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.
And of course, when Jack Black pulls out a smartphone, it's a Samsung.