By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies

To think that just a couple of weeks ago, this whole Oscar shindig might have been cancelled ...

But the three-month-long Writers Guild strike was settled in the nick of time, so the biggest movie awards show in the world -- the American equivalent of a coronation -- could go on, and stars could gather to honor ... other stars. As host Jon Stewart quipped: "Having the Oscars helped end the strike ... before we spend the next four to five hours giving each other golden statues, let's take a moment to congratulate ourselves."

The 80th Annual Academy Awards were not all just pats on the back, writer jokes and fantastic frocks (well, actually, there were a lot of fantastic frocks): Many of the nominated films, actors, writers and directors were (double gasp!) actually deserving, and two of the pictures -- "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men" -- are bona-fide masterpieces. If there was any kind of theme this year, it was Oscar getting it almost right -- nominating interesting films and artists from all over the world (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Austria were all represented). And of the contenders, there was new talent (Ellen Page for "Juno"), older icons (Hal Holbrook for "Into the Wild") and, for heaven's sake, Viggo Mortensen (perhaps one of the coolest men walking the earth) for "Eastern Promises."

Still, maybe it was all this good taste and worthiness that made the show a little ... staid. Don't get me wrong, there were some surprises and spirited highlights, like Stewart's opening monologue, some heartfelt acceptance speeches and one (or should I say "Once"?) musical performance. And there were also some lowlights, like Academy President Sid Ganis' attempts at humor, the uninspired video pieces and three musical performances from "Enchanted."

So we're here to hand out awards for the best, worst and weirdest of the ceremony. The envelope, please:

Most Moving Acceptance Speech
How does he do it? Picking up his Best Supporting Actor award for playing psychopath Anton Chigurh in "No Country For Old Men," Javier Bardem managed to be likable, studly, humble, casual and touching all at once. Ambling on stage with his mussed-up hair and mischievous smile, he said, "I have to speak fast here, man" and then pointed out everything from how amazing the award was to his curious Dutch-boy haircut from the movie. But when he honored his "Mama" (entirely in Spanish) with nary a trace of sappiness, the charming Spaniard caught us off guard. We were positively teary-eyed. And then he all but strutted off-stage. Hmmm ... maybe it's not Viggo but Javier who's the coolest man walking the face of the earth.

Best Jon Stewart Joke, Part 1
"Tonight we look beyond the dark days and focus on happier fare. This year's slate of Oscar-nominated psychopathic killer movies. Does this town need a hug? What happened? 'No Country For Old Men,' 'Sweeney Todd,' 'There Will Be Blood.' All I can say is thank God for teen pregnancy."

Funniest Acceptance Speech
Tilda Swinton. She is known for her edgy, serious work in heavy films like "Orlando" and "The Deep End" and as the famed ice queen from "The Chronicles of Narnia"...

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