Tonight, the 85th Annual Academy Awards aired on WISN 12 in Milwaukee, starting at 7:30 p.m. This year’s host, Seth MacFarlane, took to the stage for his opening monologue, which started out with him making a wise-crack about the race being on to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh, (since he has been stone-faced at other recent awards shows), and a joke that the film Argo was so top-secret that the director is unknown to the Academy, (since Ben Affleck was skipped over for a Best Director nomination). Things progressed to a Captain Kirk/William Shatner appearance on a large screen that rolled above the stage. William told Seth that he came from the future and was trying to save his performance as the worst Oscar host ever by showing him what would happen as the night wore on. He played footage from a song Seth would sing later on in the show, called “We Saw Your Boobs;” so in order to redeem himself, Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum joined Seth on stage to dance, as he sang “The Way You Look Tonight.” After airing another taped segment “from the future” – Seth’s version of Flight, performed entirely with sock puppets, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt accompanied Seth for a song and dance number to “High Hopes.” Finally, William showed Seth he went home with Sally Field, so he sang his own version of “Be Our Guest,” from Beauty and the Beast. This was enough to gain Seth redemption in the next day’s headlines, and the show got going with awards.
Octavia Spencer presented the award for Best Supporting Actor. The nominees were: Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained). Christoph Waltz took home the award.
Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy presented the award for Best Animated Short Film, for which “Adam and Dog,” “Fresh Guacamole,” “Head over Heels,” ‘Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare,” ’ and “Paperman” were nominated. “Paperman” won the award. Paul and Melissa remained on stage to present the award for Best Animated Feature Film. The nominees were: Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Wreck-It Ralph. Brave took home the award.
Reese Witherspoon introduced Best Picture nominees Les Misérables, Life of Pi, and Beasts of the Southern Wild before clips of all three films were shown.
Next up, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson, from The Avengers, presented the award for Best Cinematography, which went to Life of Pi. The group remained on stage to present the award for Best Visual Effects, which also went to Life of Pi.
Channing Tatum and Jennifer Anniston were up next to present the award for Best Costume Design. The nominees were: Anna Karenina, Les Misérables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, and Snow White and the Huntsman. The award went to for Anna Karenina. Channing and Jennifer stayed on stage and presented the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The nominees in this category were: Hitchcock, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Les Misérables. Les Misérables won the award.
Halle Berry introduced the best clips and music from the James Bond franchise and kicked off the 50th anniversary tribute. Next up was Dame Shirley Massey, who sang “Goldfinger.”
Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx presented the award for Best Live Action Short, for which “Asad,” “Buzkashi Boys,” “Curfew,” “Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw),” and “Henry” were nominated. Shawn Christensen took the award home for “Curfew.” Jamie and Kerry also presented the award for Best Documentary Short. The nominees in this category were: “Inocente,” “Kings Point,” “Mondays at Racine,” “Open Heart,” and “Redemption.” The award went to “Inocente.”
Liam Neeson took the stage to introduce the next three Best Picture nominees: Argo, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty.
Ben Affleck was up next. He presented the award for Best Documentary, for which 5 Broken Cameras, The Gatekeepers, How to Survive a Plague, The Invisible War, and Searching for Sugar Man were nominated. Searching for Sugar Man won the award.
Jennifer Garner and Jessica Chastain presented the award for Best Foreign Language Film. The nominees were: Amour, Kon-Tiki, No, A Royal Affair, and War Witch. Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, was the winner.
John Travolta introduced a slew of Oscar nominees, winners, and cast members from Les Misérables before they rolled clips from Chicago. Catherina Zeta-Jones took the stage for a performance of “All That Jazz.” Next up came clips from Dreamgirls, before Jennifer Hudson appeared on stage to perform “And I Am Telling You.” Last was Les Misérables, which was followed by a performance of “Suddenly,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” and “One Day More” by much of its cast.
Mark Wahlberg and everyone’s favorite teddy bear, Ted, presented the award for Best Sound Mixing. The nominees were: Argo, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Skyfall, and Les Misérables won the award. Mark and Ted remained on stage to present the next award, which was for Best Sound Editing. The nominees in this category were: Argo, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Skyfall, and Zero Dark Thirty. Mark announced it was a tie – “No BS,” and both Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall won awards.
Christopher Plummer presented the award for Best Supporting Actress. The nominees were: Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook). Anne Hathaway won and launched into another long-winded, breathless acceptance speech.
Sandra Bullock was up next to present the award for Best Film Editing, for which Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty were nominated. It was Argo that won the award.
Jennifer Lawrence introduced Adele, who sang the Academy Award-nominated song, “Skyfall.”
Nicole Kidman announced the final three films nominated for Best Picture: Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, and Amour, and we saw clips of each.
Daniel Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart presented the award for Best Production Design. Anna Karenina, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, and Lincoln were nominated, and the award went to Lincoln.
George Clooney announced this year’s “In Memoriam” tribute to those who have passed on throughout the last year. Barbra Streisand appeared on stage to pay tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch and sang “Memories” and “The Way We Were.”
Chicago’s Richard Gere, Renée Zellweger, Queen Latifah, and Catherina Zeta-Jones presented Life of Pi with the award for Best Original Score and remained on stage to hand out the award for Best Original Song, which went to Adele and Paul Epworth for “Skyfall.”
Dustin Hoffman and Charlize Theron presented the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, for which Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook were nominated. Chris Terrio took home the award for Argo. Dustin and Charlize remained on stage to present the award for Best Original Screenplay. The nominees in that category were: Amour, Django Unchained, Flight, Moonrise Kingdom, and Zero Dark Thirty. The winner was Quentin Tarantino, for Django Unchained.
Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas presented the award for Best Director. The nominees were: Michael Haneke for Amour, Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ang Lee for Life of Pi, Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, and David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook. Ang Lee took home the award for Life of Pi.
The Artist’s Jean Dujardin presented the award for Best Actress. The nominees were: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), and Naomi Watts (The Impossible). The winner was Jennifer Lawrence, who fell down in what she earlier called “nine-inch heels” as she walked up on stage.
Seth MacFarlane re-appeared, as he did throughout the night, to announce the next presenter did not need an introduction before walking off the stage. Meryl Streep stepped on stage to present the award for Best Actor. Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), and Denzel Washington (Flight) were each nominated, but it was Daniel Day-Lewis who won the award and became the first actor to win this category three times.
Jack Nicholson presented the most prestigious award of the night for Best Picture, joined by Michelle Obama on a screen above the stage. The nine nominees included: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty. The night’s big winner was Argo.
To close out the show, Kristin Chenoweth and Seth MacFarlance sang a duet to all of the night’s losers.
What did you think of tonight’s show? Did you approve of Seth MacFarlane as host? Were you pleased with tonight’s winners? Did any of your favorites get snubbed? Leave a comment below!
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