First-time winners Lupita Nyong'o and Jared Leto took
supporting acting honors, while the 3-D spectacle 'Gravity' amassed a force of
technical awards in an Oscar ceremony punctuated by politics, pizza and
photo-bombing.
Wearing Nairobi blue, the 31-year-old Nyong'o, breakout star
of the historical drama '12 Years a Slave,' accepted the award for best
supporting actress. In her feature film debut, Nyong'o made an indelible
impression as the tortured slave Patsy.
"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 Patsy for her guidance," said Nyong'o. She also thanked
director Steve McQueen: "I'm certain that the dead are standing about you
and they are watching and they are grateful, and so am I."
Two hours into the Dolby Theatre ceremony, hosted nimbly by
Ellen DeGeneres, Alfonso Cuaron's box-office hit and visual marvel had accrued
five Oscars, winning for cinematography, editing, visual effects, sound mixing
and sound editing. If the Mexican Cuaron wins best director, as he's expected
to, he'll be the first Latino filmmaker to take the category.
As expected, Leto won for his acclaimed, gaunt performance
as a theatrical transgender suffering from AIDS in the Texas drama. He thanked
his mother, his date on the night.
"Thank you for teaching me to dream," said Leto.
Later backstage, he passed around his Oscar to members of the press, urging
them to "fondle" it. The actor, who had devoted himself in recent
years to his rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, gravely vowed: "I will revel
tonight."
Sunday's Oscars hung on a nail-biter of a finish, with the
best picture race believed to be between the historical drama "12 Years a
Slave," the 3-D space spectacle "Gravity" and the con-artist
comedy "American Hustle." DeGeneres alluded to the options in her
opening monologue.
"Possibility number one: '12 Years a Slave' wins best
picture," she said. "Possibility number two: You're all
racists."
Her opening went over well in Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre,
which had far more mixed reactions to last year's "We Saw Your
Boobs"-singing host, Seth MacFarlane. She chided Leto ("Boy, is he
pretty") and mocked Jennifer Lawrence for falling on her way onto the red
carpet, just as she did when she accepted the Oscar last year for "Silver
Linings Playbook."
When Lawrence hit the carpet and waved to fans, she
collapsed in a heap of laughter.
"If you win tonight, I think we should bring you the
Oscar," said DeGeneres to Lawrence, nominated for her performance in
'American Hustle.'
Though the ceremony lacked a big opening number, it had a
musical beat to it. To a standing ovation, Bono and U2 performed an acoustic
version of "Ordinary Love," their Oscar-nominated song from
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," a tune penned in tribute to the late
South African leader Nelson Mandela. Singing his nominated "Happy"
from "Despicable Me 2," Pharrell Williams had Meryl Streep and
Leonardo DiCaprio dancing in the aisles. Pink was cheered for her rendition of
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow," part of a 75th anniversary tribute to
"The Wizard of Oz."
Best documentary went to the crowd-pleasing backup singer
ode '20 Feet From Stardom.' One of its stars, Darlene Love, accepted the award
singing the gospel tune "His Eye Is on the Sparrow": "I sing
because I'm happy/ I sing because I'm free."
Disney's global hit 'Frozen' won best animated film, marking
- somewhat remarkably - the studio's first win in the 14 years of the best
animated feature category. (Pixar, which Disney owns, has regularly dominated.)
With box-office that recently passed $1 billion globally, the film was sure to
be the biggest hit to take home an Oscar on Sunday.
"We're all just trying to make films that touch
people," said co-director Chris Buck backstage. "Once in a while, you
get lucky."
Though the Oscar ceremony is usually a glitzy bubble
separate from real-world happenings, international events were immediately
referenced. In his acceptance speech, Leto addressed people in Ukraine and
Venezuela.
"We are here and as you struggle to make your dreams
happen, to live the impossible, we're thinking of you," said Leto.
Russian state-owned broadcaster Channel One Russia said it
would not broadcast the Oscars live because of the necessity for news coverage
of Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. It will instead transmit
the Oscars early Tuesday morning, local time.
Venezuelan protesters, via social media, urged Oscar winners
to bring attention to their plight. Anti-government protests have roiled the
country in recent weeks.
Italy's 'The Great Beauty' won the Oscar for best foreign
language film. In accepting the award for his rumination on life and Rome's
decadence, director Paolo Sorrentino thanked his heroes, including Federico
Fellini, Martin Scorsese and soccer star Diego Maradona.
DeGeneres gently mocked Hollywood's insularity, referring to
the headlines that have swamped the Los Angeles area lately with a slightly
less serious news event.
"It has been raining," said DeGeneres. "We're
fine. Thank you for your prayers."
The talk-show host quickly circulated in the audience,
delivering pizza and appealing to Harvey Weinstein to pitch in on the bill. She
also crowded in as many stars as she could in hopes of generating the
most-tweeted photo ever. Meryl Streep giddily exclaimed: "I've never
tweeted before!" In less than an hour, the resulting image had been
retweeted more than 880,000 times.
