[11:00pm] Alright everyone. That one is in the books. Thanks for taking part in our first ever LIVE blog. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time....
[10:59pm] I can't say I'm surprised...just a bit disappointed. Steve McQueen and Brad Pitt speak on behalf of the film.
[10:58pm] WINNER: 12 YEARS A SLAVE - Best Picture
[10:58pm] A great year in film is evident as the nominees are again read off.
[10:57pm] Will Smith is heading out for Best Picture. It is basically a two film race between Gravity and 12 Years a Slave. The Academy has never awarded a sci-fi film with the night's top honor. That could (and should) change tonight. Bit I can see the Academy sticking with their old school ways and awarding Fox Searchlight's independent film here.
[10:53pm] McConaguey earned this one, and gets his credit for a few years of brilliant performacnes. Glad that the shit he made five years ago didn't hurt him here. A fantastic speech (he has made many this award season) and ends it with the best possible line 'Alright, Alright Alright.' Alright to you Mr. McConaughey.
[10:52pm] WINNER: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY - Dallas Buyers Club - Best Actor
[10:50pm] Jennifer Lawrence still gets some screentime as she takes the stage to award the Best Actor - Matthew McConaughey should have this one - though Leo is a dark horse contender.
[10:46pm] Did anyone else see the usher just go crazy trying to get Cate's attention as she walked off stage? Classic Oscar moment!
[10:46pm] The Academy went the safe route. Blachett gave a brilliant performance and Blanchett definitely is worthy. She's smart and classy. Her acceptance speech is one of the best of the night. And a valiant shoutout to women in cinema proclaiming "The world is round, people!"
[10:45pm] WINNER: CATE BLANCHETT - Blue Jasmine - Best Actress
[10:42pm] Daniel Day-Lewis (an icon) takes the stage to award Best Actress. Could we see an upset or will Cate Blanchett walk away with this award to clean sweep the season (and fill her cabinet). Hoping for a Bullock or Adams upset - it is doubtful!
[10:38pm] Cuaron's speech, though not revolutionary, is stnadard for the practice. And we got a little more of Bullock - so I'm good with it!
[10:35pm] That was almost seals up Gravity for a Best Picture award, which would give Cuaron three for the night. Could it pull in Bullock for a crazy upset in the Best Actress race? Not sure that will happen, though it would make me estactic as she carried this film from start to finish!
[10:33pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Alfonso Cuaron - Best Original Screenplay
[10:31pm] Angelina Jolie and Sidney Poitier take the stage in what will definitely be the most awkward (thogh iconic) moment of tonight's show. They are presenting for Best Director - the winner should be Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity.
[10:27pm] Aweomse!! Spike Jonez breaks through and gets his first Oscar win! In the process he confirms that winners get 42 seconds for their acceptance speech. Sounds like a long time...when on stage it likely isn't.
[10:27pm] WINNER: HER - Best Original Screenplay
[10:26pm] Now for Best Original Screenplay. I'd like to see Dallas Buyers Club or Her win, but fear it will go elsewher.
[10:18pm] WINNER: 12 YEARS A SLAVE - Best Adapted Screenplay
[10:23pm] After picking up some money for the pizza Ellen introduces Robert De Niro (who hopes you ddin't watch his new film The Bag Man this weekend...wait, no one watched that crap) and Penelope Cruz who will announce Best Adapted Screenplay. 12 Years a Slave should have this - if they don't, they are out of the Best Picture race.
[10:18pm] Picking that one was like shooting fish in a fish tank - #given #whydideveryoneelseevenshowup
[10:18pm] WINNER: FROZEN - Let It Go - Best Song
[10:17pm] Best Original Song is up next - Frozen has it!
[10:16pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Best Score
[10:15pm] Jamie Foxx (who doesn't have the timing quite right) is set to introduce Best Score with Jessica Beil (aka Timberlake). Not sure if Fox is drunk or just a camera hog. Either way, let's get to the award...which is likely going to Gravity.
[10:09pm] John Travolta introuces Idina Menzel to perform 'Let it Go,' the power ballad from the Oscar winning Frozen. Definite front-runner here, and with Menzel's Broadway roots, she was made for this performance!
