Slumdog Millionaire, a little Bollywood film with no recognizable Western stars whatsoever, earned itself a whopping eight Oscars Sunday night at the 81st annual Academy Awards, including best picture.

Slumdog's filmmakers were ecstatic with the wins, on a night that went largely without any major upsets or surprises. The winning film also landed Oscars for best director (Danny Boyle), best adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), score (A.R. Rahman), cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle), sound mixing, song and film editing. Director Danny Boyle jumped up and down as he accepted his award, explaining moments later that he'd told his children years ago that if he ever won, he'd bounce like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a favorite among many, won just three Oscars - but all in minor categories. The film had led the pack with 13 nominations.

Host Hugh Jackman delivered a witty, smooth performance that included a fantastic opening number, as well as  several hilarious moments involving either himself or the various presenters.



Ben Stiller as a bearded, mumbling, wandering Joaquin Phoenix was absolutely hilarious, and the Beyonce/ Hugh Jackman marathon medley duet was a dizzying, breathless but well-executed run through a massive collection of the most classic songs in film history.



Unsurprisingly, Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for his reinvention of the Joker in The Dark Knight. He died in January of 2008 of a prescription drug overdose - his parents and sister accepted the award in his stead. "This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here - his peers - within an industry he truly loved," said Ledger's father, Kim. Ledger is only the second actor to win a posthumous actor. Peter Finch won best actor for 1976's Network two months after he died in early 1977.



In one of the night's only real surprises, Sean Penn won best actor for playing Harvey Milk in Milk, the true story of the first openly gay man elected to major public office. The prickly actor was surprised to win over Mickey Rourke's performance in The Wrestler, who many believed would take the gold Sunday. "You commie homo-loving sons of guns," Penn said, overwhelmed. "I did not expect this, and I wanted to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often. But I am touched by the appreciation." He then took a more serious tone in talking about gay marriage: "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support," Penn said. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone."

Writer Dustin Lance Black, who won original screenplay for Milk, also gave a passionate speech on the issue: "I think Harvey would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours."



Other winners of the night included Kate Winslet, who won best actress for her performance in The Reader, Penelope Cruz, who won best supporting actress honor for her role as Javier Bardem's psychotic ex-girlfriend in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and the superbly awesome WALL-E, which won best animated feature.

Here's the full list of nominees and winners:

Best picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire

Director
WINNER: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk

Actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
WINNER: Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
WINNER: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
WINNER: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
WINNER: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Animated feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WINNER: "WALL-E

Adapted screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt, written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader, screenplay by David Hare
WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire, screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
Frozen River, written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, written by Mike Leigh
 In Bruges, written by Martin McDonagh
WINNER: Milk, written by Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E, screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Art direction
Changeling, James J. Murakami; set decoration: Gary Fettis
WINNER: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Donald Graham Burt; set decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
The Dark Knight, Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Peter Lando
The Duchess, Michael Carlin; set decoration: Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road, Kristi Zea; set decoration: Debra Schutt

Cinematography
Changeling, Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight, Wally Pfister
The Reader, Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire, Anthony Dod Mantle

Costume design
Australia, Catherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jacqueline West
WINNER: The Duchess, Michael O'Connor Milk, Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road, Albert Wolsky

Documentary feature
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
WINNER: Man on Wire Trouble the Water

Documentary short
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
WINNER: Smile Pinki
The Witness -- From the Balcony of Room 306

Film editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
The Dark Knight, Lee Smith Frost/Nixon, Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
Milk, Elliot Graham
WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire, Chris Dickens

Foreign language film
The Baader Meinhof Complex,Germany
The Class, France
WINNER: Departures, Japan
Revanche, Austria
Waltz with Bashir, Israel

Makeup
WINNER: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Greg Cannom
The Dark Knight, John Caglione Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Original score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat
Defiance, James Newton Howard
Milk, Danny Elfman
WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman
WALL-E, Thomas Newman

Original song
Down to Earth from WALL-E, music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, lyrics by Peter Gabriel
WINNER: Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire, music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire, music and lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Animated short
WINNER: La Maison en Petits Cubes Lavatory
Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Live-action short
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
WINNER: Spielzeugland

Sound editing
WINNER: The Dark Knight, Richard King
Iron Man, Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire, Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
WALL-E, Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood Wanted, Wylie Stateman

Sound mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
The Dark Knight, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
WALL-E, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt Wanted, Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Visual effects
WINNER: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
The Dark Knight, Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
Iron Man, John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan