Another year, another Oscars. It seems to be a trend of late to bash the Oscars and its repeated attempts at drawing in the younger demographic. And while I’m admittedly an Oscar nut who doesn’t know how not to enjoy the show, I’d vehemently argue that this year’s ceremony breathed fantastic new life into what many feel has become a stale, overlong show. While certainly not without his critics, “Family Guy’s” Seth MacFarlane hosted and proved himself to be one of the best Oscar hosts we’ve had since Hugh Jackman in 2009. The theme of the night was “music in the movies,” so like Jackman, MacFarlane did his own song and dance number. But unlike Jackman, it was crass and rude – and I mean that in the best possible way. Here’s my list of the best moments of the 85th Academy Awards:

Seth MacFarlane’s Opening Monologue

As part of MacFarlane’s opening number, “Star Trek’s” William Shatner beamed down from the future to try to stop MacFarlane from ruining the Oscars, which led to us being shown a controversial musical number which paid homage to some of the many stars to bare their chest on screen, entitled “We Saw Your Boobs.” The opening continued with stars such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum joining together to perform a musical number, making for an exciting and unexpected start to the evening. (Apologies for the poor video quality.)

James Bond Tribute

Continuing with the musical theme, Shirley Bassey blew everyone away by singing “Goldfinger’s” famous theme song as part of a tribute to the James Bond series. Later on, Adele sang “Skyfall,” one of the night’s nominated songs.

All That Jazz

You didn’t think the song and dance numbers would stop there, did you? One of the night’s best surprises came when the opening notes of Chicago’s “All That Jazz” started to play, and lo and behold, Catherine Zeta Jones performed the famous number decked out in her fabulous Velma Kelly attire.

We’re not done yet! Saving the best for last, the entire cast from best picture nominee Les Miserables took the stage together as they sang a medley from the beloved musical, which started with Hugh Jackman singing the Oscar-nominated song “Suddenly” and ended with the entire cast singing the rousing “One Day More.” Vive La France!

The Family Von Trapp

Best known as Captain Von Trapp from ‘The Sound of Music,” Christopher Plummer walked on stage to present the award for Best Supporting Actress -- but not before MacFarlane made one quick joke. Watch below.

Jennifer Lawrence wins “Best Actress”

While I was rooting for “Amour’s” Emmanuelle Riva, Lawrence’s win was one of the highlights of the night. Undeniably Hollywood’s current golden girl, the 22-year old looked shell-shocked as she started walking to the stage…and tripped on her enormous gown. But leave to it Lawrence to not only trip gracefully, but to play off the situation with adorable self-deprecating humor.

“Argo” wins Best Picture

While most knew that “Argo’s” Best Picture win was a sure thing, it still ended up being one of the best moments of the show, thanks to Ben Affleck giving the most sincere and heartfelt speech of the night.

Lauren Cohen is a film critic in South Florida. You can read her online at http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-miami/lauren-cohen.

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Magic0214 said:

	... A lot of people hated Seth, but I loved him! Thought the "We Saw Your Boobs" song was a freakin' riot!
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February 26, 2013
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