By Maria Esteves – March 4, 2014
The 86th Academy Awards (Oscars 2014) presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) for outstanding film achievements of 2013 hosted by Ellen DeGeneres commenced Sunday, March 2, 2014, 8:00pm ET at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California and aired live with 40 million viewers worldwide. GRAVITY received seven Oscars including best director Alfonso Cuaron. Three Oscars went to 12 YEARS A SLAVE including best picture and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB including best actor Matthew McConaughey.

This year’s Oscars celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Oscar winning film THE WIZARD OF OZ presented by Whoopi Goldberg along with an outstanding memorable performance by Pink singing Judy Garland's "Somewhere over the Rainbow.”

Oscars 2014 President Cheryl Boone Isaacs,
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Photo by Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. Photo by Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Host Ellen DeGeneres. Photo by
Aaron Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Best Director award recipient
Alfonso Cuarón, GRAVITY. Photo by Aaron
Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Best Director Oscars 2014 Acceptance Speech: Wow, thank you. Thanks to the Academy. Like any other human endeavor, making a film can be a transformative experience, and I want to thank Gravity because for many of us involved in this film, it was definitely a transformative experience. And it’s good, because it took so long that if not, it would be like a waste of time. What really sucks is that for a lot of these people, that transformation was wisdom; for me, it was just the color of my hair. I want to share this with all these wise people who made this movie happen: my amazing son and co-writer Jonás Cuarón.

Sandra Bullock. Sandy, you’re Gravity. You are the soul, the heart of the film. You’re the most amazing collaborator and one of the best people I ever met. George Clooney, for your absolute trust. David Heyman, Chivo and Tim Webber for making this film happen. The wise guys of Warner Bros., the wise people at Warner Bros., Kevin Tsujihara, Sue Kroll, [unintelligible], Greg Silverman, Lynn Harris, Chris De Faria. And the film took so long that we went through two different administrations, so I have to honor as well Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov. Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro et Gabriela Rodriguez et Steve Rabineau, Henry Holmes et Jim Berkus, Tracey Jacobs, Cristina, [Spanish] Sheherazade, Bu, Olmo. [Spanish]. Bye guys.

Oscars 2014 Best Actress award recipient Cate
Blanchett, BLUE JASMINE. Photo by Michael
Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Cate Blanchett’s Best Actress Oscars 2014 Acceptance Speech: Sit down. You’re too old to be standing. Thank you, Mr. Day-Lewis, from you it exacerbates this honor to and it blows it right out of the ballpark. Thank you so much to the Academy. As random and as subjective as this award is, it means a great deal in a year of extraordinary, yet again, extraordinary performances by women. Amy Adams, everything you do, but your performance in American Hustle blew my mind. And Meryl, what can I say? Sandra, I could watch that performance to the end of time, and I sort of felt like I had. Julia, #suckit. You know what I mean? And Judi Dench, I mean what a career. She’s not here tonight because at the age of 79, her film was so successful that she’s in India doing a sequel. I mean what a career that is, if I could hope.

And me, I’m here excepting an award in an extraordinary screenplay by Woody Allen. Thank you so much, Woody, for casting me. I truly appreciate it. I’m so very proud that Blue Jasmine stayed in the cinemas for as long as it did. And thank you to Sony Classics, to Michael and Tom for their extraordinary support. For so bravely and intelligently distributing the film and to the audiences who went to see it and perhaps those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences. They are not. Audiences want to see them and, in fact, they earn money. The world is round, people. Thank you to my mum, to my sister, to my brother, to my three glorious sons. I would not be standing here without you. To my husband, Andrew, you are a legend.

Thank you to my agent, Hylda Queally, you’re behind the pillar somewhere up there. You are a goddess. To my agent in Australia, Robyn Gardiner, I love you so very much. To my publicist Lisa Kasteler. To the sublime Sally Hawkins. And to the extraordinary cast of Blue Jasmine. I don’t know how to do this with other actors and this I share with you. To the hair and makeup people who sweated me up and tried to make me look attractive. Thank you for the attempt. To Carla Meyer for getting Sally and I together and for incredible support. To Helen Robin. To everyone involved in Blue Jasmine, I thank you so much.

And finally, I would like to thank every single member of the Sydney Theatre Company, one of the great theater companies in the world. For me, working on Blue Jasmine, it was a real synthesis of my work in the theater and on film. And not only working with you for the last six years has been the most enormous privilege of my career but it’s made me a better actress. There is so much talent in Australia and Michael Wilkinson and C.M. and I are just tonight’s tip of the iceberg. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Oscars 2014 Best Supporting Actor award recipient
Jared Leto, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB. Photo by
Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Jared Leto’s Oscars 2014 Best Supporting Actor Acceptance Speech: Incredible. Ellen, I love you. To my fellow nominees, I’m so proud to share this journey with you. I’m in awe and have so much respect for you all. To the Academy, thank you. In 1971, Bossier City, Louisiana, there was a teenage girl who was pregnant with her second child. She was a high school dropout and a single mom, but somehow she managed to make a better life for herself and her children. She encouraged her kids to be creative, to work hard and to do something special. That girl is my mother and she’s here tonight. And I just want to say, I love you, Mom. Thank you for teaching me to dream. To my brother, Shannon, the best big brother in the world, you’re a true artist. Thank you so much for sharing this insane and amazing adventure that is 30 Seconds to Mars, and for being my best friend. I love you. Thank you.

To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here and as you struggle to… to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible… We’re thinking of you tonight. And this is, is incredibly special as well because there’s so many people that helped me get here. And I just want to say thank you to Focus Features, to Mick Sullivan, to Jim Toth, to Jason Weinberg, to Emma Ludbrook, to Kelly Adams, to the entire Dallas Buyers Club team. Matthew, I love. Jean-Marc. And this for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to AIDS and to those of you out there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight I stand here in front of the world with you and for you. Thank you so much and goodnight.

Oscars 2014 Best Picture 12 YEARS A SLAVE award recipients director
Steve McQueen, center, and producer Brad Pitt with cast and crew.
Photo by Aaron Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Best Actor award recipient Matthew
McConaughey, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB. Photo
by Aaron Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Best Supporting Actress award recipient
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 YEARS A SLAVE. Photo by Michael
Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Best Documentary Feature award recipients
(L-R) Janet Friesen, director Morgan Neville, producer
Caitrin Rogers and singer Darlene Love, 20 FEET
FROM STARDOM. Photo by Aaron Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Best Documentary Short award recipients producer
Nicholas Reed, left, and director Malcolm Clarke, THE LADY IN
NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE. Photo by Michael Yada
/©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Best Original Song award recipients
Kristen Anderson-Lopez, left, and Robert Lopez,
LET IT GO, from Frozen. Photo by Michael Yada
/©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars 2014 Celebrates 75th Anniversary of THE
WIZARD OF OZ, Presenter Whoopi Goldberg.

Oscars 2014 Celebrates 75th Anniversary of THE
WIZARD OF OZ, singer Pink, performs Judy
Garland's "Somewhere over the Rainbow.”

Oscars 2014 award nominees Pharrell Williams, left, and Meryl
Streep dancing during his performance of "HAPPY," from
Despicable Me 2. Photo by Darren Decker / ©A.M.P.A.S.