Graphic by Jimena Chavarria for Neon Tommy

The host of this year's 84th annual Academy Awards made it clear even before he stepped on stage that Sunday night would be filled not only with laughs, but also with reverence for the film industry. The show opened with a montage of clips from this year's best picture nominees, in which Crystal took each protagonist's place: stunts ranging from kissing George Clooney to chatting with Justin Bieber. Then Crystal appeared on stage and proceeded to sing a broadway-esque tune about the medley of honored films this year. 

Throughout the show, Crystal would keep the atmosphere alive and chuckling with various skits and comments ("Tonight, enjoy yourselves because nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues"), but always kept what felt like the theme of this year's oscars, the magic of the movies, at the surface.

This theme was especially communicated through a series of clips that were peppered throughout the awards, in which many different actors described their relationship with movies and how much blood and sweat goes into them. 

A very memorable moment from Crystal's ninth year as host of the Oscars was when he entertained the audience with his interpretation of what certain celebrities in the audience were thinking. According to Crystal, director Martin Scorcese was fixated on the camera shots of himself, and actor Nick Nolte was just, well, grunting and growling.

Crystal's relatively seamless role as the audience's guide was comforting and a pleasure to watch, and helped give the night a good mixture of classic and novel. 

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