With a host like Neil Patrick Harris, how could you not open the Academy Awards with a musical number? After just one monologue joke about the lack of diversity — “Tonight we honor the best and whitest — I mean brightest” — Mr. Barney Stinson led a large set piece that spanned the history of cinema, incorporating both a gigantic rear projector on stage and a montage of Harris hanging out in other films — like the opening moments from Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. Supporting cast includes Anna Kendrick, Jack Black, stormtroopers, Roman soldiers, and a flask-wielding Benedict Cumberbatch in a non-speaking role.
Watch Neil Patrick Harris open the Oscars with song, dance, and Anna Kendrick
‘That whole thing? Completely improvised.’
‘That whole thing? Completely improvised.’
And of course, when Jack Black pulls out a smartphone, it’s a Samsung.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
