If the 2013 Oscars had been a seasonal summation of a league of sports teams, the parity would be staggering. Even though there were movies that garnered 12 and 11 nominations ("Lincoln" and "Life of Pi," respectively), not a single movie won more than four awards ("Life of Pi"). That made the 85th Academy Awards ceremony held in Hollywood Sunday night (Feb. 24) an ultraconservative nightmare -- a spreading of the wealth. So who were the big winners?
"Argo," the movie that seemed to be capturing most of the Best Picture awards around the country didn't disappoint. Of its three awards (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing) wins, one was the top honor of the night. And when Ben Affleck, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov made their acceptance speech, Heslov took a few seconds to emphasize that the Best Picture was directed by actor and director of the project, Ben Affleck, who was snubbed in the Best Director category. But Affleck was gracious, saying that you can't hold grudges in the business...
Speaking of directors, Ang Lee won his second Best Director's award for "Life of Pi." The movie also won Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Original Score. The first three awards were particularly important, giving Lee ample credit for attempting and successfully making a movie from a novel most believed was too complicated to translate to film.
Daniel Day-Lewis set an Academy record by winning his third Best Actor Oscar in the Lead Role category. His portrayal of Abraham Lincoln was universally acclaimed and it would have been a complete shock if he hadn't won. But even with Lincoln's twelve nominations, the movie only took home two: Best Actor and Best Production Design.
Jennifer Lawrence continued her rise to the top of the Hollywood power pyramid as she took home the Best Actress award for "Silver Linings Playbook," an acclaimed movie for which she also won top actress awards at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier in the year.
Quentin Tarentino racked up his second Best Original Screenplay award for the controversial "Django Unchained" and took the time in his acceptance speech to praise the actors in the movie for bringing his characters alive. Christolph Waltz's portrayal of the character of Dr. King Schultz was so memorable it saw him awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
The Best Supporting Actress award winner was also no surprise: Anne Hathaway. Her on-screen performance in "Les Miserables" has been touted since the movie's premiere. "Les Miserables" went on to take three awards. Besides Best Supporting Actress, the film took home Best Makeup and Haistyling and Best Sound Mixing.
Other big winners of the night was the audience. With a salute to musical movies and the singing of the songs from the Best Original Song category, the 2013 Oscars got to see and hear Jennifer Hudson perform "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from "Dreamgirls," the entire cast of "Les Miserables" performed, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was simply stunning for "All That Jazz" from "Chicago." Then there was Adele singing "Skyfall," which went on to win Best Original Song, and Barbra Streisand performing "The Way We Were" for the Academy's annual In Memoriam salute to those in the industry that had passed away. And as a special treat, 2013 host Seth MacFarlane was joined by actress Kristen Chenoweth to sing the night's closing number, "Here's To The Losers."
Another big winner: The Academy itself. The 2013 Oscars were the most-watched since 2004. Over 42.4 million viewers tuned in, according to Nielsen ratings, to watch Hollywood's biggest night live on ABC Television.
2013 Oscars Winners
Best Motion Picture
* Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director
* Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Speilberg - Lincoln
Michael Haneke - Amour
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Actress
* Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Best Actor
* Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
Denzel Washington – Flight
Best Actress In A Supporting Role
* Anne Hathaway – Les Misérables
Amy Adams – The Master
Sally Field – Lincoln
Helen Hunt – The Sessions
Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor In A Supporting Role
* Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained
Alan Arkin – Argo
Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
Best Original Screenplay
* Django Unchained
Amour
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Adapted Screenplay
* Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Animated Film
* Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
Best Foreign Film
* Amour (Austria)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)
No (Chile)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
War Witch (Canada)
Best Documentary
* Searching for Sugar Man
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Best Cinematography
* Life of Pi
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Lincoln
Skyfall
Best Film Editing
* Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Production Design
* Lincoln
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Best Costume Design
* Anna Karenina
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
* Les Misérables
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Best Visual Effects
* Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Best Sound Mixing
* Les Misérables
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Best Sound Editing - TIE
* Zero Dark Thirty
* Skyfall
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Best Live Action Short
* Curfew
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Death of a Shadow (Dood Van Een Schaduw)
Henry
Best Documentary Short
* Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption
Best Animated Short
* Paperman
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head over Heels
The Longest Daycare
Best Original Score
* Life of Pi
Anna Karenina
Argo
Lincoln
Skyfall
Best Original Song
* "Skyfall" from Skyfall
"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted
"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi
"Suddenly" from Les Misérables
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