After Slumdog Millionaire cashed in with eight Oscar wins last night, practically everyone, I bet. I finally saw the film late on Saturday night, which is nearly as last minute as you can get. (Sunday afternoon would be cutting it the closest, I guess.)

As another tardy ticket-buyer/friend was surprised to discover, Slumdog isn’t exactly the feel-good hit of the year (some seriously heavy crap goes down in the film), but I did enjoy it immensely. Not only am I a sucker for a romantic ending, I haven’t tired of hearing M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” either.

While I’m happy that Slumdog had its day, the real highlight of Oscar night came early in the broadcast. No, not Hugh Jackman’s Sprockets-like tribute to The Reader, though that was pretty brilliant (see it here at 6:13). Rather, the moment that moved me most was when Milk won Best Original Screenplay:

Of course, Sean Penn’s acting win for Milk was pretty memorable, too (“You commie, homo-loving sons of guns”), but it was screenwriter Black’s personal and moving speech that reached beyond Hollywood, resonating on a deeper, human level.

On a lighter note, anyone know why Beyoncé lip-synched her way through the movie-musicals tribute? Or why Zac Efron appears to possess zero stage presence? (Though I bet he was pretty excited to be holding Beyoncé’s hand at the end of that number. Must be why he nearly lost his hat.)