The 85th Academy Awards are officially over for another year; the gold statues have been handed out, the speeches recited and the gracious losing faces put to good use. This year's awards was hosted by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, known for his sharp humor and across-the-board mockery, which probably put a few people on the edges of their seats with worry as to what he would say. His turn as host was actually pretty tame (for him anyway), save for a couple jokes that got people laughing nervously (guess it's still too soon to joke about Lincoln's assassination). Some are complaining that MacFarlane was dull and attention-seeking but considering he gave us multiple song and dance numbers (including one about which nominated actresses have shown their breasts in film), hung from the ceiling dressed as The Flying Nun, and reenacted Flight with sock puppets, he did a pretty great job. His charming self-deprecation even got Tommy Lee Jones to laugh by joking about getting Tommy Lee Jones to laugh. What more do you want from the guy?
The Oscars this year held a few history-making and surprising moments. The most notable surprises among the nominees was Ben Affleck being snubbed in the Best Director category even though his film Argo was nominated for Best Film (only the fourth time a film's won Best Picture without the director nominated). The snub may have actually helped in the end considering his film won three Oscars (Best Film, Adapted Screenplay for Chris Terrio, and Film Editing for William Goldenberg). The Oscars also made history when, via satellite from the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama presented the award.
This year also broke some records, as the youngest and oldest nominees appeared in one category together. Nine-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis was nominated for her strong performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild and 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva was nominated for her tender performance in Amour. While neither actress won (Jennifer Lawrence took the statue home), their nominations alone are enough to get major accolades and recognition.
Daniel Day-Lewis took home the Best Actor award for his lead performance in Lincoln, which should be a surprise to no one as Day-Lewis is basically a sure-thing for whatever award he's up for. His win marks him as the first actor to win three lead Actor awards, as he won previously for My Left Foot and There Will Be Blood.
The biggest winner of the night was Life of Pi, haven deservedly taken home four awards, including the awards for Cinematography, Visual Effects, and Original Score. Director Ang Lee won Best Director for the film, thanking the "movie god" and the Fox executives who supported the costly CGI-heavy film in his acceptance speech. Lee won Best Director seven years ago for Brokeback Mountain.
Another interesting moment was when a tie was announced for Sound Editing, awarding both Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. Other notable winners include Christoph Waltz for Supporting Actor, Anne Hathaway for Supporting Actress, and Quentin Tarantino for Original Screenplay for Django Unchained.
The 85th Academy Awards Winners

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Animated Short Film: Paper Man
Animated Feature Film: Brave
Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Visual Effects: Life of Pi
Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina

Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Miserables
Live Action Short Film: Curfew
Documentary Short Subject: Innocente
Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man
Foreign Language Film: Amour
Sound Mixing: Les Miserables

Sound Editing: Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall
Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Film Editing: Argo
Production Design: Lincoln
Original Score: Life of Pi
Original Song: Adele, Skyfall

Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Argo
Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Directing: Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Picture: Argo