I haven't done an Oscar Review in the past because I frankly didn't care much for watching the Oscars, AKA the Academy Awards, over the last few years. I would tune in, of course, but I just wasn't that interested. This year, Slumdog Millionaire gave me a movie to root for and Hugh Jackman gave me a host to want to watch; so, I tuned in with intent and thought I would jot down my thoughts this year.

First, I love the movies, and I have since a small child. I also love finding spiritual components to think about when watching movies. It isn't really that different than Jesus telling stories in the Bible known as parables. In fact, the Bible states about Jesus, "He never taught them anything without first telling them stories." Movies today are the most popular form of story telling, and just like Jesus, if we look, we can find spiritual truths in those stories we see portrayed on the big screen. Seeing those movies is something I do quite a bit of; to watch the program known around the world as the award show honoring those stories is a celebration extraordinaire.

This year I was actually pleased with the production that was a throwback to the "Golden Age of Cinema" which featured song and dance and then some. The show started off in a terrific way with actor Hugh Jackman.

Jackman is likely a big surprise for many who watched the show. He did a wonderful job, and it didn't take long for him to get off on the right foot as he did a terrific montage tribute in song and dance. Jackman may have been one of the three huge winners of the night. He was entertaining, fun to watch, full of wit, and supplied moments of humor and intriguing commentary appropriate for the format. Jackman has a likeable personality, sure enough, but seeing his ability to perform in the opening segment as well as his duet and tribute with Beyonce was impressive to say the least. We saw a reminder of the "Golden Age" that was well-fitting, and entertaining from a popular actor that many of us didn't realize had the ability to pull it off.

Another big winner at the Oscars was the movie Slumdog Millionaire, the winner of 8 awards from 9 different categories (it had 2 songs in the best song category). The winner of Best Director and Best Picture, this thriving, emotional movie leaves the viewer with hope, and the underdog story from the slums continues to overcome. To think this movie was almost released directly to DVD because of its inability to find funding, yet ends up garnering the accolades it has is amazing. In a world where multitudes of people are losing hope, we can watch a movie like this and find it.

One of my favorite moments in the Oscars this year was the acceptance speech from A.R. Rahman for one of his two awards for Score and Song for Slumdog Millionaire. His acceptance speech was short in length, but deep in meaning. He simply said: "My whole life I've had the option of hate or love; I chose love and here I am now." What a reminder of the importance of love, a sweet comment with a reminder to all of us that there are rewards for letting love drive our actions and lives.

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