Ellen Degeneres

Ellen hosted the Oscars for her second time and she was her usual funny self. Most of her bits revolved around her changing outfits in between awards, first being in a black tuxedo, then a white one, later adding a scarf and even doing one introduction in a fairy princess costume. A new take on the Oscars show this year saw Ellen going into the audience and interacting with them heavily, sometimes awkwardly. The camera followed her as she got intimate with fellow actors and actresses. As she walked through the aisles sometimes people tried to look away, hoping she wouldn't initiate conversation. Some were good sports and played along, such as the group who rushed to be in her selfie photo, or people like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Brad Pitt who gave money to pay for the pizza that she actually ordered to the show. Lupita Nyong'o added her lip balm to Pharrell's collection hat. It will be interesting to see if the Academy decides to go with a similar format next year.

Jared Leto

Supporting Actor was won by Jared Leto for his portrayal of an HIV positive transsexual in Dallas Buyers Club. Girls everywhere gushed over his long shimmering hair and dreamy eyes. He had one of the best acceptance speeches of the night, telling a story of how his mom came up from hardship and taught her sons to dream. He thanked his big brother for being a part of 30 seconds to Mars and always supporting him. Then he stood in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and Venezuela, and those who died to AIDS, honoring them with his Oscar. "To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here and as you struggle to... to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible... We're thinking of you tonight. And this is, is incredibly special as well because there's so many people that helped me get here," he said. "And this for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to AIDS and to those of you out there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight I stand here in front of the world with you and for you. Thank you so much and goodnight."

Pharrell Williams

Pharrell was in the crowd with his wife to perform his song "Happy" from Despicable Me 2. Although he did not eventually win best song he did tell everyone to get on their feet and put on a great show. His performance was catchy and all the back-up dancers were very energetic as they performed the single in front of an LED display that showed the words and scenes from the animated hit film. He again wore the signature hat which is quickly becoming his style. Best Song went to "Let It Go" from "Frozen," by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez who did a cute speech together reading from one card and sang a song asking Disney for a Frozen 2. Other performers of the night were U2, Bette Midler, Pink, and Karen O.

Lupita Nyong'o

Supporting Actress was won by Lupita Nyong'o for her powerful performance as a slave in 12 Years a Slave. She was mindful that the suffering of others led her to the Oscars stage. "It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's. And so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance. And for Solomon, thank you for telling her story and your own. Steve McQueen, you charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank you so much for putting me in this position. This has been the joy of my life. I'm certain that the dead are standing about you and watching and they are grateful and so am I," the new It girl said. She thanked the Yale School of Drama where she received her training and the film editors, closing by saying, "When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from your dreams are valid."

Best Picture

Best Picture was won by 12 Years a Slave in a triumph to African Americans everywhere and a haunting reminder of the remaining power of the spectre of slavery. The entire cast was invited onto the stage by Director Steve McQueen and included some white actors, including Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch, in addition to the largely African American crowd. Pitt, who was in the movie, took the mic and at first it looked like he would be speaking for the whole group, but he was only opening for Steve McQueen. "Thank you all. Thank you for this incredible honor you bestowed on our film tonight. I know I speak for everyone standing behind me that it has been an absolute privilege to work on Solomon's story. And we all get to stand up here tonight because of one man who brought us all together to tell that story. And that is the indomitable Mr. Steve McQueen," Brad said.

Director Steve McQueen was visibly emotional as he pulled out a piece of paper and was so proud as he addressed the crowd with a shaking but victorious demeanor. He started by thanking the academy and the cast and crew, saying that without Brad Pitt the film would not have been made.  He then thanked his publicist and agent, the historian who preserved Solomon's book and his mother. He closed by saying "The last word: everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live. This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup. I dedicate this award to all the people who have endured slavery. And the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today. Thank you very much. Thank you." 12 Years a Slave's John Ridley also won the award for Adapted Screenplay.

Best Director

The award for Best Direction was won by Mexican Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity, the first time a Mexican has won an academy award. Gravity won the most awards with seven in total. The other six were Film Editing, Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger; Visual Effects, Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould; Cinematography, Emmanuel Lubezki; Sound Editing, Glenn Freemantle; Sound Mixing, Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro; Score "Gravity," Steven Price. Indeed it seemed like Gravity was the best movie this year in so many categories, especially the visual and sound elements, prompting some viewers to pronounce it the Avatar of this year, a revolutionary movie in terms of style.

Cuarón spoke Spanish at his acceptance speech, joking about how long it took to make the science fiction movie. "Like any other human endeavor, making a film can be a transformative experience, and I want to thank Gravity because for many of us involved in this film, it was definitely a transformative experience. And it's good, because it took so long that if not, it would be like a waste of time. What really sucks is that for a lot of these people, that transformation was wisdom; for me, it was just the color of my hair," Cuarón said lightheartedly about his movie's dominating performance at the awards show. He thanked the academy, Warner Brothers, George Clooney for his trust and especially Sandra Bullock who he said was the soul of the film.  

Actor

Best Actor went to Matthew McConaughey for his inspired portrait of a courageous man with AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club. Although he did not talk about AIDs like his co-star Jared Leto, he talked about his father in heaven looking down on him with a Miller lite and dancing. He also thanked God and was one of the only actors to do so, and while his speech arguably ran long they did not dare to cut him off with music. He said some deep words about chasing one's future self, saying that his hero at 15 was himself at 25, and his hero at 25 was himself at 35, and so on. "So, to any of us, whatever those things are, whatever it is we look up to, whatever it is we look forward to, and whoever it is we're chasing, to that I say, 'Amen.' To that I say, 'Alright, alright, alright.' To that I say 'just keep living.' Thank you," he closed.

Actress

Best Actress went to Cate Blanchett for her psychological portrayal of a widow in the Woody Allen movie Blue Jasmine. Her main message was to producers and movie executive "who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences. They are not. Audiences want to see them and, in fact, they earn money. The world is round, people." Her comment was met with applause and cheers and she thanked her family, her agents in Australia and praised the Sydney Theater Company.

Other Awards

Costume and set awards mainly went to Great Gatsby and Dallas Buyers Club. Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn of Great Gatsby won both Production Design and Costume Design while Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews won their first Oscar for Makeup in Dallas Buyers Club.

Original Screenplay went to Her by Spike Jonze and best Foreign Language Film went to Italy for The Great Beauty. For the animation awards, Animated Short was won by Mr. Hublot and Animated Feature was won by Frozen. The shorts awards reminded us that there are more movies released each year than just the feature films. Live Action Short award went to Helium. This year had several worthwhile and moving documentaries, and the award for Documentary Short was won by The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life and Documentary Feature went to 20 Feet From Stardom