The Academy Awards kicked off Sunday with an opener from host Seth MacFarlane and a win for Christoph Waltz, who earned his second supporting-actor Oscar for "Django Unchained."
In
a choked voice, Waltz offered thanks to his character and "to his
creator and the creator of his awe-inspiring world, Quentin Tarantino."
MacFarlane opened the live Oscars telecast with a monologue that
poked fun at stars and the movie industry. He offered a jab at academy
voters over Ben Affleck's snub in the best director category for
best-picture favorite "Argo," a thriller about the CIA's plot to rescue
six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis.
"The
story was so top secret that the film's director is unknown to the
academy," MacFarlane said. "They know they screwed up. Ben, it's not
your fault."
William Shatner made a guest appearance as
his "Star Trek" character Capt. James Kirk, appearing on a giant screen
above the stage during MacFarlane's monologue, saying he came back in
time to stop the host from ruining the Oscars.
"Your
jokes are tasteless and inappropriate, and everyone ends up hating you,"
said Shatner, who revealed a headline supposedly from the next day's
newspaper with a headline reading, "Seth MacFarlane worst Oscar host
ever."
The
performance-heavy Oscars also included an opening number featuring
Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum, who did a classy dance while
MacFarlane crooned "Just the Way You Look Tonight." Daniel Radcliffe and
Joseph Gordon-Levitt then joined MacFarlane for an elegant musical
rendition of "High Hopes." There was also another musical number called
"We Saw Your Boobs," which called out actresses who have gone topless in
movies.
Pixar's "Brave" took the Oscar for best animated
feature film, shipwreck adventure tale "Life of Pi" won best
cinematography and best visual effects, "Anna Karenina" won best costume
design and "Les Miserables" won for best makeup and hairstyling.
Sunday's
awards ceremony holds the potential for some firsts and other rarities.
Ben Affleck's "Argo" looks like it will be an uncommon film to claim
best picture without a directing nomination, while "Lincoln" filmmaker
Steven Spielberg and star Daniel Day-Lewis are favored to join exclusive
lists of three-time Oscar winners.
Day-Lewis would be
only the sixth performer to earn three or more Oscars and the first to
win three times as best actor. "Lincoln" also could make Spielberg just
the fourth filmmaker to win three or more directing trophies.
We
could also have the oldest or youngest acting winner ever --
86-year-old "Amour" star Emmanuelle Riva and 9-year-old Quvenzhane
Wallis of "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
The show will
feature a tribute to British super-spy James Bond to mark the 50th
anniversary of his first big-screen outing in "Dr. No." Adele will
perform her Oscar-nominated title tune to last year's Bond tale
"Skyfall," while the show features Shirley Bassey, who sang the Bond
theme songs for "Goldfinger," ''Diamonds Are Forever" and "Moonraker."
There
will also be a salute to movie musicals of the last decade, with
"Chicago" Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones and "Dreamgirls" winner
Jennifer Hudson joining "Les Miserables" cast members that include
best-actor nominee Hugh Jackman, supporting-actress front-runner Anne
Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter and Amanda Seyfried.
Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have lined up a bubbly mix
of young and old Hollywood as presenters, performers and special guests
-- from Barbra Streisand, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda to "Harry
Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe, "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart, and
Robert Downey Jr. and his superhero colleagues from "The Avengers."
Affleck's
thriller "Argo" is in line for best picture after winning practically
every top prize at earlier honors. Hollywood was shocked that Affleck
was snubbed for a directing nomination, possibly earning the film some
sympathy votes, particularly from actors, who love it when one of their
own succeeds behind the camera.
The story of how
Hollywood, Canada and the CIA teamed up to rescue six Americans during
the Iranian hostage crisis, "Argo" would become just the fourth film in
85 years to claim the top prize without a best-directing nomination and
the first since 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy."
The
best-picture prize typically ends the Oscar show, but this time,
MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth will perform a closing number on the
Dolby Theatre stage that producers Zadan and Meron called a "'can't
miss' moment."
