I had reservations about last night’s Oscar ceremony going in.  I’ve been watching the Oscars as far back as I can remember and I’ve always enjoyed them the least when someone “unlikely” hosted them.  I like both James Franco and Anne Hathaway but they didn’t exactly instill confidence in me.  Not really anyone has since Jon Stewart who, to date, is still my favorite Oscar host.

But I have to say I was impressed with the fact that they pulled it off quite capably.  They were charming, their jokes were no less hilarious, and they were used in all the right ways.

I know there are a lot of people who couldn’t care less about the Academy Awards, but for those of us who really care about film and the movies, this is like the Superbowl.  A Superbowl for normal people who are a little bit too intellectual for their own good.  But at its best the Oscars is a celebration of movies, and I know we all love movies.  This ceremony was no different.  From the opening montage (seen below) and right into the introduction of Gone With the Wind moments later, this was an honoring of cinema and the art of making movies for the last 83 years. And for a movie fan, it’s enjoyable as hell.

There were a lot of highlights in the ceremony, especially for comic book fans.  Aside from the fact that two of the Avengers were nominated against each other in the same category (Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Mark Ruffallo (Bruce Banner), Best Supporting Actor), there were comic book and geek references abound. Perhaps one of the best moments was when Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law presented awards for Best Visual Effects and Editing and bickered about Iron Man himself being caught in a hotel with a hooker dressed as Batgirl… er… Wonder Woman…

My favorite moments of the Oscars always seem to be those that gravitate toward the old Hollywood. The Bob Hope segment where he introduced presenters was a particular highlight. But I always love the retrospectives of past Oscar winners. The orchestral musical piece they presented was a highlight for me, and not just because they played Star Wars.

But the absolute standout of the night for me was Barack Obama’s brief appearance. Not because I appreciate the fact that we have a President who is young enough to care about some of the things in the popular culture, but because of what he came on to say. As part of a montage of people being asked what their favorite songs from movies were, Obama offered “As Time Goes By” which would have been my answer, too. In fact, I have it as a ringtone on my phone and Casablanca is one of the greatest movies of all time and it’s use of music is second to none.

As far as the actual awards being handed out, there were few surprises. It’s bizarre to see that Trent Reznor is now an Academy Award winner, and that Queen Amidala has an acting Oscar. Inception took home quite a few Oscars in all of the most relevant categories for it.

The King’s Speech took home the biggest honor and I’ll have to see it. But I swear to god if they release an edited PG-13 version of the film so “more people will see it” I’m going to pirate the shit out of the R rated version.

(You can see a complete list of winners here.)

It was also nice to see Star Wars well represented. From mentions of Irvin Kershner and Grant McCune during the In Memoriam section (which had a soundtrack of Charlie Chaplin’s brilliant “Smile” going on underneath), to the fact that the voice of Yoda on The Clone Wars, Tom Kane, announced the Oscars, made my day.

And perhaps it was all of those Star Wars references that made this viewing of the Oscars an unforgettable one for me. I went to see it at Brewvies Cinema Pub for The Big Movie Mouth-Off’s special theatrical presentation of it, and for some reason every time there was a Star Wars reference, everyone in the theatre would shout my name, you know, as though I would miss the reference. It was perhaps the most fun I’ve had watching an Oscars ceremony and I hope we make this a habit.

But until then, keep watching movies.

As for you, is there a moment more than others that stood out in your mind? Or an award that should have gone to someone else? Sound off below.