2011 Academy Awards: Post-Oscar Reactions (Complete List of Winners)

Now begins the task of writing the history for the 83^rd Academy Awards. There were some good moments at the Oscars, but a lot of forgettable events. Unfortunately the bad outweighed the good, which is a shame. It started out beautifully with the red carpet as the stars made their grand entrances. That is always a highlight of every Oscar telecast.

However, the host or hosts is either a hit or miss experiment every year. Needless to say it was definitely a miss with the two young, beautiful and talented actors who co-hosted. I applaud the Academy for wanting to get larger ratings with the coveted 18-49 age group demographic by having Anne Hathaway and James Franco as hosts. Only time will tell if it worked, but I think not.

What Happened to Anne Hathaway and James Franco as Hosts?

Yes, they are indeed talented with Anne's musical theatre training and Judy Garland-esque vocals, plus her big moment on a previous Oscar show featured in a musical number. It was an interesting twist to add an actor whose film as well as him being nominated for Best Actor is also a host. To my knowledge that's never been done. In the beginning they were really good, especially with the "Inception" like dream opening sequence.

When they were in the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" and made their entrance with a puff of smoke onstage into the present time that was extremely clever. Another great moment was Franco introducing his grandmother as she loudly exclaimed "Marky Mark is in the audience." Afterwards, it went downhill. Hathaway's over-the-top schtick and Franco's almost sleeping at the wheel introductions were simply annoying to watched in this over three-hour telecast. In the middle of the show I was quite taken back when Anne wore a tuxedo outfit for her musical number. Out of nowhere James came out in drag as Marilyn Monroe. He wore her famous red dress and platinum blonde wig saying he got a text from Charlie Sheen. That was the only laugh they got for the rest of the evening.

Towards the end they seemed to each run out of steam. Hathaway was becoming giddy like a tween fan seeing celebrities for the first time with her inappropriate enthusiasm. Trying to be a cheerleader wasn't working either. One of the most memorable moments was Billy Crystal's unexpected appearance. The audience went wild with their applause. Please Billy Crystal, come host next year's Academy Awards. It's been way too long since your last Oscar hosting gig.

The Best Moments are Usually Spontaneous

It was good to see Kirk Douglas onstage and presenting the Best Supporting Actress category on his own. Even though he took some liberties with time and grandstanding, he is more than allowed to do so with his stellar career and his son successfully following in his footsteps. When he took his time announcing the winner and seeing the nominees' reactions was priceless. Who knows if this was planned or improvised?

I'm thrilled Melissa Leo won for Best Supporting Actress. However, I have seen her win numerous times on other award shows. She had given well thought-out acceptance speeches that were articulate, grounded and professional. It was a whole different side to Ms. Leo during the Oscar telecast, especially using the F-bomb. This was not the Grammys, MTV Awards or those other shows who infamously use that word in speeches ad nauseam.

During Cate Blanchett's presentation for Best Make-up they showed some very realistic films clips of the makeup artist's work in the film "Wolfman." Even I reacted to its horrible look, the character that is. After it was finished Cate immediately blurts out "That's gross." The audience actually laughed, because I think they were all thinking the same thing.

Winners and their Speeches

Even with their inexperience and amateurish hosting abilities by Anne Hathaway and James Franco there were outstanding moments every now and then with acceptance speeches, Melissa Leo's not being one of them, excellent performances and interesting presentations. "The King's Speech's" three major winners for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor - Colin Firth each gave exceptionally heartfelt speeches.

Screenwriter David Seidler gave a funny opening line with being a late bloomer. He won his first Oscar ever at age 73. Tom Hooper told a superb story about his mother attending a script reading called "The King's Speech" that she nearly didn't go to at first, but decided in the last minute to attend. Later on she told her son he would be perfect to direct the film. Colin Firth opened his speech with the witty remark of "I think my career has just peaked." It may have a truth of irony, because with some Oscar winners that has happened. Hopefully that will not be the case with Colin. He was a class act throughout his speech as was Natalie Portman for Best Actress.