[10:03pm] Ellen Degeneres intionally messes up another name as she introduces Goldie Hawn, another former A-lister who is set to introduce the last three Best Picture contenders: Philomena, Captain Philips and 12 Years a Slave.
[9:59pm] Bette Midler is now singing 'Wind Beneith My Wing,' an unusual and unneeded segment. Usually the song is sung during the slideshow of images. Not sure why the change, but hopefully this is a shortened version of the popular song. #doubtful #fastforwardplease #bathroombreakanyone
[9:57pm] Sarah Jones was not included; however, those features did include Paul Walker, James Gandolfini, Peter O'Toole, Roger Ebert, Shirley Temple Black and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
[9:54pm] Glenn Close honors those who have passed over the last year in the In Memoriam section of tonight's broadcast. Big debate was whether or not Sarah Jones, the recent crew members who was killed by a train while filming Midnight Rider, will be included.
[9:51pm] UPDATE: Ellen Degeneres' selfie took 35 to pass the Obamas for the most retweeted photo. #bravo #kevinspaceyispriceless
[9:47pm] Chris Evans (who can conviniently be seen in Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier next month gets to introduce the segment dedicated to some of cinema's most popular heroes. Interesting that Captain American and Katniss Everdeen were the first two shown - a make up for Lawrence's earlier snub for Best Supporting Actress? Other features films include everything Marvel, Top Gun, The Amazing Spider-Man, Top Gun and Avatar.
[9:45pm] Catherine Martin wins her second Oscar of the night. Intersting, since most people never saw Great Gatsby. It appears that American Hustle is dead tonight - sad but definitely not one of David O. Russell's best.
[9:44pm] WINNER: THE GREAT GATSBY - Best Production Design
[9:44pm] Aw. Jennnifer Garner didn't get nomiated for her work on Dallas Buyers Club, but not to worry, the Academy is allowing her to present Best Production Design opposite Bennedict Cumberbach. The Great Gatsby or American Hustle will walk away with this one.
[9:36pm] Okay, that is a historical revisit - so a standing ovation is acceptable. Just don't make it a habbit!
[9:35pm] Wait Woopi just pulled out some red slippers as the Oscars dedicates a portion of the program to the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. And now we get Alecia Moore...wait, that is just what Woopi calls her....Pink takes the stage to sing a cool little medley of songs from the film. It's cheesy but I love older musicals, and this is fitting (though entirely random).
[9:33pm] Question? Is Woopi still releavent? #justcurious
[9:32pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Best Editing
[9:30pm] Anna Kendrick and Gabourey Sidibe just walked on stage to a jazzy rendition of 'Cups'. A hilarious fact abotu that song - it's a Billboard Top 10 single from last year and spent almost an entire year in the Top 100. (This shows you just how great our music selections have been over the last year or so!)
[9:28pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Best Cinematography
[9:27pm] My money is on another Gravity win!
[9:26pm] You can't focus on Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto during the beginning of the show and then again later on when Matt is in the restroom. His seat filler becomes the star of the show!!! #bravomanbravo #missionsofjealousseatfillers
[9:26pm] Did Ellen just poke fun at the President of the Academy while introducing Amy Adams and Bill Murray for Best Cinematography? I think so!
[9:25pm] Is it just me or does 5 billion movie tickets seem a bit low? #whereiseveryone #bettermoviesplease
[9:23pm] Ellen continues the pizza joke, delievering line after line of pure comedic genius! Then she is forced to introduce the President of the Academy. #naptime #pleaseleavenow
[9:20pm] In other unrelated news - how badly does ABC want "Resurrection" to succeed. I swear the 50th commercial for it just aired. #wegetit
[9:19pm] In other news - Ellen DeGeneres' twitter is down. Lots of photo retwitting must be happening!
[9:18pm] Did Lupita just walk off the stage to the theme song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
[9:16pm] Lupita wins in the mild upset for her first ever role in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave. She gives a heartfelt speech, honoring the real Patsy. Could this be the push that the film needed to come out on top of Gravity in the Best Picture race? Time will tell if this is a sign. Shout out to Lawrence, who likely would have won the award had she not taken home the prize for last year's Silver Linings Playbook.
