We laughed, we cried, and we heard a lot of songs. The 85th Academy Awards took over LA last night as the most talented stars in the film industry took the stage to perform, present, and accept their Oscars. Host Seth Macfarlane started off the award’s show with a somewhat lengthy intro, but the appearance of Daniel Radcliff and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a song and dance number made it quite enjoyable. The evening was full of musical acts, ranging from stunning solos to incredible group acts, and the winners of the evening were nothing less than worthy. In case you missed any part of the show, here is a quick recap with all of the most important highlights.
Opening
Host: Seth MacFarlane
Sidekicks: William Shatner from the future, a three-piece-suit dance ensemble, a trio with Daniel Radcliff and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
The Good: The jokes, the dances, the songs and the beginning of an incredible night!
The Not-So-Good: Did we really need a song about boobs?
Best Picture
The Nominees: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
The Winner: Argo. I can’t imagine being on the committee to make this decision with such an incredible list to choose from. But Ben Affleck and the rest of the cast made a pretty solid choice for this award, and it didn’t look like anyone questioned this win.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
The Nominees: Jessca Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Naomi Watts (The Impossible). Nine-year-old Quvenzhane is the youngest actress to be nominated for an Oscar.
The Winner: Jennifer Lawrence, who looked genuinely surprised, so much that she tripped on the stairs going up to the stage. But she gracefully recovered and charmed the audience with her short and sweet acceptance speech.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
The Nominees: Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Denzel Washington (Flight). No nomination for the other presidential tribute film this year: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, who pulled off the role of our 14th president better than any else could have, other than Lincoln himself. And he did it without having to fight the undead.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
The Nominees: Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook).
The Winner: Anne Hathaway. Even though she only appeared in the beginning of the film and then briefly at the end, her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” could make anyone wonder how she could have not won this award.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
The Nominees: Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
The Winner: Christoph Waltz, bringing home an award for his movie, despite the other contenders who came from films that racked up awards all night.
The Musical Acts
It was the year of musical movies, and the evening paid tribute to musicals in cinema from past years, too.
Group Acts:
Chicago: It was an ensemble performance of dancers, but Catherine Zeta Jones stole the stage and reminded everyone how perfect she was in this role.
Les Miserables: Even if you haven’t taken the time to sit through the entire film, this number showed everyone why they should. With so much talent on the stage at once, it was a moving rendition that began to end the night.
Solo Acts:
Dame Shirley Bassey: Celebrating 50 Years of Bond, this performance of “Goldfinger” brought back the timeless tradition of classic James Bond that will forever be present in Hollywood.
Jennifer Hudson: It’s been a few years since Dreamgirls came out in theaters, but time has got nothing on this girl, if anything, it’s made her more talented.
Adele: Does she ever disappoint? Winning the award for Original song, Adele accepted her first Oscar and brought chills to the audience when she sang “Skyfall.”
Sources:
Photos from http://oscar.go.com