How was the show? It's complicated

The Oscar ceremony isn't just a tribute to cinema. It's also one of the biggest TV events of the year. Here are scenes that stood out:

It takes two Surrounded by "Moulin Rouge" extras, hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin descended from the ceiling and delivered a fast-paced routine that gently skewered the crowd. In one of the best lines, Martin acknowledged Christoph Waltz' performance as a Jew-hunting Nazi. "Well, Christoph, you've hit the mother lode," he said, gesturing to the audience. And who did the cameras pick to represent the Jews? Our own Ethan Coen. The riskiest joke, and the most rewarding, came from Baldwin, who said that Martin loved "Invictus" because it combined his two favorite things: Rugby and tensions between blacks and whites.

How I met your Oscars Guess it wasn't enough for him to host the other 4,502 award shows. Neil Patrick Harris started the proceedings with a clever number, "No One Wants to Do It Alone," referring to the fact that there would be two hosts. Best line: "This is why Ginger needed Fred. This is why Warren Beatty stayed in bed."

Sinking ship Waltz gave an appropriate acceptance speech -- if he had starred in "Titanic." His ship-oriented analogy left him drowning at the podium and had us wishing he'd consulted Quentin Tarantino beforehand.

Fangirls Bring back Joan Rivers! The red-carpet interviews have become so soft, they might as well just run movie trailers. Kathy Ireland and Sherri Shepherd took fawning to a new level on ABC's pre-Oscar special, with Ireland thanking Zac Efron three times for doing her the honor of plugging himself.

The Dinner Club John Hughes was one of the most important, talented, significant filmmakers of our generation. At least that's the impression you'd get from the surprisingly lengthy tribute to the late writer and director, which included Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Cryer, Judd Nelson and Macauley Culkin, none of whom have a current movie career.

Little women It might have made sense for the orchestra to kick into "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" when Miley Cyrus came out, but for the entrance of 31-year-old Zoe Saldana and 24-year-old Carey Mulligan? Grow up, gang. Speaking of bad musical choices, it seems odd that none of the outstanding-song nominees got to play, but there was time for an excruciatingly long dance tribute to less-than-hummable soundtrack scores.

Am I blue? "Avatar" may not have gotten a nomination for best makeup, but it played a hilarious role in the presentation of the award when Ben Stiller came out dressed as one of James Cameron's aliens. "It was between this and the Nazi uniform, but the show seemed a little Hitler-heavy," Stiller said.

Fletch lives! Most people in the room thought Jason Reitman would win the adapted-screenplay for "Up in the Air" -- including Geoffrey Fletcher, who ended up with the award for his work on "Precious." Fletcher ended one of the most moving speeches of the night by saying "he was drawing a blank." Martin brightened the room moments later with the quip: "I wrote that speech for him."

No clips for them Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman got a standing ovation for their Governor's Award, but not a full prime-time tribute. Based on the crowd's response -- and our personal desire to see clips from "To Have and Have Not" and "Big Bad Mama" -- the producers made a mistake. They could have saved tons of time by not dedicating nearly 30 seconds of clips to every acting nominee.

Keeping cool Mo'Nique's supporting-actress win was no surprise. What was astonishing: She didn't cry and she only said "baby" once. Those of us expecting that her speech would be the dramatic highlight of the night had to be disappointed.

That's what friends are for Loved the idea of having big stars fete the top-acting nominees, especially Tim Robbins' salute to "Shawshank Redemption" partner Morgan Freeman. The idea worked best when the tributes came from longtime friends rather than current co-stars. Let make it a tradition, shall we?

People who need people "Well, the time has come." Barbra Streisand wins the award for most memorable line as she announced that Kathryn Bigelow would be the first woman to ever be named best director. Kudos to Babs for resisting the urge to break into a number from "Yentl" and take the Oscar home herself.

njustin@startribune.com • 612-673-7431