Another year’s Academy Awards ceremony is over, and now it’s time to dissect all of the best moments of the night, from candid outbursts to award upsets to surprise presenters. Here are some of the best moments of the night:
Jennifer Lawrence scored an upset win when she took home the Best Actress award for her role in ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, beating out favorites Jessica Chastain and Emmanuelle Riva. And in yet another candid moment that only seems to increase her charm, the actress tripped on her Dior gown as she walked onstage to accept her award!
In the press room after the ceremony, the actress apologized to the gathered reporters for seeming giddy, saying, “I’m sorry, I did a shot!” Apparently she needed to calm her nerves! Asked what went through her head when she tripped, she paused and said, “A bad word that I can’t say. That starts with F.”
Lawrence wasn’t the only one to score an upset victory. Ben Affleck, snubbed for a Best Director nomination, took home the Best Picture trophy for ‘Argo’, beating out the three favorites ‘Lincoln’, ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Zero Dark Thirty’. It’s confirmation that Affleck has finally settled into his home behind the camera as a director and writer.
Unfortunately, while the crowd was cheering for the upset wins, the Oscars followed a pretty familiar routine when it came to the acceptance speeches: long and boring. Luckily, someone came up with a new way to cut it off short: playing the opening theme from ‘Jaws’. It was a different way to warn the winners they were about to be ushered offstage for overstepping the time limit.
There were some bright spots in the speeches. Quentin Tarantino, who took home a statuette for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Django Unchained’, was surprisingly humble at the podium. “I would like to say it’s such an honor to get (an Oscar) this year, because … the writing is just fantastic,” he said in his speech. “This will be the writer’s year, man. I love the competition.”
And who knew Daniel Day-Lewis—famous for being gruff—had a sense of humor? He took home the Best Actor award for ‘Lincoln’ but joked that the role almost didn’t happen. “It’s a strange thing, because three years ago, before we decided to do a straight swap, I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher,” he joked about Meryl Streep, who presented him with his award. “And Meryl was Steven’s firs choice for ‘Lincoln.’ I’d like to see that version.” He added, “Steven didn’t have to persuade me to play Lincoln, but I had to persuade him that perhaps, if I was going to do it, ‘Lincoln’ shouldn’t be a musical.”
While the actors themselves were mostly a hit with the audience, the hosts got slightly more mixed reviews. Seth MacFarlane divided audiences down the middle, with some cheering him on and others branding him offensive and dull. The Guardian UK said he made “a tit of himself” with his opening act, “The Boob Song”, and other viewers accused him of making too many sexist and racist jokes. On the other hand, offensive humor is kind of his schtick, and it was a bid to shake things up after too many dry bits from years past.
Other high points of the night:
- ‘Good Morning America’ anchor Robin Roberts making a radiant appearance on the red carpet, showing she’s well and truly bounced back from her battle with MDS.
- The tribute to fifty years of James Bond, capped by Adele belting out a pitch-perfect rendition of her hit theme ‘Skyfall’ and then clinching the award for Best Original Song to boot.
- MacFarlane’s surprise co-hosts, including William Shatner in a ‘Star Trek’ suit and even First Lady Michelle Obama via video, announcing the Best Picture winner.
- Jacqueline Durran taking home the trophy for Best Costume Design for her work on ‘Anna Karenina’. Durran has been nominated for the award three times, all for period films adapted from novels and starring Keira Knightley: ‘Pride & Prejudice’ in 2006, ‘Atonement’ in 2008, and finally ‘Anna Karenina’. So it’s good to finally see her take home a much-deserved award for her lushly detailed designs.
- Stars bring their mothers as dates. Charlize Theron has a history of bringing her mom Gerda to awards bashes, but this year she was joined by Bradley Cooper (with mom Gloria) and Chris Evans (with mom Lisa Marie). Asked who he was most excited to see at the event, Evans said that it was his mom, because she was so excited to be attending the show. Awwww!
