Oscars 2016 Best and Worst Moments: Chris Rock's Monologue to Spotlight's Big Win

Chris Rock was able to do what everyone had been hoping he would with his opening monologue - directly address the diversity elephant in the room without taking away from the people who worked so hard to get to this moment. He gave both sides an equal dose of reality and managed to draw genuine laughs while sticking the real point. It was expertly done.

Clueless actress Stacey Dash was introduced as the "director of our new minority outreach program," but she's actually a conservative Fox News pundit who wants to end Black History Month. She was making fun of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. It was very confusing and poorly executed and Chris Rock should have nixed it.

When Chris Rock opened a segment promising to look at the struggles black actors undergo to get cast in movies, we were all too ready for a weighty montage of stories about overcoming adversity. Instead we saw one of the night's best bits: Whoopi Goldberg in Joy, playing a cleaning lady on the film's home-shopping network set. Next, SNL star Leslie Jones appeared in The Revenant, thrashing Leonardo DiCaprio about like the bear, followed by Tracy Morgan in The Danish Girl eating a danish, and Chris Rock as an astronaut in The Martian, stuck in space and begging to come home. Hilarious.

The "Hey, the Oscars have a bad track record with Diversity" theme continued with a short bit called "Black History Month Minute" that actually didn't make sense. Angela Bassett delivered a strange PSA that made Jack Black a punchline but it didn't fit within the context of the show at all.

The Oscars are the glitziest award show on the planet and we love them in large part because there's so much A-list talent in one room. However, Louis C.K. deflated a lot of those A-list egos when he presented for Best Documentary Short, saying that no one one who wins that category goes home rich. "This Oscar is going home in a Honda Civic." It's hilarious but true, and very much appreciated an hour into the telecast.

Chris Rock said before the show that the standard for Oscar hosts is Ellen DeGeneres, which may be why he tried to rip off her 2014 pizza-delivery bit by having his daughters come out to sell Girl Scout cookies. Adding cute kids to the mix was a nice try, but it didn't land as well as DeGeneres hitting up Harvey Weinstein for $100 in front of more than 40 million people.

Inside Out director Pete Docter used part of his and Jonas Riviera's Animated Feature Film acceptance speech to encourage sad middle and high school kids to get out their pain through creativity. "There are days you're going to feel sad, you're going to feel angry, you're going to be scared," he said. "That's nothing you can choose, but you can make stuff. Make films. Draw. Write. It'll make a world of difference." It was powerful stuff coming from the guy who made one of the definitive movies about being a kid.

Somehow, Chris Rock got the idea to get a "fresh perspective" on this year's controversy by going to Compton -- a move not unlike the tired tactic of going to a barbershop to get "the black point of view." It felt too casual, counterproductive to the entire conversation and embarrassingly stereotypical, what with the man dressed as a pimp, talk about rioting and a woman who appeared to be high. A nadir of the night, to be sure.

Jacob Tremblay continued his reign as king of awards season. The 9-year old _Room_ actor and 14-year old _Beasts of No Nation_ star Abraham Attah served up an overwhelming dose of cute as they presented Best Live Action Short "for obvious reasons." They presented the award on top of apple crates so they could reach the mics and it was the epitome of adorable.

The Oscars didn't do a good job of handling the serious topic of race, but it handled the campus rape crisis admirably. Vice President Joe Biden called on Hollywood to "change the culture" around rape. He then introduced Lady Gaga, who performed her song "Til It Happens to You" from the documentary The Hunting Ground while surrounded by rape survivors. It was a powerful moment.

After an uneven and sometimes cringe-worthy night, Leonardo DiCaprio's subdued and gracious Best Actor acceptance speech hit all the right notes. With the room on its feet, DiCaprio didn't "OMG, you guys!" or give a weepy in-his-feelings diatribe but, like a gentleman, put other people first. He thanked colleagues and friends before using his time to talk about climate change, and the need for us to come together to fix an urgent problem that's hard to deny. Not a surprise in any way of course, Leo's win was still the much-needed jolt of sturdy sophistication the occasionally all-over-the-place ceremony desperately needed. Good job Leo, and congratulations.

The award for Best Picture was the wild-card category of the entire night, with many speculating that The Revenant would use its late momentum to take top prize. However, it was the journalism drama Spotlight that claimed the trophy despite losing its acting and director bids. The movie gives a voice to survivors of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals, so the win is a lot bigger than just a statue of a gold man.