[9:16pm] WINNER: LUPITA NYONG'O - 12 Years a Slave - Best Supporting Actress
[9:14pm] Finally! Christoph Waltz takes the stage to present for Best Supporting Actress! Hoping for a Jennifer Lawrence back-to-back win! 12 Years a Slave could ruin the party!
[9:13pm] Finally! Christoph Waltz takes the stage to present for Best Supporting Actress! Hoping for a Jennifer Lawrence back-to-back win! 12 Years a Slave could ruin the party!
[9:11pm] TOLDJA!!! For those that care - I pretty much pegged both of these awards immediately after seeing this film months ago - obviously played to both wins!
[9:10pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Best Sound Editing
[9:07pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Best Sound Mixing
[9:06pm] Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth take the stage to announce the awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Mixing - both of which will likely go to Gravity.
[9:04pm] Kristen Bell and Michael B. Jordan give a boring (and unneeded) blurb from the Science and Technology Awards - did I get that right?
[9:00pm] Ellen gets a series of laughs as she invites almost every power A-lister to join her in a self pic, working to add one more record to Meryl Street (who holds the record with 18 nominations) with the most re-tweets of a picture on twitter. The joke, a risk, has actually been one of her best of the night.
[8:58pm] Everyone needs to sit their ass back in their chair. That song is mediocre at best, and anyone other than U2 would be watching this show from the comfort of their couch.
[8:55pm] Ellen, after getting some positive responses for her costume change, introduced a man who supposedy needs no introduction, Brad Pitt. Pitt passes along the honor, introducing U2 who is performing their track "Ordinary Love' from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
[8:51pm] Tyler Perry (fresh off the news that his contract with Lionsgate will not be renewed) takes the stage to introduce the next three Best Picture nominees - Nebraska, Her and Gravity. (Sadly plans had to be altered as The Butler wasn't an option for him here.)
[8:51pm] Obviously I know nothing! My sources are set to be fired!
[8:50pm] WINNER: THE GREAT BEAUTY - Best Foreign Language Film
[8:48pm] WOW! Viola Davis looks amazing...Ewan McGregor does not! Both are on stage announcing the award for Best Foreign Language Film. Likely going to The Hunt, with an outside chance to Omar.
[8:43pm] This clip (along with the expected commercial break that will immediately follow) provides a great bathroom break opportunity. Best take advantage of it!
[8:40pm] Kevin Spacey gets a laugh by opening with a Francis Underwood response in regard to his Hollywood counterparts (did he just steal the show) before carrying on about the highly unneeded (and even more irrelevant) Governor's Ball. He also announces that Angelina Jolie was given the annual Humanitarin Award. (Yamn-a-thon!)
[8:39pm] Interesting speech here - the director dedicated the award to the film's origial creator, who predicted an Oscar from the initial concept meeting but passed a week before the film's Sundance premeire last year. Then one of the film's subjects got to the mic and belted out some lyrics. (The film is about the lives of back-up singers.)
[8:38pm] WINNER: 20 FEET FROM STARDOM - Best Documentary Film
[8:37pm] Bradley Cooper announced the award for Best Documentary Feature. 20 Feet from Stardom is the consensus front-runner here (and one we reviewed over a year ago at Sundance!)
[8:36pm] Ellen does a small bit and asks who would eat pizza if she ordered it. I couldn't pay too much attention as I was distracted with the fact that Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart are still married!
[8:35pm] A great speech, both director's donated the award to their subject, who died a week ago today at the tender age of 110 years old. Impressive, and definitely hope to catch the film.
[8:34pm] WINNER: THE LADY IN NUMBER 6 - Best Documentary Short Film
[8:33pm] For Documentary Short Subject - The Lady in Number 6 has the inside edge (and support from the industry) after the lead subject passed away a few weeks ago.
[8:31pm] WINNER: HELIUM - Best Live Action Short Film
[8:30pm] Kate Hudson and Jason Sudekis (who would make amazing children) are set to present the short film awards. Business as usual for the two actors.
