The 86th Annual Academy Awards

The big winners last night were 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. Gravity took home seven statues, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón. The four acting winners, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong'o, Cate Blanchett and Matthew McConaughey, gave solid speeches and Lupita's, much like her style and winning performance, was the best. Everyone seemed genuinely happy for the winners and it seemed like the celebration of film that it is meant to be. Jared Leto shook Jonah Hill's hand on the way to the stage to accept his Oscar. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey hugged on McCaughey's walk to the stage, Leo even kissed him. Julia Roberts turned and smiled as she clapped Nyong'o's win and Cate Blanchett acknowledged her fellow nominees with a dash of humor in her speech.

 

This was one of the best years in Oscar memory. The show was great, the winners were fantastic and my party was excellent. And I got 22 out of 24 predictions right, my best ever! It will take years, possibly decades, to beat that record. The two I missed, Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short, were not categories I was concerned about or that appeared to be close races. Emily was the winning guest and took home the statue from the party. This is the first year that six of the movies were represented in decorations, drinks or themed food at my party, Gravity, the Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Blue Jasmine and Philomena. The musical performances were stronger than I ever recall them being. Pharrell had the audience at the Dolby Theater on their feet, dancing with Lupita, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, and his presence while singing the nominated "Happy" was highly energized. One could almost forgive the hat, which he only wore during the performance and not on the red carpet. Apparently he also sells the hats after he wears them and donates the proceeds to charity. The other nominees, U2, Karen O and Idina Menzel, were also exceptional. Pink!'s arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" was great and Bette Midler was impeccable in her Oscar stage debut singing the sentimental movie favorite "Wind Beneath My Wings." There were many standing ovations and Midler received an extended one for her performance.

Ellen did a wonderful job hosting the ceremony. With her trademark humor and visits to the audience, she kept those in attendance and those viewing from home entertained. She literally broke twitter with her mega-star group selfie, taken by Bradley Cooper and included Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Lupita Nyong'o, Nyong'o's brother Peter, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence and Jared Leto. It's currently been retweeted over three million times. Ellen got Samsung to donate a dollar for every retweet and the money will be split between St Jude's and the Humane Society. This gif of the selfie is quite fun too as is the Ellen, Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Cumberbatch one. Upon rewatching the Oscar telecast, you can see Angelina Jolie tap Brad Pitt on the shoulder in a very non-verbal communication moment that seems to say, "go take the picture Brad." Cooper got it done. The pizza delivery bit was inspired and had never been done before. The pizza guy was the real co-owner Edgar Martirosyan of Big Mama and Papa's Pizzeria chain, previously best known for its record holding world's largest deliverable pizza. He was on Ellen's live show today and she really gave him the tip money she collected in Pharrell's hat. After the second commercial break of the awards show, Ellen gave Bradley Cooper some scratch-it lotto tickets as a consolation prize for being runner-up. She provided him with a quarter but said she would need it back and that if he won big they were to split it. Ellen's efforts paid off, the ratings for the Academy Awards were at a ten year high. It was the highest rated television event since the finale of Friends.

BEST PICTURE 12 Years a Slave
BEST DIRECTOR Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
BEST ACTRESS Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
BEST ACTOR Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Spike Jonze, Her
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 12 Years a Slave
BEST FOREIGN FILM The Great Beauty
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Frozen
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 20 Feet From Stardom
BEST ORIGINAL SONG "Let It Go" from Frozen
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Gravity
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN The Great Gatsby
BEST COSTUME DESIGN The Great Gatsby
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT The Lady in No. 6: Music Saved My Life
BEST EDITING Gravity
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR Dallas Buyers Club
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Gravity
BEST ANIMATED SHORT Mr Hublot
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT Helium
BEST SOUND EDITING Gravity
BEST SOUND MIXING Gravity
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Gravity

• Just had to add a couple more pictures...