Sporting dark sunglasses and a bushy beard that David Letterman might liken to the Unabomber's, Ben Stiller walked on stage with Nathalie Portman, ostensibly to present the Best Cinematography category. As Portman played straight (wo)man, dutifully reading the names of the nominees, Stiller absently gazed stage right, defiantly placed his used chewing gum on the podium, and wandered aimlessly around the stage. ''You look like you work at a Hasidic meth lab,'' Portman said, getting a few laughs of her own. Does taking pot shots at two-time nominee Phoenix approach the line of bad taste? Absolutely. But like Marisa Tomei, we laughed our heads off.
Tags: Ben, Joaquin, Oscarworthy, performance, Phoenix, stiller