IT WAS NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, NOR AMERICANS. The 80^th Annual Academy Awards was for the geriatrics out there, as No Country For Old Men took home the most gold -- four statuettes in all. The murderous drama, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, won Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem and the Coens also won for Adapted Screenplay. And while the evening was all about No Country For Old Men, it was also a night for no actors from a country called America. The top four acting honors were swept by foreigners; the last time such a sweep took place was 1964. The acting awards went to the previously mentioned Bardem, who is from Spain; the London-born Daniel Day-Lewis (who won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for There Will Be Blood), France’s Marion Cotillard (who won Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for La Vie En Rose) and England’s Tilda Swinton (who nabbed Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Michael Clayton). Following No Country For Old Men’s four wins was three-time-winner The Bourne Ultimatum, which earned Oscars in the technical categories of Achievement in Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. La Vie En Rose and There Will Be Blood were the only other multiple honorees with two apiece. The show itself went 21 minutes over the three hours slated for the broadcast, wrapping up at 11:51 PM Eastern. A full winners list appears at the bottom of this writeup.   

A SLIPPERY OSCARS. Apparently, there was a puddle on the stage by one of the podiums at the Oscars. Astute viewers may have noticed that Miley Cyrus, Colin Farrell and John Travolta all seemed to slip on their way to make introductions.

GARY BUSEY SMOOCHES JENNIFER GARNER. In what may have been the oddest part of the Oscars evening, Gary Busey joined Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet before the show and helped interview Jennifer Garner and Laura Linney on E! The actor even went so far as to kiss Garner on the neck. The actress, who is married to Ben Affleck, certainly seemed shocked.

80^TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS RECAP

Host Jon Stewart kicked off the 80^th Annual Academy Awards with his monologue, in which he immediately addressed the recent writers strike, commenting that the past three months were tough, and that now that the fight is over, the Oscars could be considered the “make up sex.”


Stewart got political with some of his jokes, pointing out that the only time you see a black man or a woman president is when “an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty.” He also lauded Barack Obama for his campaign, especially since his last name rhymes with Osama bin Laden’s first name, and his middle name, Hussein, is the same as the former leader of Iraq. Stewart then quipped, “That’s not easy to overcome. I think we all remember the ill fated 1944 presidential campaign of ‘Gaydolph Titler.’”


After the monologue, Jennifer Garner handed out the Oscar for Achievement in Costume Design to Alexandra Byrne for her work in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.


George Clooney then introduced a video montage to 80 years of the Oscars.


Next, Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell, co-stars in the upcoming adaptation of Get Smart, gave Brad Bird the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for Ratatouille. During their banter, Carell feigned that he hadn’t read the script and that he thought he was giving out the statuette for Best Documentary.


Katherine Heigl apologized for being so nervous before announcing the Oscar for Achievement in Makeup to Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for La Vie en Rose.


Amy Adams then sang the first of the tunes nominated for Original Song, “Happy Working Song,” from Enchanted.


Dwayne Johnson (formerly known as “The Rock”) next honored Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood with the Oscar for Achievement in Visual Effects for their work on The Golden Compass.


Cate Blanchett next distributed the statuettes for Achievement in Art Direction to Dante Ferretti (art direction) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (set direction) for their effort in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.


Jennifer Hudson, last year’s winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Dreamgirls, gave the award for Best Supporting Actor award to Javier Bardem for his part in No Country For Old Men. He thanked directors Joel and Ethan Coen for putting “one of the most horrible haircuts of history” over his head before switching to his native language, Spanish, and dedicating  the honor to his mother.


When the show returned, Jon Stewart joked that Javier Bardem told his mother where the library is when he made his dedication to her in Spanish.


 Keri Russell then introduced the performance of the second of the five musical numbers nominated for Original Song, “Raise It Up,” from August Rush.


Next, Owen Wilson honored Philippe Pollet-Villard with the Oscar for Live Action Short Film for Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets).


The animated-bee version of Jerry Seinfeld (from his role in Bee Movie) then handed out the award for Best Animated Short Film to Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman for Peter & The Wolf.


Alan Arkin, who won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role last year for his work in Little Miss Sunshine, gave the statuette for Best Supporting Actress to Tilda Swinton for her part in Michael Clayton. Swinton, in her acceptance speech, said that the Oscar statue resembled her American agent – particularly his buttocks. She also said she would give the hardware to her agent (she confirmed later backstage that she had already done so). Swinton dedicated the honor to many, including co-star George Clooney, saying, “The seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from Batman & Robin, the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside down at lunch, you rock, man.”


