rogen and James Franco re-enacted their stoner roles from "Pineapple Express" and mocked the various nominated films. The third man to join the fun: Poland-born cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.

SHORT AND SWEET. Accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a somewhat winded Jerry Lewis kept his speech brief -- "The humility I feel is staggering," he noted -- but couldn't resist a bit of rubber-faced goofing at the end.

TOUGH TIMES Speaking to Robert Downey Jr., up for supporting actor for a comedic role in blackface, Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded: "That's enough of taking the parts from the black people, man. The brothers need to work."

-Click here to see red carpet photos

-Click here to see highlights from the ceremony