Sunday night's Oscars possibly was one of the best in recent times. There were a few what-were-you-thinking dresses (see Jane Fonda, Anne Hathaway, Norah Jones), and Seth MacFarlane managed to offend many, as to be expected. But aside from a few nomination snubs, there weren't any real award snubs or shockers, and the Oscars were fairly evenly distributed.
Aside from Ang Lee's Life of Pi winning four awards, there weren't more than three awards given to an individual or film. Unless a film is truly spectacular, it's nice when there isn't a runaway that hogs all the awards. There were many great moments, from Adele's dazzling performance of her Oscar-winning song "Skyfall" to Kristen Chenoweth's appearance with MacFarlane to close out the show with a musical performance.
Here are our favorite top five moments at the 2013 Academy Awards:
See also: - 2013 Oscar Winners - Top Five Phoenix Arts and Culture Stories of the Week: 2013 Academy Awards Edition - The 10 Best Moments in Oscar History
5. Barbra Streisand performs her classic "The Way We Were," which won her an Oscar back in 1974 for Best Original Song. Streisand sang the song after the In Memoriam montage to honor her friend and composer Marvin Hamlisch.
4. Daniel Day-Lewis makes Oscar history. Day-Lewis won the Oscar for Best Actor, his third time to win the prestigious award, making him the first actor to do so. If there's anybody who doesn't love Day-Lewis, we would be shocked.
3. Quentin Tarantino wins the writing award for Best Original Screenplay. Tarantino won for his spaghetti western Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx. Whether the award had something to do with the Best Directing snub, who's to say. Tarantino was a worthy contender, and the only film we felt could have -- and maybe should have -- won was Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.
2. Jennifer Lawrence wins Best Actress. At age 22, Lawrence takes home the top female award for her portrayal of an unstable widow in Silver Linings Playbook, with Bradley Cooper. Lawrence tripped and fell on her way up the stairs to accept her award, laughed it off, and told the audience giving her a standing ovation they were only standing up for her because she fell. Lawrence once again comes across as down-to-earth and easy-to-love. We were happy for her win.
1. Ben Affleck's film Argo wins Best Picture. Perhaps the biggest snub of all at this year's Oscars was the omission of Affleck in the Best Directing category. In fact, the majority of snubs appeared in the aforementioned category, with Kathryn Bigelow and Quentin Tarantino both left off the list as well. Affleck has seen his career on a rollercoaster, with more dips than rises. His speech reflected this fact, as well as indirectly addressing his directing snub with class. The speech will likely be remembered for years to come, particularly his closing words: "It doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life . . . all that matters is that you've got to get up."
Honorable mention: First Lady Michelle Obama's appearance via satellite to help Jack Nicholson present the award for Best Picture. It was a first for the First Lady to present an Oscar, although not entirely surprising given the Hollywood hue that has tinted President Obama's administration. There's no denying that Hollywood loves the power couple, and they return the sentiment. Mrs. Obama announcing the award probably made the win even more magical for Affleck, if that's even possible.