I was glad to see them have the performers for Best Song. My favorites were Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi performing their song from "Tangled" and "If I Rise" from the film "127 Hours" by Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine). Randy Newman won in this category while his acceptance speech made a dig on bad Oscar shows. The hologram special effect with Bob Hope introducing Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law was absolutely amazing. I liked the banter between Downey and Law. That was nice comical break to an otherwise long, boring evening at the 2011 Oscars.

It's not too shabby for those nominees, because they're now in good company with previous nominees who did not take home an Oscar statuette. This is a complete list of all winners in every category:

Best Picture

* The King's Speech - WINNER
* Black Swan
* The Fighter
* Inception
* The Kids Are All Right
* 127 Hours
* The Social Network
* Toy Story 3
* True Grit
* Winter's Bone

Best Actor

* The King's Speech - WINNER
* Javier Bardem, Biutiful
* Jeff Bridges, True Grit
* Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
* James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Actress

* Natalie Portman, Black Swan - WINNER
* Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
* Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
* Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
* Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor

* Christian Bale, The Fighter - WINNER
* John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
* Jeremy Renner, The Town
* Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
* Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Best Supporting Actress

* Melissa Leo, The Fighter - WINNER
* Amy Adams, The Fighter
* Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
* Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
* Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Director

* Tom Hooper, The King's Speech - WINNER
* Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
* David O. Russell, The Fighter
* David Fincher, The Social Network
* Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Best Original Screenplay

* The King's Speech - WINNER
* Another Year
* The Fighter
* Inception
* The Kids Are All Right

Best Adapted Screenplay

* The Social Network - WINNER
* 127 Hours
* Toy Story 3
* True Grit
* Winter's Bone

Best Animated Film

* Toy Story 3 - WINNER
* How to Train Your Dragon
* The Illusionist

Best Foreign Language Film

* In A Better World - WINNER
* Biutiful
* Dogtooth
* Incendies
* Outside the Law

Best Art Direction

* Alice in Wonderland - WINNER
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
* Inception
* The King's Speech
* True Grit

Cinematography

* Inception - WINNER
* Black Swan
* The King's Speech
* The Social Network
* True Grit

Costume Design

* Alice in Wonderland - WINNER
* I Am Love
* The King's Speech
* The Tempest
* True Grit

Editing

* The Social Network - WINNER
* Black Swan
* The Fighter
* The King's Speech
* 127 Hours

Sound Mixing

* Inception - WINNER
* The King's Speech
* Salt
* The Social Network
* True Grit

Sound Editing

* Inception - WINNER
* Toy Story 3
* Tron: Legacy
* True Grit
* Unstoppable

Original Score

* The Social Network - WINNER
* How to Train Your Dragon
* Inception
* The King's Speech
* 127 Hours

Original Song

* "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 - WINNER
* "Coming Home" from Country Strong
* "I See the Light" from Tangled
* "If I Rise" from 127 Hours

Documentary Feature

* Inside Job - WINNER
* Exit through the Gift Shop
* Gasland
* Restrepo
* Waste Land

Documentary (short subject)

* Strangers No More - WINNER
* Killing in the Name
* Poster Girl
* Sun Come Up
* The Warriors of Qiugang

Makeup

* The Wolfman - WINNER
* Barney's Version
* The Way Back

Animated Short Film

* The Lost Thing - WINNER
* Day & Night
* The Gruffalo
* Let's Pollute
* Madagascar, a Journey Diary

Live Action Short Film

* God of Love - WINNER
* The Confession
* The Crush
* Na Wewe
* Wish 143

Visual Effects

* Inception - WINNER
* Alice in Wonderland
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
* Hereafter
* Iron Man 2

SOURCES:

Oscar - The official 2011 site for the 83^rd Academy Awards, Oscar.go.com

Erik Pedersen, "Best & Worst of the 2011 Oscars: Yes, It's That Bad", E! Online

Natalie Finn, "Five Biggest Oscar Night Jaw-Droppers", E! Online

Free Britney, "2011 Academy Awards: Full List of Winners!", The Hollywood Gossip