[8:24pm] Zac Efron (who hasn't seen the Oscar stage since dacing with former girlfriend Vanessa Hugens) is now introducing Karen O., performer for 'The Moon Song' from Her. This is personally one of my favorite songs from any film this year as I walked out of the theater remembering the effect the song had on the story. This accustic performance is exactly what the song needed to showcase its effect. Any other year it would be a winner. This year, it has a competitior that would win in almost any year (other than 1998).
[8:23pm] WINNER: GRAVITY - Best Sound Effects
[8:22pm] As expected...
[8:21pm] CAUTION: Obvious attempt to appeal to younger generation is happening now as Jeseph Gordon Lovitt and Emma Watson walk out to present the award for Best Visual Efforts - a shoe in for Gravty.
[8:18pm] Sally Field just gave us an obvious blunder as she pays homage to authentic everyday heroes who found their stories on te big screen. From The Blind Side and Zero Dark Thirty to Argo, Milk, Apollo 13 and Braveheart, the Academy does a valliant effort to encompass a wide arrray of true and fiction stories. I honestly wish they had left out this year's nominees, though the baseball fan in me loves that they spent so much time focusing on 43.
[8:17pm] They kinda just blew by the Best Animated Film award this year. If they aren't going to give it the time of day then don't have it. Who cares if it is a landslide, let the winner have their moment.
[8:16pm] WINNER: FROZEN - Best Animated Film
[8:16pm] And there you have it. Walt Disney Studios wins its first Animated Film Oscar!
[8:15pm] Best Animated Feature film is up next. Just give the award to Frozen already! It won't be close!
[8:13pm] WINNER: MR. HUBLOT - Best Animated Short Film
[8:13pm] Well look there - the first minor upset of the night. Mr. Hublot overcomes a big studio and wins!!!!
[8:12pm] Get a Horse should walk away with Best Animated Short Film. Mr. Hublot is a long shot/dark horse.
[8:05pm] Channing Tatum (in what will be one of his only appeareneced ever on the Oscar stage) is giving a dedication to some college students winning some award that allows their name to get called out on national television - Congrats (I think).
[8:03pm] Harrison Ford takes the stage to present the first three Best Picture nominees - American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street. No personality from Ford makes the entire presentation miss the mark. You are at the Oscars...get excited!
[8:01pm] WINNER: Dallas Buyers Club - Best Makeup and Hair Design
[7:59pm] Short and sweet speech. You can tell she is three time winner. Next up is Best Makeup and Hair Design. Prediction - Dallas Buyers Club...though I'd love to see Jackass take it!
[7:58pm] WINNER: CATHERINE MARTIN - GREAT GATSBY - Best Costume Design
[7:57pm] Samuel L. Jackson (why is he still relavent) and Naomi Watts (always gorgeous) take the stage to present the award for Best Costume Design. Our prediction: American Hustle.
[7:53pm] Not going to lie - that performance was a bit unorganized and amateur for the Oscars. Definite low-point of the show so far.
[7:51pm] The always gorgeous Kerry Washington ('Scandal' anyone?) introcued Pharrel Williams, who is performing 'Happy' from Despicable Me 2.
[7:50pm] Jim Carrey, after making a bit of fun at the fact that he hasn't been nominated for an Oscar, does a bit on the history of animated heroes. (Personal favorite - Woody and Buzz. Unneeded inclusion - Happy Feet)
[7:44pm] Jared Leto gives a touching speech to his mom, gives a shout out to 30 Seconds to Mars, as well as the dreamers and the 36 million people who have lost the battle to AIDS. Great start to Hollywood's big night!!!!!
[7:43pm] WINNER: JARED LETO - DALLAS BUYERS CLUB Best Supporting Actor
[7:40pm] They are switing things up a bit this year. Doing Best Supporting Actor first (rather than Supporting Actress), presented by Anne Hathaway (looking gorgeous as usual). My money is on Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club. Michael Fassbender could play upset. The rest should just be happy to be invited.
[7:38pm] Ellen DeGeneres is delivering a memorable opennig monologue (though is appears more like a satnd-up comedic routine), though for some reason no one laughs at the Hunger Games joke. Come on people? It's okay, Jennifer Lawrence is the new 'it' girl.
[7:24pm] One of the most competitive Oscars is only minutes away. Should be a night of surprises. Stay turned for updates detailing the show and the winners!
