By Maraithe Thomas, News correspondent

Last night was the biggest in movies. The ‘Superbowl for Women.’ The night film geeks fill out ballots religiously to guess the winners:’ the Academy Awards. In its 81st year, the ceremony, known too by its nickname, the Oscars, was hosted by a singing and dancing Hugh Jackman.
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ cleaned up, taking home eight Oscars, including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for his role as The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight,’ a triumph that brought the entire audience to tears as his father, mother and sister accepted the award on his behalf and in honor of his daughter, Matilda.
The biggest upset of the night, judging by early predictions, was in the Best Actor category, where Sean Penn beat out Mickey Rourke for his role in ‘Milk.’ Rourke had already won the Golden Globe and Screen Actor’s Guild Award for ‘The Wrestler.’
‘Milk’ also won for Best Original Screenplay. Both Penn and Dustin Lance Black, who wrote the screenplay for ‘Milk,’ passionately commented in their acceptance speeches on the struggle for gay rights.
Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz won Best Actress for ‘The Reader’ and Best Supporting Actress for ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ respectively, and both gave gushy speeches and spoke of fainting onstage.
Since the winners themselves were mostly no surprise, the night’s highlights came instead from more random sources, including Jackman’s often campy musical performances. Tapping into his theatrical side, he even pulled on stage Best Actress nominee Anne Hathaway for a sing-song ‘Frost/Nixon’ reenactment.
It was clear the academy made an effort to reinvent itself this year, and it worked, with few boring interruptions and genuine humor.