'12 Years A Slave,' 'Gravity' Win Big At The Oscars

After several days of heavy rain in Los Angeles, the sun came out just as the 86th annual Academy Awards got underway at the Dolby Theater.

The big award of the night, for Best Picture, went to 12 Years a Slave. The film tells the harrowing tale of Solomon Northup, a free black man in New York who was sold into slavery. (See the full list of winners below.)

The big acting awards went to Matthew McConaughey and Cate Blanchett. McConaughey won Best Actor for his role as a Texas man suffering from AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club, and Best Actress went to Cate Blanchett for her turn in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.

Gravity took home the most trophies: seven Academy Awards, including for director Alfonso Cuaron and for cinematography, visual effects and original music score.

The first award of the night went to Jared Leto, who, as many expected, won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club. He dedicated his award to his mother, his date for the night.

"Thank you for teaching me to dream," he said.

Best Supporting Actress went to newcomer Lupita Nyong'o for her portrayal of a slave under the thumb of a sadistic master in 12 Years a Slave.

Another widely predicted winner was Frozen, which took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. The Disney film has made more than $1 billion worldwide.

Ellen DeGeneres took over hosting duties this year, bringing a less controversial vibe than the salty humor of last year's host, Seth MacFarlane.

DeGeneres opened by poking fun at many actors in the crowd, including mocking Jennifer Lawrence for falling on her way onto the red carpet, just as she did when she accepted an Oscar last year for Silver Linings Playbook.

"If you win tonight, I think we should bring you the Oscar," said DeGeneres to Lawrence, nominated for her performance in American Hustle.

DeGeneres also spent parts of the show mingling with the crowd, taking selfies to post on Twitter (including one record-breaking star-stuffed tweet) and even delivering pizza to several actors.

Here's how NPR's Linda Holmes, Bob Mondello and others live-tweeted the night at #NPROscars:

List Of Winners:

• Best picture: 12 Years a Slave
• Actor in a leading role: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
  
• Actress in a leading role: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
  
• Actor in a supporting role: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
• Actress in a supporting role: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
• Directing: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
• Best original screenplay: Spike Jonze (Her)
• Best adapted screenplay: John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
• Visual effects: Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk and Neil Corbould (Gravity)
• Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
• Music — original score: Steven Price (Gravity)
• Music — original song: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez ("Let It Go" from Frozen)
• Costume design: Catherine Martin (The Great Gatsby)
• Production design: Catherine Martin — Production Design; Beverley Dunn — Set Decoration (The Great Gatsby)
• Makeup and hairstyling: Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews (Dallas Buyers Club)
• Short film: Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson (Helium)
• Animated feature film: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho (Frozen)
• Animated short film: Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares (Mr. Hublot)
• Documentary feature film: Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers (20 Feet from Stardom)
• Documentary short subject: Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed (The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life)
• Foreign language film: The Great Beauty
• Film editing: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger (Gravity)
• Sound mixing: Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro (Gravity)
• Sound editing: Glenn Freemantle (Gravity)