The 2011 Academy Awards are now over – another year of filmmaking is officially in the books – and now that we’ve survived the red carpet, the three-hour-plus ceremony and Anne Hathaway’s various costume changes, we can politely congratulate The King’s Speech for winning the ceremony’s highest honor, Best Picture.

Colin Firth

Let’s get the big awards out of the way right now:
 
Let’s just admit it: This was a show full of awkward moments. From Melissa Leo’s F-bomb and James Franco’s slurring to that autotuning montage and Anne Hathaway’s weird blue gumby-looking dress – this year’s ceremony wasn’t without its … stranger moments.
 
It was also sorta obvious too, perhaps except for the Best Director category, which went to Tom Hooper instead of the favorite, David Fincher. But Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Colin Firth and Natalie Portman had their respective categories locked up for months. The Oscars are always a little more buzzworthy when you throw in a few surprises, so not having any did slow down an otherwise entertaining show just a bit.
 
How about our favorite moments: The opening sketch featuring James Franco and Anne Hathaway breaking into Alec Baldwin’s dream; James Franco rockin’ ballerina spandex; Kirk Douglas delaying the show in hilarious fashion; Billy Crystal doing stand-up; Anne Hathaway’s line flub-cue to drink at home; the way Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock announced their respective nominees, by telling little anecdotes about them; and, finally, that fantastic montage introducing the 10 best picture nominees over the speech from The King’s Speech. Great ending to the show – one of the best ever.
 
Top Five Biggest Snubs:
  • Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) beating David Fincher (The Social Network) for Best Director
  • Exit Through the Gift Shop not winning Best Documentary
  • Inception not winning Best Original Screenplay
  • Hailee Steinfeld not winning Best Supporting Actress (c’mon, she rocked it!)
  • Roger Deakins (True Grit) losing Best Cinematography to Wally Pfister (Inception)
 
If anything, this year’s Oscar telecast took a giant step forward in terms of catering it more towards a younger, more pop-culture-centric audience. But there was still that nod to the past – enough of a nod to feel that touch of nostalgia (which is always a great part of the Oscars). We like the Oscars because it’s pretty, fun, and glamorously cheesy, and we think this year’s ceremony certainly lived up to that.
 
 Let us know what you thought of this year’s Oscars by sounding off in our polls below, and in the comments section. For the full Oscar scoop, click through to our Awards Watch.