Well, it’s 5:30 p.m. in Los Angeles and USC is silent, presumably because everyone not mired in midterms is glued to their couches watching the Oscars.
For one, this blogger is cracking up as Morgan Freeman narrates Anne Hathaway’s and James Franco’s journey through Alec Baldwin’s dreams…and the nominees for Best Picture.
We’ll be keeping you updated on winners and fun stuff throughout the broadcast, so keep checking back! (You know, if you’re not actually watching the Oscars).
5:40pm. Anne’s outfits so far: 2.
“Used to be- you get naked, you get nominated…not anymore. Not anymore.“
5:45pm. Tom Hanks presents the award for Art Direction to Alice in Wonderland and the award for Cinematography to Inception. Granted, it’s probably the only Academy Award Inception will win*, but I was still rooting for Black Swan, especially after the segment with the cinematographer’s mom.
*7:32pm Let the record show that my prediction was wrong. It’s won four so far.
5:55pm. Kirk Douglas arrives, proceeds to appreciate the beauty that is Anne Hathaway, mock Australians for a bit, then presents the award for Best Supporting Actress to Melissa Leo for The Fighter. She flirts with him for a moment, then makes great use of the broadcast delay.
6:00 Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake get up on stage in the prettiest moment of the night so far. Pretty, pretty people. Oh, right. They also present the award for Best Short Animated Film to Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann for The Lost Thing. Then Best Animated Feature Film goes to Toy Story 3, just like everyone knew it would. If you guys were wondering, Justin isn’t Banksy.
6:15pm Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin present Best Adapted Screenplay to Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network. His is my favorite speech so far. Best Original Screenplay goes to The King’s Speech, and my heart melts a little.
6:25pm. Anne Hathaway sings a cute parody of ‘On My Own.’ Outfit count: 3 and this one is a winner, spike heels and a ladytux. Oh, and there’s James Franco in drag and he made a Charlie Sheen joke.
6:27pm. Russell Brand and Helen Mirren come up to announce Best Foreign Language Film. Helen speaks French and Brand is adorable. The award goes to In a Better World from Denmark. Susanne Bier is lovely when she accepts the award.
6:32pm. Reese Witherspoon comes up to announce Best Supporting Actor and I already know Christian Bale is going to win, but all of the performances in this category were phenomenal, especially John Hawkes. His performance was so haunting…oh, and there’s Christian Bale‘s win.
6:40pm. Anne’s outfit count is up to 4 and her latest gown is stunning. She introduces the Aussie duo, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman to announce Best Original Score. Their announcement is preceded by a stunning medley of iconic movie scores. The Social Network wins and my friends and I hum a few bars of ‘Closer’ in the honor of Trent Reznor (and Atticus Ross).
6:47pm. Matthew Mcconaughey and Scarlett Johannsson announce Best Sound Mixing, which goes to Inception. Then they announce Best Sound Editing and Inception wins that too.
6:55pm. Future film Gaga, Marisa Tomei announces some awards for technical achievements in film and then James Franco announces Cate Blanchett’s as “The only woman to ever sucessfully portray Queen Elizabeth I, Katherine Hepburn, and Bob Dylan.” The Lord of the Rings theme as played as she walks up. Nice. The award for Best Makeup goes to The Wolfman‘s Rick Baker and Dave Elsey. Best Costume Design goes to Colleen Atwood for Alice in Wonderland.
7:15pm. Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams come up to announce Best Documentary Short which goes to Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon for Strangers No More. Apparently this is the first win and fourth nomination for each of them. Seems about time. Best Live Action Short Film goes to God of Love‘s Luke Matheny. “Wow, I wish I had gotten a haircut.” Well, don’t worry Luke, we don’t wish that. You rock that fro.
7:19pm. Anne’s outfit count is at 5, but I think I might have missed OH MY GOD THEY AUTOTUNED HARRY POTTER AND TAYLOR LAUTNER’S ABS…sorry. Personal moment.
7:20pm. I am so excited. Oprah is finally onstage to announce Best Documentary and I am dying to know if Banksy is going to win. We know he’s in L.A. (Side note, Oprah looks lovely). Inside Job wins, which okay, I guess I probably should have seen that coming, considering the economy is still in the toilet. Oh, and there’s soapboxing. Awkward. But it’s brief and Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs seem like a great team. Next year, Banksy.
7:32pm. Billy Crystal is funny. Very nice tribute to Bob Hope. Then Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law come up to present the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. I’m a little bit in love with Robert Downey Jr. is very talented and his delivery is great. Inception wins this too. Best Film Editing goes to The Social Network, and all my friends are talking about is how cute Jesse Eisenberg is. Personally, I’m on the RDJ Andrew Garfield bandwagon.
7:43pm. Anne’s dress count: 6. Jennifer Hudson comes on to announce the Best Original Song nominees. She looks spectacular. Florence Welch gives a lovely performance of “If I Rise” from 127 Hours, and Gwyneth does an equally nice job with “Coming Home,” but Randy Newman wins for “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3. “I’ve been on this show 20 times and I’ve slowed it down every single time.” Could’ve been worse, Randy. You could’ve announced Toy Story 4.
7:50pm. Celine Dion sings over a lovely In Memorium segment and a tribute to Lena Horne introduced by Halle Barry.
8:00pm. Anne’s dress count: 7. They bring Hilary Swank onstage to announce that Kathryn Bigalow is coming onstage to anounce Best Director. It’s Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech!
8:16pm. Jeff Bridges announces Best Actress. I really want to take this moment to recognize Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone. That movie will rock your core, and she did a fantastic job. That said, I really couldn’t imagine anyone winning best actress this year other than Natalie Portman for Black Swan!
8:22pm. Sandra Bullock “Javier…you managed to scare an entire nation, with a haircut.” She is lovely.
8:24pm. Uh, oh. I think I’m falling under the Jesse Eisenberg spell. He is so cute, and…oh look, there’s Colin Firth, and he just won Best Actor for The King’s Speech! “I am experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals which are threatening to turn themselves into dance moves.” Baby Your highness, you’re a firework.
8:30pm. A lovely mashup of the best picture nominees accompanied by Colin Firth’s speech from The King’s Speech. This is really appropriate because when it concludes, Steven Spielberg announce that the wi nner for Best Picture is The King’s Speech! Congratulations to all involved.
The 83rd annual Academy Awards conclude with a lovely rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by the PS22 Chorus. Check out their YouTube page here http://www.youtube.com/user/agreggofsociety and be on the lookout for the HC Best Dressed List!
Anne’s Final Dress Count: I think it was 8, but who knows?