“Argo” Wins Best Picture at the 2013 Academy Awards
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JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Argo took home the top prize as best picture at the Oscars Sunday night, with first lady Michelle Obama announcing the winner from the White House.
“You directed a hell of a film,” co-producer Grant Heslov told director and fellow producer Ben Affleck. “I couldn’t be more proud of the film and more proud of our director.”
Affleck was snubbed in the directing category but accepted the best picture Oscar as one of the three producers on the film. George Clooney was the third.
Affleck thanked Steven Spielberg and the other best picture nominees and his wife Jennifer Garner for “working on our marriage.”
In the acting categories, Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor, being the first actor to three-peat in that category. As he accepted the award from actress Meryl Streep, he joked, “I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher. … Meryl was Steven’s first choice for Lincoln.”
Jennifer Lawrence won the award for best actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook. She tripped on the stairs on her way to accepting her award but picked herself up and made her way to the stage, earning a standing ovation.
“You’re just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that’s embarrassing,” she said, before rattling off a list of thank-yous and leaving the stage looking slightly stunned.
Life of Pi which had a total of 11 nominations, was another big winner. Director Ang Lee took home the Oscar for best director over Steven Spielberg and David O. Russell.
As expected, the film took home the first technical awards of the night for cinematography and visual effects. Life of Pi also won for best original score.
The first big acting awards of the night went to Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway in the supporting actor categories.
In one of the biggest tossups, Waltz claimed the award for supporting actor for his role in Django Unchained. It was his second Oscar for a Quentin Tarantino film; his first was for Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
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As expected, Hathaway took home the award for best supporting actress for her role as Fantine in Les Miserables.
Quentin Tarantino won the Oscar for best original screenplay for his slave revenge western Django Unchained.
Chris Terrio won the award for best adapted screenplay for Argo, which also won for film editing.
For only the sixth time in Academy history, there was a tie at the Oscars. Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall tied for sound editing.
Brave won for best animated feature film. The popular Searching for Sugar Man won for best documentary feature. As expected, Amour, by Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke, won for best feature film.
Among the presenters, Kristin Stewart had the internet buzzing, after she showed up on the red carpet with crutches and later hobbled on stage. According to People, she cut her foot on glass two days before the ceremony.
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In one of the evening’s early highlights, Halle Berry introduced a tribute to 50 years of James Bond films, which included a show-stopping performance of “Goldfinger” by 76-year-old Dame Shirley Bassey that brought the audience to their feet.
Continuing the night’s musical theme was a tribute to Hollywood musicals with Catherine Zeta-Jones, performing a number from her Oscar-winning role in Chicago, Jennifer Hudson, who demonstrated once again why she won the Oscar for Dreamgirls and the cast of Les Miserables.
Adele sang “Skyfall,” her first performance since giving birth to her son. She also won the award for best original song.
Host Seth MacFarlane opened the Oscars as promised, with a little song and dance, and more than a few barbs. His humor drew a mixed response from the audience at times.
“The quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now,” he said in his first celebrity roast of the night, drawing laughs from the audience, including Jones.
MacFarlane poked fun at last year’s best actor Jean DuJardin and Daniel Day-Lewis.
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“Your process fascinates me. You were totally 100 percent in character in Lincoln,” he said to Day-Lewis. “So if you saw a cell phone, would you have to be like, ‘Oh god, what’s that?’ If you bumped into Don Cheadle on the studio lot, would you try and free him?”
In a nod to MacFarlane’s love for sci-fi, William Shatner as Captain Kirk descended on the stage to warn MacFarlane that he was going to ruin the Oscars and be branded the worst host ever.
MacFarlane also showed his vocal chops, singing, “We Saw Your Boobs,” with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. Joined by Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron dancing, he sang, “The Way You Look Tonight.” That was followed by singing “High Hopes” with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
MacFarlane did not disappoint his fan base, bringing out the stars of his film, Ted, Mark Wahlberg and his talking teddy bear Ted, who joked about where the post Oscars orgy was being held (Wahlberg replied “Jack Nicholson’s House”) and about being Jewish.
He and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth closed the show with the song, “Here’s to the Losers.”
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