2009 Academy Awards winners - Oscar gold for Slumdog Millionaire, Kate Winslet & Sean Penn!

WOW! We were almost so right on the money. With the exception of Penelope Cruz beating The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's Taraji P. Henson for Best Supporting Actress, our Oscar predictions nailed it.

Then again, we all know that the Oscars can be a bit yesterday but who would have though a lyric from Styx's 1983 hit "Mr. Roboto" was to show up? But that's exactly what happened when Kuni Kato said "Domo arigato Mr. Roboto" when accepting his Oscar for Best Short Film, Animated.

And who knew that two time Director of Photography Oscar winner Janusz Kaminiski, who joined the often under appreciated James Franco and Seth Rogen in the funniest portion of the entire ceremony, was the true comedian of this year's Academy Awards?

As we predicted, Heath Ledger posthumously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. What none of us could have ever predicted was that the acceptance of the award by Ledger's parents and sister would have brought tears to our eyes and brought us, like everyone in the Kodak Theatre, to out feet.

As our almost perfect predictions guesstimated Slumdog Millionaire did win the Oscar for Best Picture and Danny Boyle, the man behind its camera, did win Best Director. The shock was that the rags to riches tales set in Mumbai, India won one Academy Award after another. From Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography, a few more and then to Best Song and Best Score and the big ones, Slumdog Millionaire, like in the movie itself, just wouldn't stop winning.

As for the show itself ... well, the judge is trying to get into the Vanity Fair party, the jury is partying at the Chateau Marmont on the Sunset Strip and both are still out about the actual show itself - at least until they met up at Prince's party at LA's Avalon. Host Hugh Jackman and the Oscar producers threw everything - literally if you include all the former Oscar winners like Whoopi Goldberg in that leopard skin outfit and that Oscar song routine that included Beyonce, a very sexy Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, and Jackman himself - and the kitchen sink into the show. Some stuff, like the sheer scale of the sets and the innovative use of video and film footage, were fantastic. Some stuff, like the Jerry Lewis tribute, was neither here nor there. And some stuff, like that low budget low rent musical opening number where Jackman sang about "human excrement" to Kate Winslet and told us it was "OK to be gay" totally floundered. The jokes about the Academy's snub of The Dark Knight and the awkward Frost/Nixon with Anne Hathaway really looked and sounded like a bad glad handling Australian variety show a week away from cancellation.

For me, with all the winners, losers, nominees and presenters, the Oscars were all about someone who wasn't even there. It was all about Loki, Mickey Rourke's recently deceased Chihuahua. That dog was what got Mickey through the tough times and, as pet lovers ourselves, we know the little girl was looking down from Dog Heaven cheering her guy on - and it took unconditional love to get through these Oscars ... like Jennifer Aniston and Jack Black's so-called banter when giving the animation awards. In the end, Mickey may have lost, but Best Actor winner Sean Penn spoke for us all when he praised him. You're back Mickey, and you'll be back at the Oscars again soon.
by Dominic Patten
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