A pregnant Jessica Alba followed by announcing some of the winners of the Scientific and Technical Awards she doled out earlier this month.


Josh Brolin and James McAvoy, who proceeded to quote many a famous line from many a famous movie, then gave out the award for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) to Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men. Brolin had to apologize to Jack Nicholson, in the front row, for his horrible impersonation. In his acceptance speech, Joel said, “I think whatever success we’ve had in this area has been entirely attributable to how selective we are. We’ve only adapted Homer and Cormac McCarthy, so thank you.”


Next, Sid Ganis, the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, explained how the Oscar nomination process works. After the segment, Jon Stewart joked, “I always thought it was superdelegates.”


Miley Cyrus next introduced the performance of the third tune nominated for Original Song, “That’s How You Know,” from Enchanted.


Host Jon Stewart then made light of all the baby news in Hollywood by introducing the nominees (pregnant actresses), Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman, in the audience. He then gave the award for a baby to Angelina Jolie. He said she couldn’t be there, though, because “it’s hard to get 17 baby sitters on Oscar night.”


Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen, announced as “Dame Judi Dench Halle Berry,” then argued about who looks more like Halle Berry and who gives off a “Halle Berry vibe.” Then they awarded The Bourne Ultimatum’s Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg with the Oscar for Achievement in Sound Editing.


The argument between Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen continued as they gave out the award for Achievement in Sound Mixing to The Bourne Ultimatum’s Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis.


Forest Whitaker, last year’s Best Supporting Actor winner for his work in The Last King of Scotland, honored an ecstatic and nearly speechless Marion Cotillard with the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her part in La Vie En Rose. Marion did manage to say in her acceptance speech, “I… I… well, I… thank you life, thank you love, and it is true, there is some angels in this city.”


Colin Farrell followed by introducing the performance by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for the fourth tune nominated for Original Song, “Falling Slowly,” from Once.


Next, Jack Nicholson presented a lead in to a video montage of the films from the past 79 years to win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture.


Renée Zellweger then handed out the Oscar for Achievement in Film Editing to Christopher Rouse for his work in The Bourne Ultimatum.


Nicole Kidman followed by introducing the package for the Honorary Oscar winner, Robert Boyle.


Penélope Cruz next awarded Austria with Best Foreign Language Film of the Year for The Counterfeiters.


Patrick Dempsey then introduced the fifth and final tune nominated for Original Song, “So Close,” sung by Jon McLaughlin, from Enchanted.


To cap off the five performances, John Travolta presented the Oscar for Original Song to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for “Falling Slowly” from Once.


Afterwards, Jon Stewart took the podium to announce that the “owner of a Boeing 707 with California plates parked on La Brea, your landing lights are on.” John Travolta then ran back out to grab a key to the plane from the host.


When the show returned, Jon Stewart introduced Marketa Irglova again, who was cut off by the house orchestra when she tried to give her acceptance speech for Original Song.


Cameron Diaz next gave out the Oscar for Achievement in Cinematography to Robert Elswit for his work in There Will Be Blood.


Hilary Swank followed by introducing a video montage to those who passed away over the past year.


Amy Adams then presented Dario Marianelli with the Oscar for Original Score for his effort in Atonement.


Next, Tom Hanks, who Jon Stewart joked did not “belong here” because he was not nominated this year, introduced the military servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq, who, via satellite, announced that Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth’s Freeheld won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.


Tom Hanks then gave out the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature to Alex Gibney and Eva Orner for Taxi to the Dark Side.


Harrison Ford followed by honoring a moved Diablo Cody with the Oscar for Original Screenplay for Juno. She dedicated the award to “the writers” and thanked her fellow nominees and “the superhuman Ellen Page,” as well as director Jason Reitman.


After the break, Helen Mirren, who won the Best Actress Oscar last year for her work in The Queen, handed out the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood.


Martin Scorsese, who won the Oscar for Achievement in Directing last year for The Departed, presented this year’s award to Ethan and Joel Coen for No Country For Old Men. Ethan said he didn’t have more to add to what he’d said in his last visit to the stage and said simply “thank you.” His brother Joel went on to regale the audience with a story of how he and Ethan made a movie in the late ‘60s with a Super 8 camera at the Minneapolis International Airport about Henry Kissinger and shuttle diplomacy called Man on the Go. He then quipped, “Honestly, what we do now doesn’t feel that much different from what we were doing then.”


Finally, Denzel Washington gave out the last award of the evening, Best Picture, to Scott Rudin and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men.