Big wins at the Oscars
Posted: 25 February 2013 1331 hrs
LOS ANGELES: Hollywood held no surprises when naming its big
winners at the 85th Academy Awards.
Best director award went to Taiwanese-born Lee Ang, who was the
first Asian ever to win an Oscar for directing when he received the
award in 2006 for "Brokeback Mountain".
Seven years later he has done it again with 3D fantasy "Life of
Pi", besting strong contenders such as Steven Spielberg.
"Thank you, movie god," Lee told the audience after accepting
his award. "I need to thank Yann Martel for writing this incredibly
inspiring book."
Lee's movie however lost out in the best picture category.
Ben Affleck's Iran hostage drama "Argo" took home the Oscar for
best picture instead, beating eight rivals for the top prize:
"Amour", "Beasts of the Southern Wild", "Django Unchained", "Les
Miserables", "Life of Pi", "Lincoln", "Silver Linings Playbook" and
"Zero Dark Thirty".
"I want to thank Canada. I want to thank our friends in Iran,
who live under terrible circumstances," said Affleck, a co-producer
of the film, speaking at top speed in the very last minutes of the
live prime-time Oscar broadcast.
"Argo" recounts how a group of US diplomats who took refuge in
the Canadian embassy in Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis were
spirited out of the Islamic republic as members of a bogus movie
crew.
Daniel Day-Lewis won a record third best actor Oscar for his
uncanny performance as the 16th US president in "Lincoln",
confirming his status as one of the finest actors of his
generation.
Jennifer Lawrence won the first Oscar of her career in the best
actress category for her performance as a headstrong young widow in
"Silver Linings Playbook,"
The 22-year-old beat competition such as "dark horse" Jessica
Chastain and 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who is the youngest
nominee.
"You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell.
This is nuts!" Lawrence said about the standing ovation she
received after she tripped on her way up onto the stage to collect
her award.
British songstress Adele won best original song for the 007
movie theme song "Skyfall", which she sang on stage earlier in the
show in a segment paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of James
Bond movies.
The 24-year-old Adele managed to say "This is amazing" before
breaking down early in her thank-you speech and shouting "You're
all amazing as well!" to the audience as she left the stage.
-AFP/CNA/gn
