Humor

Reese Witherspoon's disarmingly straightforward "Best Supporting Actor" thing underlined what I think's been the defining characteristic of this year's ceremony: a (and really, I can't believe I'm saying this) actual sense of humor. The jokes haven't been groan-inducing, and some of them have been genuinely funny (Timberlake's Banksy joke, Bale's allusion to his much-publicized on-set freakout). Compared to the totally-out-of-touch Grammys, this year's Oscars seem almost...hip? In the know? It's scary.