The 78th Academy Awards were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, honoring the films of 2005. The Daily Show host Jon Stewart hosted for the first time, the second year in a row the Academy chose a first time host. The show opened with a taped segment in which Stewart woke up in bed beside George Clooney, and his monologue mixed politics with satire and jabs at the celebrity audience.

Crash, Paul Haggis's ensemble drama about racial conflict in Los Angeles, won Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, which had led with eight nominations and was heavily favored; the Associated Press called it one of the biggest upsets in Academy Awards history. Crash won three Oscars, including original screenplay for Haggis and Bobby Moresco and film editing, and presenter Jack Nicholson kissed Haggis on stage. No film dominated the night: Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha and King Kong each won three awards.

Ang…