Some of the brightest stars in Hollywood filled the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles to recognize this year's highest achievements in film at the 80th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24. Although the Writers Guild of America had been the scourge of Hollywood since November - postponing movie production, ending the television season, and canceling the Golden Globe Awards - their infamous writer's strike ended just in time for Hollywood's biggest night of the year.
"I'm happy to say that the bitter fight is over," Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" and this year's ceremony, said. "Tonight, welcome to the make-up sex."
Throughout the show, Stewart's quips and commentaries never faltered, proving that even with such little time to prepare, the show can go on.
The race for Oscar was highly competitive and widely diverse this year, with films such as Juno, There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men in the running in several categories. As the only comedy among a crowd of "Oscar-nominated psychopathic killer movies," Stewart was particularly supportive of Juno.
"Thank God for teen pregnancy," he said.
"Even Norbit got a nomination, which I think is great - too often the Academy ignores movies that aren't good," Stewart said of the critically condemned Eddie Murphy flick's surprising nomination for Best Makeup (which lost to La Vie En Rose).
This year's ceremony was one of few surprises. Javier Bardem took home the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, as expected. The award for Best Actor went to Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood, making this his second Oscar win. Marion Cotillard beat out Oscar veterans such as Julie Christie (Away From Her) to win best actress for her portrayal of French songstress Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.
The Coen brothers, the genius duo behind No Country for Old Men, swept their categories, nabbing the awards for both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. No Country for Old Men was also named Best Picture of the Year, following in the footsteps of last year's The Departed, also a rather dark, nihilistic crime-drama.
2008 Woodie Awards
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